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Introducing El Salvador
Travel Alert: Hurricane season has arrived in El Salvador and has caused serious flooding and loss of life, mainly in areas around the capital San Salvador. Check the BBC for news updates and BBC weather for weather details. Criminal activity is a problem in El Salvador; see the Dangers & Annoyances section for details.
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El Salvador sneaks up on you: in lefty lounge bars in San Salvador, at sobering museums and war memorials, and along lush cloud-forest trails; it's a place of remarkable warmth and intelligence, made all the more appealing for being so unexpected. Travellers tend to skip El Salvador, wooed by marquee destinations such as Guatemala and Costa Rica, and unnerved by stories of civil war and gang violence. But the war ended almost 20 years ago, and crime, while serious, is almost exclusively played out between rival gangs; tourists are virtually never involved. And though El Salvador has fewer protected areas than its neighbors, you get them practically to yourself – including pristine forests, active volcanoes and sparkling lakes. The only place you might find a crowd is on Punta Roca, El Salvador’s most famous surfing spot – it happens to be one of the best right point breaks in the world, yet is a ghost town compared to lesser swells in Costa Rica and elsewhere. And when it comes to cities, none in Central America is smarter or cooler than San Salvador, with first-rate universities, museums and galleries, a vibrant bar and live-music scene, and an array of progressive NGOs, both local and international.
Last updated: Nov 24, 2009
Tips & articles
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The top 10 countries for 2010
6 November 2009
Want a sneak peek into the future? We’ve just released our newest edition of Best in Travel. We’re...
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Cities you really hate
9 October 2009
A couple of weeks ago, we published a list of your ‘least favourite’ destinations. Reaction...
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El Salvador dos and don’ts
28 August 2009
El Salvador is a country of mind-boggling diversity. Mountain cloud forests and fuming volcanoes, charming...
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El Salvador
Our Top Picks For El Salvador
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1 Ruta de las Flores
Charge the western highlands: hiking cafétales, stepping in hot springs and chowing at the weekend food fairs
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2 Playa El Tunco
Ride four great breaks, string a hammock under the palms and soak up the lax atmosphere at this great beach southwest of San Salvador
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3 Parque Nacional El Imposible
Steal stunning ridge-top views and splash in river pools hiking from the park's remote backdoor
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4 Alegría
Immerse yourself in the idyllic tiny-town life of El Salvador's mountain-top flower capital
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5 Punta Roca
Nail the longest break in Central America, or at least buy a real surfer a beer to hear about it
Fast Facts about El Salvador
- Visa
in advance US$30; tourist cards at the border or airport US$10
- Money
US dollar
- Area
21, 040 sq km (smallest in Central America)
- Population
7,000,000 (most densely populated in Central America)
- Capital
- Head of state
President Mauricio Funes Cartagena
- Phrases
Qué chivo (how cool); un cachete (a favor); guaro (alcohol)
- Country Code
503
- Number of Animal Species
897
- Top five Salvadoran surf breaks
El Salvador has dozens of named breaks along more than 300km of coastline. All the best waves here break right, whether they're zippy point breaks or long clean waves that peel off forever. Top picks include: Punta Roca (often compared to Jeffrey's Bay in South Africa); Las Flores (compared to Rincón in Santa Barbara, California); Punta Mango (comparable to El Capitan in Santa Barbara, California); Km 59; Playa El Sunzal.
Related Groups
Our favourite El Salvador Blogs (beta)
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El Salvador - like Marmite?
Blog: A Travel Diary from Mexico, Central and South America - 24 November 2009
When heading south from Mexico (by land) it's pretty easy to go through each Central American country - perhaps with the exception of Belize, which I really wouldn't miss, by the way - whether you stop at each one or not. So we thought it'd be a shame to skip El Salvador. I put it like that because since the start of our travels we hadn't received one glowing report about the country. We did not hear anyone say, "Oh you simply cannot miss blah, west of blah blah in El Salvador", or, "You'd be foolish to miss the fantastic views of Valley Blah".
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San Salvador Is Mental
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 19 November 2009
Another song has let me down. Do you remember that dance song, San Salvador, from 2003 or whenever? The chorus went something like this: san salvador, get the music swing and people singing san salvador, never just give up and just beginning san salvador, let me join’ and sing nobody sleeps san salvador, gimme happiness excite you I found the [...]
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10 Fellowship Gems
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 7 August 2009
By Cynthia McMurry, KF8 Ecuador Over the past year, I have learned valuable lessons about life, gotten to know myself better, greatly enriched my understanding of microfinance, observed the workings of the informal economy in Latin America, been touched by many clients’ stories and experiences, and been proud to represent Kiva at four different MFIs in [...]
