Tourism in El Salvador is built around surfing. El Salvador was one of the countries we were a little unsure about originally to due to safety concerns, but everyone who had been told us not to worry. The violence here is well reported on in the media, but as we expected it is kept completely out of the eyes of the thousands of mostly surfers visiting this little country everyday. The coast of El Salvador is a surfers paradise full of little surf towns and surf camps. We know that we didn’t see the “real” El Salvador, but that’s OK with us, the coast was beautiful. I just hope that the money we spent there, somehow helps the country increase the opportunities for their citizens and also increases the importance to protect their beautiful beaches and coastline.
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[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Hvklak0SyDA/VVQYLGQ2nBI/AAAAAAAAyHU/vZUsDjihhEA/s144-c-o/IMG_4145.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148565970206497810″ caption=”K59 peelers, view from K59 surf villas” type=”image” alt=”IMG_4145.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LrdqUSAG4ac/VVQZSj6XjpI/AAAAAAAAyHU/SWY4keaFTjc/s144-c-o/IMG_4177.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148567197935963794″ caption=”They had awesome balconies to practice yoga, jenine was very happy” type=”image” alt=”IMG_4177.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZfR2IxhHzg0/VVQZQMFwk2I/AAAAAAAAyHU/InvZd1z3d7g/s144-c-o/IMG_4186.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148567157181551458″ caption=”The K59 gang, Ross, Phil from San Francisco and Tuto from Brazil” type=”image” alt=”IMG_4186.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1yZb7nX8A3I/VVQZiIIncdI/AAAAAAAAyHU/SV_9Zp9DZ4U/s144-c-o/IMG_4187.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148567465357439442″ caption=”getting a nice wave, view from the pool” type=”image” alt=”IMG_4187.JPG” ]
After a week with K59. We stopped in El Tunco for a few days. El Tunco is a little party surf town. Full of clubs, bars and cheap hostels. Also, it has one of the best yet most crowded surf breaks I’ve ever seen, Sunzal Point. We didn’t really love El Tunco; it is dirty, loud and crowded, but it was a least fun for 2 days. I surfed some fun waves, if you can call dodging hundreds of other surfers surfing, and we got some amazing sunsets and a little night life. [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DuTZCNDkoC0/VVQZ_JClIlI/AAAAAAAAyHU/xOynPpF0Ffw/s144-c-o/IMG_4219.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148567963816763986″ caption=”Gorgeous purple sunsets in El Tunco” type=”image” alt=”IMG_4219.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b43u23irGco/VVQWMXNXRHI/AAAAAAAAyHU/B14QoagnKSE/s144-c-o/IMG_0831.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148563792911877234″ caption=”At our favorite outdoor beach bar Monkey Lala” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0831.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FH9Yewn1OZQ/VVQWRy49mbI/AAAAAAAAyHU/xlIpiBA2qpM/s144-c-o/IMG_0837.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148563886241847730″ caption=”At our campsite in El Tunco and group of chickens started a chick coop under Titus.” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0837.JPG” ]
Next we headed south east to Las Flores (another famous righthand point break) which is probably the 2nd most popular wave after Sunzal. There was a major swell coming, and this spot also tends to have smaller more mellower waves. Although, the swell was so massive, that even here was triple overhead for two days. We got a recommendation of a camp to stay at, Atlakamani, and it was again amazing. The owner Valdimir was an amazing host, and in addition to surfing, we did some mountain biking together. When the monster swell hit, it was so big that most people couldn’t even paddle out. However, in the following days in calmed down and I got some really fun waves. Jenine practiced yoga and we met some awesome people, many from Brazil. [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ynxlb2P0ews/VVQaSOXaP0I/AAAAAAAAyHU/QZeXRZDwKpg/s144-c-o/IMG_4233.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148568291663822658″ caption=”After El Tunco, we came down to Las Flores in the South East. Massive 3x overhead waves came in on our first day. Here is someone charging” type=”image” alt=”IMG_4233.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZrPy8hptDdQ/VVQW5J2RIyI/AAAAAAAAyHU/HJte0QFJY8A/s144-c-o/IMG_0868.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148564562419458850″ caption=”Charging the point” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0868.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YQI8RJFdcAs/VVQbDbx1tmI/AAAAAAAAyHU/g9eSo1lTZCg/s144-c-o/IMG_4256.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148569137077925474″ caption=”Jenine has another awesome yoga spot atlakamani lodge” type=”image” alt=”IMG_4256.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qtY3lah97PE/VVQW2lRsm_I/AAAAAAAAyHU/esDjDhe2Q0c/s144-c-o/IMG_0873.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148564518242655218″ caption=”We hung out some this nice hotel on the Point called AST. Sick views http://astpuntaflores.com/” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0873.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oN2-4tZbIU0/VVQXax4Y3wI/AAAAAAAAyHU/crfu1uk9K5w/s144-c-o/IMG_0887.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148565140101455618″ caption=”The Brazilian crew at the BBQ” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0887.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H_tW5AxyVOI/VVQbHYZhShI/AAAAAAAAyHU/IMo6j03geHY/s144-c-o/IMG_4264.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/BigWavesInElSalvadorBlog24#6148569204890094098″ caption=”Awesome guys. On the Left Gaston from FL and on the Right Vladimir the owner of Atlakamani” type=”image” alt=”IMG_4264.JPG” ]
We were only in El Salvador for 2 weeks, but it was an awesome time, and I highly recommend it for all the surfers out there. Next up – Jenine is heading to Costa Rica for a 3 week intensive yoga teacher training and I am going to be bumming around Nicaragua by myself trying out the surf there. [pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/115263927216347870948/albumid/6148563487055395233?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]
El Salvador uses the US dollar, and we found that country is very good at knowing when to charge steep gringo prices, i.e. at any restaurant near a surf break. We started our trip at the K59 surf break, based on a recommendation from our friends Daina & Stefan (Painted Road Project). We found a place to camp right on the beach for the night, but the next day, the owner of K59 Surf Villas near by convinced us to spend the week at their camp instead. So we moved out of Titus for the week and into a little El Salvadoran paradise. K59 Surf Villas is an incredible place, that I think we will be returning to some day. The waves were perfect here and Jenine had an incredible place to do yoga: