El Salvador has a history that is shrouded in civil war and
violence and the warriors still remain. We crossed the border from Guatemala
with the usual hoo- ha regarding the importation of the car then promptly got
pulled over by the cops. However, El Salvador’s government have been trying to
reverse the trend of corruption that plagues Central America and we didn’t have
to bribe anyone this time. Our first stop was El Tunco in the west of the
country. This area is pretty sketchy with some friends of ours being robbed at
gunpoint only a few weeks ago. There are
a few good surf breaks around here such as El Sunzal and La Bocana. I paddled
out at the latter one morning and before I had even got out the back some local
surfers started harassing me and telling me in to go and surf elsewhere. I
can’t understand much Spanish but it was pretty clear that gringos weren’t
welcome. They surrounded me and continued the tirade until I paddled down the
beach to a different peak. The vibe on the land wasn’t much better with a lot
of staring etc and comments to Danielle. It wasn’t all bad though, as we got
some good waves and met some other travellers in the hostel.
After a few days we went further down the coast to El Cuco
and a point break called Las Flores. We managed to get a cheap room right on
the point, literally. It was actually below the high tide mark. Real basic
accommodation but location, location, location! Las Flores was a great wave
that peeled forever and we surfed our brains out. There is another wave that I
got a boat to called Punta Mango that is heavy and great fun but unfortunately
it’s full of Brazilians. These guys are by far the worst nationality of surfers
on the planet. Everywhere they go, they bring their arrogant attitude with
them. They drop in and snake everyone, even each other! Honestly, they should
be embarrassed with their behaviour and what they have turned surfing into. Anyway...
we met some great Aussie, Austrian, Portuguese, American, Hawaiian and Kiwi
crew that we hung out with and shared some awesome waves with. Unfortunately El
Salvador’s great waves are in really putrid water. Some friends got ear
infections, eye infections, sickness etc. Danielle had the misfortune of having
a skin reaction which kept her out of the water for the rest of the trip.
7 days down in El Cuco was enough and we made the decision
to do the biggest U-turn of the trip and start heading north. It really was
weird driving in the opposite direction after heading south for so long. We
went back to El Tunco for a few days where I surfed Punta Roca which is the
best wave in Central America but unfortunately it is in a really sketchy town
called La Libertad. Stories of surfers being robbed are a regular occurrence so
Danielle stayed in a safe restaurant whilst I surfed the point. The first day I
surfed it was really crowded and hostile with locals sending in gringos but the
second day was the opposite and I managed to get some great waves with only 3
other guys. This was my last surf in El Salvador and after 2 weeks of great
waves, we were absolutely surfed out. Time to head north.
