Long waves shape into perfect curls along the shore of El Salvador’s Pacific coast. Surfers sit on their boards, waiting to catch a ride. The jewel of this surfing mecca is El Tunco. With three popular surf breaks just off its rocky shore, El Tunco is one of El Salvador’s most treasured surfing towns.
Click on the link to go directly to Travel Tips For El Salvador.
Even though we don’t surf, we still wanted to check out this popular part of the country. We travelled south of the country’s capital, San Salvador, to a 25 km long section of the coast that is almost completely composed of surfable waves. The government has recently dubbed this popular coast as ‘Surf City’ to increase tourism to El Salvador’s coastal towns and it seems to be working. A lot of funding is going in to making these towns more visitor friendly such a boardwalks, roads, hotels, restaurants and other infrastructure.
The 25 km stretch of coast we visited is highlighted by the blue box in the map below.
El Tunco
What used to be a sleepy village, El Tunco has become the most popular tourist destination in the entire country. The thing that is drawing the crowds is its surf. As we walked along the newly built malecón, big waves were continuously forming in the water. Even before one wave crashes, another one is building right behind. In the picture below you can see how quickly and continuously these waves come.
As they break, we can hear the tumbling of rocks on the beach. This is not a sandy beach destination favoured by sun worshippers. It is unapologetically a surfing destination. Beyond the rocky beach we could see dozens of people, sitting on surf boards, waiting for their turn to ride the perfect wave.
Note – With a strong undertow, the beach is not safe for swimming either. It is listed as a red flag beach so there are no lifeguards on duty.
A few surfers have been quietly visiting El Salvador’s coast for years but recently word has gotten out and its popularity has dramatically increased. Needless to say the majority of tourists who visit Surf City are surfers. In fact, we were there a few days before an ISO Junior World Championships competition was taking place. There were a lot of international athletes in town and in the water, sporting their county’s jersey.
El Tunco received its name for the unusual volcanic rock feature sitting in the water, just off shore. El Tunco translates in English to ‘The Pig’. From certain angles, the feature looks like a pig lying on its back with its feet up in the air. It’s a unique feature and looks even nicer at sunset when the sky behind it glows red, orange and even purple.
On the other side of the malecón are a few beach bars. During the day they were very quiet and we wondered how they stayed in business. At night however, strobe lights and loud dance music enticed partiers and the dance bars quickly filled up. On weekends it gets busier when San Salvador’s young elites come to El Tunco to party. There are a lot of heavily armed police in the area to protect visitors to this important tourist town. During the day, they stand in the shade with a watchful eye. At night they frisk party goers for weapons as they enter the dance bars.
In addition to the surf, the town of El Tunco has been touted as a backpackers hangout. Compared to other places in El Savador though, El Tunco is quite expensive for backpackers. The high prices don’t mean the rooms are nicer or the food is better. Businesses are charging what the international surfing market can bare; so far it’s working for them.
The town only has two streets that run perpendicular to each other and a couple of small pedestrian streets connecting them. Along these streets you can find many restaurants, cafes, hostels and hostals (inns) as well beach wear shops and of course many, many surf shops.
The town however, seems to be still in an awkward growing stage. It feels as if its not quite sure how to pull off its new popularity. While it is much different from typical El Salvadorian towns with who have shanty homes and litter-strewn streets, El Tunco didn’t endear itself to us. There are a few cute areas with street art and cute cafes, but mostly the narrow walkways were lined by hotel privacy walls or corrugated metal walls around construction sites. Although you can’t tell from our pictures, it felt a bit claustrophobic rather than hippy and relaxed as we had read.
At least a dozen beaches fill in the long coast on either side on El Tunco, each with their own personality. Most are even less developed than El Tunco. Since we are not surfers, instead of spending our days on the waves we visited a few different towns and their beaches to better understand this region.
El Sunzal
El Sunzal is popular because it has a consistent surf everyday of the year. It is this surf that first attracted the attention of American surfers in the 1960s.
The only thing separating El Sunzal from El Tuncal is a small tidal river called Rio El Tunco. In fact, these two beaches are almost the only two that you can walk between in the stretch of coast.
While El Tunco is covered in river rocks, Sunzal has fine, black sand. The sand colour and large rock formations are the result of centuries of volcanic eruptions in El Salvador. In this small country there are over 100 volcanoes. We will take you to some of them upcoming posts.
The waves are a bit gentler in this section of El Sunzal Beach and swimming is even possible.
After crossing another tidal river called El Sunzal River, we found another long, black sand beach. The far border of this part of El Sunzal Beach is marked by tall rugged cliffs. Below them is a small cave that can be explored at low tide. There are more caves on the other side of El Tunco Beach as well but, apparently you can only visit them during the lowest low tides.
It is oppressively hot in this part of the country. By 9 am temperatures were well into the 30s C. The strong sun also heats up the black sand until it is scorching hot and impossible to walk on with bare feet. Even the little grains of sand that got between our flipflops and feet made it feel as if our skin was on fire.
There are a few tourist hotels and beach bars along the section of El Sunzal Beach as well, but they are a little more rugged.
El Zonte
Eleven kilometers west of El Tunco is the much less touristy town of El Zonte. Rustic beach bars line the side of its black sand beach. At the far end a tall cliff protects the houses on top from the fierce waves below.
We walked through the small village to reach its second beach. The town is a strange mix of rustic houses and hotels with thatched roofs and a couple of high end luxury resorts.
The beach on the other side of El Zonte River is also a long, muddy black sand beach. It has a good surf break, but surprisingly not nearly as many surfers make the trek over to it. When we were there the tide was coming in and the waves were building up, but we only saw a couple of surfers getting lessons.
Puerto de La Libertad
The largest city in this region is Puerto de La Libertad, commonly called La Libertad. The biggest draw is its busy fish market which is stocked everyday by local fishermen.
There is a lot of new development around the recently Chinese built port including a malecón which passes by modern kiosks and small restaurants. On the other side of the boardwalk is a small amusement park that was very popular in the cooler evening air.
From the malecón we could see a few people playing in the ocean in the city’s long, muddy beach on either side of the port.
An older malecón continues to travel around the bay toward Playa Punta Roca. This point has a well-known surf break, and there were a few surfers in the water, but not as many as El Tunco. Along this older malecón are less modern kiosks serving food and drinks.
Travel Tips for El Tunco and Surf City
- ATMs – There are ATMs in El Tunco and La Libertad, but as far as we know there are none in the other villages. The only grocery stores are in La Libertad. The other towns and villages have small shops that sell mostly junk food.
- Safety in Surf City – El Tunco and area have been quite safe for tourists for a few years with very low crime rates. Recent government crackdowns on gang violence have made the entire country a lot safer. Even with this decrease in crime, always use safe practices such as not carrying a lot of cash or expensive jewelry or walking alone at night when travelling in El Salvador.
- When to visit El Tunco – There are two seasons, summer and rainy. Both apparently have great surf, but in the rainy season the swells are very high. We were there in April; the hottest part of summer. April to August is the peak season for surfing. Summer or Dry Season is November to April. Rainy Season or Winter is May to October.
Where to stay in Surf City
Compared to other towns in El Salvador, expect to pay a lot more for lower quality hotels in this area. The most popular town to stay in is El Tunco. Although it is still very rustic, it has the largest choice of hotels and apartments as well as restaurants and bars. Everything is within walking distance so there is no bad location.
There are a few hotels in El Sunzal and it is within walking distance to El Tunco’s restaurants and nightlife, so would also be a good choice. El Zonte has either very basic or very high-end accommodations and eateries. La Libertad also has hotels and restaurants, but there isn’t much to do in the city and the beaches are not very nice to make it a beach destination.
Getting to El Tunco and Surf City
If you have a car, it is a fairly easy drive to reach El Tunco from San Salvador. There is not a lot of parking so make sure your hotel has a parking lot.
El Tunco is easy to reach by bus from a few different parts of El Salvador. From San Salvador, there is a mini-bus stop just out side of Terminal De Occidente. Bus 102A ($2.25) is air-conditioned and travels as far as El Zonte. From the same stop you could take Bus 102. It is more frequent, but is a non air-conditioned chicken bus that only goes as far as La Libertad. From there you can catch another chicken bus to the other towns.
From Santa Ana it’s more complicated, but it is possible to reach by bus. You can find the information on the route here.
From Rutas de las Flores, make your way to Sonsonate where buses travel to and from La Libertad where you can then catch a chicken bus to El Tunco or one of the other beaches.
Note – You can bring your luggage on the chicken buses, but you may have to pay an additional fee. It seems to be driver dependent if you are charged or not.
From Antigua, Guatemala there is an overnight tourist shuttle to El Tunco. You can buy them from any agency and most hostels in town, including Tropicana Hostel in Antigua.
Getting around Surf City
To get between the beaches, chicken bus 80 frequently travels up and down the coast between La Libertad and La Perla, and will stop at all of the towns in between including El Tunco, El Sunzo and El Zonte. If you’re travelling a shorter distance you can likely flag down any chicken bus that passes by. Just confirm your destination with the driver.
If you’ re not a surfer plan to only spend a couple of days in El Tunco and the Surf City region as there is not a lot else to do. But we’re glad we visited it to see what the fuss is all about.
To read more of our adventures in El Salvador, click here.
Coming Next – Rutas de las Flores, El Salvador
For pictures from other blogs go to Gallery at monkeystale.ca
To read about more of our adventures go to Destinations.
If you like what you read, please comment or share (with credit) using the links below.
Monkey's Tale 
These beaches look like great settings for pirate movies.
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Oh, that’s true. 🙂 Maggie
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I’ve always wanted to try surfing. I hadn’t ever heard of anyone visiting El Salvador so I enjoyed reading your review!
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We’ve both tried and failed miserably so just enjoy from the shore 😉 El Salvador is much safer than it used to be, but still isn’t quite ready for tourists. But the people are some of the most friendly that we’ve met anywhere in the world. Thanks Lyssy. Maggie
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What a lovely place…you extensively covered the place!
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Thanks Indira, Maggie
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That rock formation in El Tunco is fascinating and I love the street art. It’s a shame it didn’t live up to your expectations though.
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The town has potential, but just hasn’t found the right way yet. El Salvador is pretty new to tourism in general so maybe in the coming years it will be a real hot spot. The Pig, rock formation is a great feature on the beach. Thanks Sarah, Maggie
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Another fascinating post, dear Maggie!
Thank you for offering me a visit to a place I will never see in person. You are an excellent tour guide!
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Thanks Luisa, We only have a few things to show you in El Salvador, but I hope you like them 🙂 Maggie
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It was a pleasure to discover them, dear Maggie💓
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The street art is fabulous. Hats off to the surfers, think I’d be content to watch from the shore!
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The street art is great, and yes we also enjoyed watching from the rocky shore 🙂 Thanks Helen, Maggie
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Love the street art and the beaches look idyllic!
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The street art is great, the beaches are pretty, with the black volcanic sand. Thanks Nilla, Maggie
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Beautiful beaches and vistas. Amazing how a place can suddenly go from sleepy to popular, almost overnight. Interesting post, Maggie, thanks.
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Thanks Lynette, once word gets out in the surfing community it changes these sleepy little towns pretty quickly. Maggie
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I could sort of tell that you were going to say you weren’t over impressed even before you said it, a little bit of your normal scripted verve was absent! Sometimes this happens, you catch a place which in that phase where it’s lost its soul but hasn’t quite found a new one. Not too keen on loyd party bars by the sea either, but I guess that’s part and parcel of the surfing thing. Nevertheless the scenery looks great and black volcanic beaches always look terrific against blue sea and white surf.
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Ya, I guess it just wasn’t our scene, but I’m glad we saw it. And to compare it to a surfing beach that we just left in Mexico, I can see why all the surfers flock there. The ones in Mexico don’t compete at all. Maggie
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I’ve never been surfing, I would enjoy watching them. Your pictures are amazing!🩷🌸
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Thanks Kymber, watching them is as close as it gets for us too. The good ones are quite mesmerizing to watch; how they float along the top of the water. Maggie
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An amazing photo gallery, Maggie. I love El Zonte Beach the first photo of this beach is idyllic of what I think of when I think of black sand beaches with silver light glistening along the tides.
What an amazing sunset in your feature (first image).
I like the hammocks I see in the beach houses in several photos.
Regarding La Libertad, I see the long pier (I think) across the water in your panoram photos. Was this are a larger port for fish or other goods long ago in La Libertad, I wonder? I only ask because the long pier seems out of proportion for the activity you show in the current fish market.
I see the hills and peaks in the distance of some of your photos, is there hiking in the area?
You mention ocean, which one is this I was assuming this area was around the Carribbean sea, No?
I had a smile with the idea of chicken buses, local transport with people and their goods, how cool is that?
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Oh, it’s the Pacific. I’ll have to make sure I include that, I thought I did. The black sand is quite picturesque, but boy is it hot on the feet!
We were actually questioning that pier when we were there. It is a recent addition, and may not even be complete yet, built by the Chinese. There seems to be a hoist at the end for boats, but it did seem strange for the small fishing boats we saw. There is some hiking in the hills to waterfalls, but we didn’t go – it was way too hot. I’m not sure if there is more hiking or not.
We took chicken buses everywhere in El Salvador and Guatemala. We didn’t see any chickens, but people bring everything else they need to transport! Thanks Suzette!! Maggie
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Oh, okay, the Pacific. Thanks, my bad
I see the pier is part of the development of the beach for the future.
It’s a great place for a visit. Thank you for the beautiful vistas and additional information. Safe travels. Cheers.
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Looks like the perfect surfer destination Maggie, but the kind of beach this Canadian should stay away from. The scenery is beautiful and no doubt the tourist industry will soon catch up here, which will disappoint the purists. Happy Tuesday. Allan
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It is a beautiful coast, but it was built for surfers, not the regular beach goer. Hopefully soon, they’ll figure out what the town should look like, I’m sure the surfers will still go regardless. Thanks Allan! Maggie
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Nice enough place but as a non surfer who hates rough seas I’d give it a wide berth! Lol
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Haha, fair enough. We’re glad we saw it, but since we don’t surf, we didn’t stay long. Maggie
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I’d don’t surf, so I’d go off in search of some of the more swimmable beaches. Everyplace you went looks warm and colorful, though.
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You probably won’t go to the beach in El Salvador then! 🙂
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What an adventure. It is good you brought up safety because I was wondering about that. The photos are gorgeous.
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El Salvador is a lot safer than it was even 3 or 4 years ago. It really wants to get into tourism, but I’d say it doesn’t have quite enough sites yet.
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That is great to know
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I doubt I’ll ever visit El Salvador, but I enjoyed reading about El Tunco and seeing your photos. Your sunset and pig rock photos are beautiful.
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Thanks, it is a picturesque coast. 😊
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The beaches come in the interesting category, Maggie, but I would be a fish out of water surrounded by those young, lithe surf enthusiasts. I like the look of the Malecon with the older style beach restaurants, and surfing is fascinating to watch. Thanks for taking me there.
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The beaches bordering surfable waters will entice the surfers, and the 100 volcanoes will bring in the volcanologists and other geological scientists. What a contrast of visitors! 🙂
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Good point! And some volcanoes are not far away from the wild surf so they may even interact 😊
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It seems that this region is in the process of transitioning towards something more touristy, all the better if this industry can bring resources and development, but that will mean the extinction of what is still a little of its local authenticity.
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Yes true, the people could use the revenue and better infrastructure, but hopefully not at the cost of their culture.
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This looks amazing Maggie.. How big do the swells get? 🌹
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Thanks Cindy, In winter they are 3.5 meters/10 feet! In summer I think it’s 2-6 feet depending on the spot.
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You’re so welcome, Maggie. Oh that’s great to know.. My son might be up for this as he’s a surfer as you know. 💕
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He likely would 😊
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I passed the info along.. xo 🙏🏼
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This might be the first blog post I’ve ever read about El Salvador. I admit, I don’t know much about the country. I’ve never surfed (though I would like to try), but even so, I think I’d enjoy walking on the many beaches. I like the black sand (though perhaps not when it’s so hot)!
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May in probably not the best season to go, its too hot, especially on black sand. But the coastal views are quite nice. Likely even better if you surf 🙂 Maggie
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I had no idea there was good surfing in El Salvador. I tried learning to surf when we were in Maui a few years ago. Let’s just say it was a very humbling experience. I’ll stick to watching from the shoreline!
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Same here 🙂 It’s amazing to watch the good surfers though isn’t it?! Maggie
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Who would have guessed that El Salvador is such a hot surfing destination! It does seem like they are trying to figure out how to be a touristy place but they are not quite there yet. I laughed that there are only two seasons- summer and rain 🙂
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It was quite a surprise for us to see what an amazing surf they have. Hopefully they’ll figure out tourism soon. When it’s hot, it’s very hot, when it rains, it pours. 😊
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Did you go from Translyvannia to El Salvador?
I’m glad to hear the country is cleaned up some. Along with so much of Central America the US has trained, armed and supported horrific and violent governments and international corporations have ruined the land and economies, stolen indigenous land and led to gang problems and people fleeing the countries. I worked with Central American refugees for 10 years starting in 1984. I’m glad you found it safe.
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We were home for 4 months between the trips, but had so many posts from Turkey that we were way behind.
El Salvador and Guatemala are both much safer than they used to be. Both countries seem to be coming out of the horrific times they had with the US supported governments and the people have better lives. At least that’s how it appeared to us. I’ll talk a little about that in a post 2 weeks from now. Maggie
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I’m glad you experienced it that way. According to the email newsletters I get it hasn’t changed much as the US trained and supported right wing dictatorships and/or “elected” goverments and corporations are still at it. Between first hand stories, Bruce Cockburns auto biography and other books I’ve read, these people have been living a nightmare for way to long.
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It has been a nightmare. I don’t remember if I said this, but remarkably the people were some of the most gracious, kind and warm hearted people despite this violent past. I can only speak to El Slavador and Guatemala.
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Yes, the refugees I worked with were so gracious. They loved watching cartoons and would giggle like kids. The young man who ran our homeless shelter had been tortured almost to death by his Army officer father and left to die. His father didn’t like his son’s standing up for the oppressed. His Mom got him to a healer and he was saved and made his way to the US. We became friends and I did a lot of healing work on him and got him to a counselor. In spite of all he’d been through, he was so warm and grateful.
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😪
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Reading your descriptions of El Tunco made me think of some other ‘tourist villages’ I’ve encountered on my travels. They always made me feel a bit claustrophobic too. However, despite this I would still visit this ‘surf city’ just like you did purely out of curiosity and to experience the ‘surf vibes’. I’ve also enjoyed your photos of the beaches, the market and the ‘Pig’ rock. Excellent writeup, Maggie!
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Thanks Leighton, it is worth a visit. The ocean is remarkable to see and the cost is very pretty, even better I suspect if you surf 😊
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Some of the pictures here remind me of Goa 30 years ago. Rustic and natural. From what I can recall based on the vlogs I saw during the recent times, El Salvador still have safety issues. Travelers are advised not to venture out during the night.
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Some of the towns likely are since they are still very rustic shacks. El Salvador is much safer than it used to be but you still have to use precautions like not walking at night, or carrying a lot of money or jewelry. I’ll do a safety section for the country in an upcoming blog. But El Tunco area is safer than most of the rest of the country. Thanks Arv!
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Great. I’m sure it will be a great resource for travellers.
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Wow, you’re already traveling again! And this time to a country I rarely read about. When you said it was hot walking on black sand beaches at midday, I realized I don’t think I’ve ever done that in any black sand beaches in Indonesia. I guess instinctively we avoid walking on the beach when the sun is too high. We often joke that there are 10 suns above us when the day gets really hot.
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You are smarter than we are 😊 There were at least 10 sons!
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That sounds so hot to be 30+ in the morning! I’ve not seen much of El Salvador, so look forward to seeing the country through your eyes – the sunset at El Tunco Beach is beautiful 🙂
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It was incredibly hot, but thankfully some of the places we visited were at elevation so it wasn’t that hot the entire time. El Salvador is still new to tourism, but we found a few good spots 🙂 Maggie
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Glad to see El Salvador has found some ways to increase tourism and improve some spots for visitors. I drove in from Guatemala along the coast years ago and it was pretty grim back then. The surfers have made it happen! Great street art, and your shots of sunset, the fish market, and blue boats.
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Things have really changed for the country with this new President. He has cracked down on the gangs, making it a lot safer for people and can start to work on tourism. It still has a ways to go, but there was a lot more to see than we thought. Thanks Ruth! Maggie
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I’m so glad to hear that. And glad you were there to see it.
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Your post is very informative and helpful. Thanks
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Have you got a trip to Peru in your future agenda. Also a big surfing country. The Peruvian village Cerro Azul is actually mentionedcin one of the Beachboys songs. If so, be pleased to meet you!
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We’ve been to Peru twice, but never to Cerro Azul. We did go north of Trujillo though and saw those great waves. It looks like we may have driven by Cerro Azul on our way to Paracas, but didn’t know to stop. Next time 😊
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Ahhh…you’re in El Salvador!
It’s a great country and the people are very warm and helpful. We were there on our sailboat traveling through and stayed a few weeks in Barillos Marina Club back in 2002. https://www.puertobarillas.com/welcome/ How time flys!
At that time the entire coastline was very undeveloped and you could buy an acre of beach front property for $50,000 USD. The problem was the infrastructure in the country was not reliable and needed major upgrading. The marina was located up a 5 mile long estuary in the middle of the jungle. We enjoyed our stay there waiting on a boat part.😃 We did get to travel inland and we were sad to see and hear the horrible history with the United States military involvement. Everywhere we went we were escorted by an armed guard, and armed guards were in every shop/bank and hotel. Security was a bit iffy and there was hardly any tourism. This was our first taste of so many different varieties of mangos. They were everywhere for the taking.
Enjoy your travels there- it’s a scenic country. Where are you off to?
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We didn’t go that far south. La Libertad was as far as we went on the coast. But in land we visited Ruta de Las Flores, Suchitoto, Santa Ana and San Salvador. You’re right the people are incredible, so friendly. The danger level has gone down a lot this past year. There are a lot of heavily armed police, but we saw more in Guatemala and parts of Mexico. But it is still not country I would venture too far from the tourist areas. And not a whole lot I reasons to go exploring.
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