El Salvador: Playa El Tunco

We traveled from Suchitoto to El Tunco by passing through San Salvador. The only reason for us to travel there was because there is a direct shuttle bus back to Antigua from there. There are buses from San Salvador to Guatemala, but only to the capital. And since we wanted to be back on time for the end of Semana Santa (Easter week), we didn't want to take the detour through Guate Ciudad. So we booked a night in Playa El Tunco and took the shuttle from there to Antigua. To still have at least an afternoon to experience the beach life, we decided to take a taxi from San Salvador to the beach. The bus from Suchitoto stops at a different terminal than the one going to Tunco or La Libertad, and these terminals are located at opposite ends of the city, so we would have needed a taxi anyway to change terminals. Plus one more taxi to get from Libertad to Tunco.

When we arrived in El Tunco, we made our way to the beach, which was not far at all since our hostel was located right there. We didn't have much choice left because due to Semana Santa, everything was pretty much fully booked. The hotel owner is a Belgian who told us that he was able to buy this piece of land cheaply about 10 years ago. At that time, there was nothing around at all. Well, this has changed dramatically since then, the area around the property is now the party and hotel district of Tunco.
The beach, how shall I say, is the ugliest I have ever seen. Even the polluted beaches of Belize were almost paradise compared to this. But in Tunco, this is not due to dirt or trash or anything, but purely because it is a rocky beach. So there is no sand (or very little and pitch-black) and no palm trees, and therefore no umbrellas and beach chairs. But there are cocktails with umbrellas. And lots of alcohol, as there is on almost every beach. And loud music, there is music everywhere here. Salvadorans love loud music, many even drive around with huge speakers on the roofs of their cars. But there was no typical beach feeling here. Playa El Tunco is on the Pacific coast and is more of a surfer mecca than a swimming mecca. You can swim, but it's not without danger due to the waves, currents, and rocks in the water. However, there were still a lot of people, both Salvadorans and foreigners. This is by far the most touristy place in all of El Salvador! It was quite unusual after spending two and a half weeks in El Salvador to suddenly be one foreigner among many.

We weren't so much interested in swimming, but we had imagined ourselves chilling on a beach chair and watching the surfers on the giant waves. However, there was not only a lack of beach chairs, but also surfers. The only surfboards we saw around were stuck in the ground to provide shade for the few people on this uncomfortable beach.
But when the sunset came, so did the surfers (but still no beach chairs). It's logical, with temperatures of around 40°C (104°F) in the shade, it was too hot in the afternoon to even move outside of our air-conditioned hotel room. March and April are the hottest months in Central America before the rainy season starts, and in El Salvador, which is not particularly high above sea level, it was sometimes unbearably hot.
So we found a somewhat comfortable spot among the rocks, enjoyed the sunset, and watched the surfers out in the sea. Despite my disappointment (not just because of the damn beach chairs), the waves looked pretty mediocre from my point of view (maybe 2-3 meters?). Sure, it looks totally different when you're in the middle of it instead of just watching. But when I thought of a renowned surfer mecca, I expected some really huge waves. I was way off.

In the evening, we enjoyed being able to walk around outside in the middle of the night again, mingled with the party crowd, and had some drinks on the beach.

This was our time in El Salvador, and it's time for a conclusion. What I appreciated most about Salvador was experiencing that even in the most dangerous country in the world, the vast majority of people are just normal people who want to live in peace and do no harm to anyone. A loyal reader of our blog asked us if we didn't have the impression that these people have lost their joy of life? I think the people here possess a lot of joy of life, within the limits of their possibilities. Of course, the country and its population are marked by the war and especially the current prevailing problems. When you constantly have to fear for your life, you simply cannot live carefree and enjoy life, that's somehow logical. And people have resigned, you can clearly see that. Hardly anyone has hope that the situation will improve someday. No one has a perspective or an idea of how to improve the situation. While the state, the police, and the military are making efforts to curb gang crime, it all seems like a drop in the bucket. But ultimately, it is only the people of El Salvador who can truly change their situation and their fate, there must be a way!
And still... still they celebrate, they laugh, and they are joyful. They are kind, helpful, and very hospitable. They are happy that you are here and curious. For example, once we were in a supermarket loading vegetables and fruits into our shopping cart. In Guatemala, it is customary for the cashier to weigh the vegetables at the checkout. Not here. We didn't know. Immediately, a Salvadoran who was also busy with his shopping came to us and explained in his broken English that here you have to take it to a separate weighing station before the checkout. This is exemplary for El Salvador. Everyone gladly gives you information and helps you everywhere and anytime, shows you the way, tells you when to get off the bus.

Another fascinating aspect of traveling through El Salvador is that there is no infrastructure reserved for tourists, unlike in Guatemala. There are no tourist shuttles and no luxury buses, no expensive restaurants. If you want to travel, you travel in the regular bus together with the locals. If you want to eat, you eat in the Comedor with the Salvadorans, in a simple restaurant, or in the Pupuseria. We have probably had more contact with the locals and immersed ourselves in their normal everyday life here than in any other country we have visited on this trip. However, it must also be said that it has been the most difficult in any country to have deeper conversations with people. Simply because the Salvadorans' Spanish is really "ugly" or difficult to understand, and the people who have never been in contact with tourists before have little sensitivity and therefore show little consideration. They just keep talking at a machine gun pace, and either you understand it or you just have bad luck. So it can happen that they talk at you like a machine gun and then look at you with a friendly expectant gaze as if waiting for an answer, while you are still trying to figure out what the first half of the sentence could have meant.

Anyway, Jörg, who is rather sensitive to tourist crowds, loved being the only foreigner far and wide in Salvador.

Salvador is not particularly rich in tourist attractions. There are some volcanoes, colonial towns, waterfalls, coffee plantations, and the like. But all of this is also available in neighboring countries. If you are into handicrafts, you are better off in Guatemala. We haven't visited many museums, but there are not many here either, and not a wide range of them. Most of them are about the war.
All in all, in my opinion, El Salvador is a rather boring travel destination, it just doesn't have that much to offer. I really enjoyed traveling through the country because we were already here and had time. But I probably wouldn't fly here specifically for my two weeks of summer vacation.
However, if you really want to travel off the beaten path, then El Salvador is definitely the place to be. You really don't have to be afraid to come here, but always be cautious and use common sense.