Beach bumming on El Salvador's surfing coast

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after taking the long route to El Salvador, we were more than ready to spend a few days on the beach. My friend Toby was not ready for us to visit until the 13th, so we decided to head down to the beach and explore the waves that get surfers all excited.

We found the area surprisingly affordable. The country is dollarized, and tends to be more expensive than surrounding countries. Nonetheless, our dorm room lodging the first night cost $6 each, and we moved to a place that had a private room and air conditioning with free water and free WIFI (I wrote about 5 blogs from here) for $10pp. Both places are recommended. Comes down to a matter of preference. I wanted to go ahead and spend the extra money on air con and a room that had screens on it to keep the bugs out. The 2nd place, the Tunco Lodge has a good website. They will try to charge $25 a night, but we bargained them down to $20.

The first night I was there, I spent a lot of time watching the waves come in, and watching a thunderstorm off the coast. Ended up staying up till 3am and then sleeping in. I was a better fit for surfer culture than I thought.

One of the guys that works at the Tunco Lodge, Che, was a factor in our decision to go there. There is no ATM in the beach village, the closest one is in Libertad, about 5 minutes away by car. He was nice enough to give both me and another guest a lift as he was on his way there anyway.

We caught some soccer games, enjoyed the great chicken and cheese burritos they made at the lodge, and got introduced to the national meal of El Salvador. Pupusas are bean and cheese filled fried bread. They make them on the spot, and they cost .35 cents each or 3 for $1. Pupusas and a beer make a great $2 dinner, breakfast, or lunch. The Salvadorian breakfast is not bad either. For $1.50 at a beachside restaurant, we got beans, bread, cheese eggs, coffee and a view. These are the tourist prices. After a few days of lounging by the pool, the ocean, the beach, good hammock time and some movie nights, we grabbed the 102 minibus to San Salvador.

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Photos

Photo 1
The top floor of El Sombro

Photo 2
A bat that hung out with us for a bit