Surfing El Salvador

El Zonte is a coastal town famous for its surf that is about an hour drive from San Salvador International Airport. You can get a taxi, or if you are renting a car, travel that way. The very first thing i did in El Salvador was surf! There are multiple places for all levels of surfers to surf and countless surf schools in the area. The best one (I may be biased) is at Esencia Nativa Hotel. Not only is the hotel right on the water, but they offer amazing surf lessons with great local coaches who really know the water and the sport. If you’ve never surfed, get out of your comfort zone and book a lesson for your first day! They are usually an hour long, and about $50. You can take multiple across your stay!

If you don’t need a lesson, you can also rent boards at multiple places on the beach. For lunch, there are many beachfront restaurants to choose from. Varying locally owned spots to more upscale spots like Paulo Verdes Hotel. Get a coco loco to cool off! It’s a staple.

In the afternoon, we explored the small town of El Zonte. There are small markets and some vendors, but not a ton of shopping. You can walk the whole town along the beach and there are even some beach caves to explore.
For dinner, an amazing place to go is El Vikingo. It is owned by a Belgian couple and they serve Thai-American fusion food. Extremely reasonably priced as well!

We took a morning sunrise walk and then spend the first half of the morning just being at the beach, laying out, swimming, surfing, etc. Whatever beach activities you’d like - they have! The locals and the local dogs are all extremely friendly and inviting as well. For lunch, we ate at Olas Permanentes. It’s right on the stretch of beach, basically on the sand, and they have good food and cocktails.
In the evening, we took a sunset yoga class that they were offering on the beach. You can see little flyers around town for classes like this, and its easy to find the info to sign up, or to show up, pay and join! It was lovely. Right next to Olas Permanentes is a hotel with a pop-up beach bar called Looking Good. They serve really unique cocktails and often have a pretty lively crowd from sunset onward each night. You don’t have to be a guest there to enjoy the bar or the outdoor seating area fitted with chairs and hammocks!

In the morning we drove about 25 minutes from El Zonte to La Libertad, where there is a very easy hiking path to San Antonio Waterfall. The entrance isn’t really marked, so it would do well to search on google exactly where to stop off at or ask a local before going. If you stay at Esencia Nativa, they have all the information and sometimes have set excursion trips for you to take. The hike is more like a moderately difficult walk and at the end you’ll get to a beautiful waterfall that cascades over basalt rock. We swam, climbed the rocks under the waterfall (ONLY in dry season when its emptier), and had a picnic lunch on the sand. We spent the entire first half of the day there before heading home.

After a good nap, in the afternoon we had signed up for a Surfskate class.This is a type of skateboarding specific to the feeling of a surfboard. You can find these flyers around town as well and sign up for a class if you are interested. We had dinner at a place called Michanti, another more upscale hotel. On Tuesdays, they have a live DJ and $6 taco plates for taco Tuesday. It gets really busy, lively, and so fun! We stayed there well into the night.

There is another excursion option to go hiking up Volcano Santa Ana. Esencia Nativa also has this option, but there are other guided tours you can set up and take from El Zonte. The hike takes about 3-4 hours depending on fitness level round trip, and the views are breathtaking! This is another activity that would take you half of the day. Bring lots of water, sunscreen, and snacks! When you get back and rest, for dinner, indulge at a Pupuseria and get an El Salvadorian classic, the famous pupusa! They are delicious and extremely cheap and come in endless flavors. It is a tortilla pocket stuffed with whatever you’d like in it, served with sauerkraut and salsa. WARNING: the sauerkraut in El Salvador CAN make you very sick if your stomach is not used to it. Ask if they’ve used vinegar in the fermentation process or not.

There is a town about 15-20 minutes down the coast from El Zonte called El Tunco, and while its known in the area as a big party town, its also known for its great shopping, restaurants, and lively character. There is also a beach there to surf at if surfing is your thing. We spent most of the day there exploring shops, trying the local food and markets, and hanging by the beach. Of course, finding a perfect spot for sunset is amazing in Tunco. We stayed through the evening to go out to the bars and clubs there. Many of them have different kinds of live music from DJs to bands so you can search for your vibe. They stay open late, like past 2am! There are always new bars or parties or shows popping up, and it can be really fun to just go with the flow! Note that if you don’t have a car, you’ll have to hire a driver or a taxi back to Zonte - even at 3am!