El Salvador hides an insane array of long righthand point breaks making it a natural-footers dream destination. Whilst it’s reputation has been built on the J-Bayesque waves of Punta Roca in La Libertad, El Salvador has more than just one wave, and the whole country is literally bristling with awesome righthand pointbreaks. Considering its small size, El Salvador could easily claim the highest density of quality point breaks in Central America.
Great article and nice photos, the country have a lot of spots to go, and the local need the tourism, a lot of pointbreaks in a small country with good roads, www.elsalvadorsurfcamps.com
In regards to the "Storm Riding El Salvador" article:
Headline in yesterday's La Nacion newspaper here in Costa Rica---"Gang memebers kill 13 & injure 16 in EL SALVADOR after they burned a bus"! That sounds like fun.
A friend of mine came back from La Libertad a few years ago and recounted how he and 4-other Gingos had to pony up $20 each to get an ambulance driver to take a shark bitten kid to a San Salvador hospital before he bled to death. That sounds like a hospitable place!
I have not been back to Salvador since 1973 and was inclined to return after viewing "Storm Riding El Salvador", yesterday's La Nacion article cured me of entertaining that idea.
The gangs of Honduras are reputed to be the most vicious in the world and obviously they have spilled over into Salvador. So a 12-gauge & an AK-47 would make good travel companions. Happy Trails,
CountryStoreMan
Ah yes we all know that the surfing world is quickly becoming saturated...therefore when you are a tourist surfing places like el salvador try and follow a few simple steps so respect is shown to the locals and other surfing tourists. For example, dont show up to a place with a pack of ten of you all desperately trying to get as many waves as possible on your 2 week holiday...which is typical of many brazilians(not all of course) as i have come to realise on my surf travels. Instead maybe paddle out at different times and not in an aggressive manner...this simple step will automatically create a more relaxed surfing situation.
Maybe try and say hello and chat to other people that are surfing out in the lineup which shows that you are there to have fun and not to try take all the waves and impress and show off to everyone(surfing is meant to be fun isnt it???) Also dont paddle out to a surf spot if you are not experienced enough for that spot- you will just get in everyones way and cause accidents. As an Australian i have been brought up to take turns and share the waves evenly...iam noticing alot of surfers from countries like brazil and other european countries that do the opposite of this in the water...why? (and yes, australians do it sometimes as well) If everybody waits their turn then everybody will get waves. On average if there are 20 surfers in the lineup and 20 waves coming through every 5-10 minutes that means everybody will get 5-10 waves per hour which is alot you must agree...so everybody(not just the countries i have mentioned) try and use some common sense and show respect- WAIT YOUR TURN!!!! When it comes to the crunch nobody owns the ocean and the waves, so dont act like you do. surf for fun!
Hey everybody !!!!! I´m brazilian guy and I agree about everything you guys wrote about respect and manners in the water. But here in Brazil we have so bad sufers conditions, that´s why most of brazilian surfers don´t show respect in the water.
Here isn´t diferent we got the same problems surfing at brazilian spots
But I try to be diferent and I´m using to travel by my on to avoid this kind of problems, hanging with a bunch of surfers, making noise and problems around the surfs spots.
I was last month in ELSA (Las Flores and Punta Mango)
that was the best experience in my life. I made good friends ( Juan, Ricardo an de "Mad Dog from New Jersey" captain Bart)
apologize for every brazilian bad atitudes
keep surf
Ah thats good to hear the perspective of a cool Brazilian surfer. It is hard for us to understand how crowded the waves get in Brazil and it is really good to meet Brazilian surfers who respect the local scene. When they come to Australia they are welcome to surf wherever they want if they show respect and take turns. I have met a few Brazilian surfers lately who have been very respectful so its good to see. I hope you get some fun waves whenever you travel Pelon!!!
El Salvador is a surf destination, we rely on tourism to develop this small country, BUT if you are coming and you are respectfull with the locals and you will find world class waves and friends for life, otherwise if you surf like a brasilian with no etic in the water, expect the locals to show some...
Was there really any need to put all that info in this article? The search is part of the fun.... don't be surprised to find aggro locals when the masses start descending on these spots
I don't normally post in response to this sort of comment but I'm bemused by the idea that repeating information so clearly already in the public domain is an issue for anyone and wondered on what basis you'd come to that conclusion. All these main breaks have commercial surf camps running and have had for years, some owned or promoted by major national chains (eg. quik) and others by local surfers making their living in this way, the whole area was covered in a National Geographic article on surfing in 2005, the New York Times last year as just a couple of small examples of exposure far more mainstream than any we can give (both available on the web), we've had photos and maps of every spot here on this website for five years or so. This is not new, secret, low key or lacking in current and past coverage and just the tiniest amount of research will confirm (to you or any other travelling surfer) this. Assuming your idea of 'the search' was hacking round the jungle oblivious to the almost six million google results on surfing in El Salvador or the decades of mainstream surf media coverage I'm sorry we spoiled it for you, but the idea that all that's stopping the 'masses' being there right now is a lack of coordinates to punch into their satnav is pretty laughable...
How can u expect the locals not to be super heavy. Your telling everyone in the world how to get to all their spots. You even include the latitude and longitude.
To all those who thinks an article like this in the year 2010 makes a difference in the crowd level...it tells me you must be new to surfing, cause this place (and a lot of other surf spots) was going off 30+ years ago and it's still doable. There's way too much selfishness out there when it comes to localism...I love my break in Encinitas, but I weloome other surfers (when they're cool), cause there's times when I want to travel and surf new spots...just respect the locals, share the waves, and give up the lame "all for me" attitude...shows your inexperience in the ocean.
Mmmm. Great article and awesome photo's. Not sure that "blowing the place open" in so much detail is a good thing. Like all the pics and the info is useful. I might go tomorrow before the masses rush in.
Awesome article. El Salvador definitely has some lesser known surf spots that can be really challenging. Love the way you've designed the article too. Two thumbs up!
La Cocotera Resort
http://www.lacocoteraresort.com
hasseling,dropins and armed roberies on the way out to the point, thats one way to advertize keeping your waves to yourselves eh, ill never see you there compardrae
GREAT article,accurate information for a fabulous country,I have been living in El Salvador for 16 months,and coming from Australia I am an avid surfer and have surfed the whole coast,awesome array of waves,and the people are beautiful,as a female travelling on her own predominantly, I feel very safe,and lucky to be accepted and adopted as one of their own.
El Salvador ROCKS!!! 10 STARS
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