el zonte, sv
El Zonte. Sweet El Zonte. It's certainly my favorite place in El Salvador. Without a doubt. It's where I chose to spend about a month-and-a-half of my time while I was here in El Salvador, and it's where I will spend my time whenever I go back there. The small little beachside community remains to be quaint, while also having a small and tight-knit traveling community. It, for me has everything that I wanted out of a temporary little home. The wave out front is amazing. There's really cool locals who are integrated into the travelling and expat community. There's a handful of really amazing places to eat. A few places to drink. And nightlife hotspots are within reach. Leaving El Zonte was one of the hardest places to leave for me. I could have easily stayed there a few months longer. A lot of people get stuck here as well. You may hear that El Zonte is also called 'Bitcoin Beach'. I will briefly discuss this just to talk about my personal experience with it. There is a community or more a niche of people that are walking around and call this place home, who are really into Bitcoin and have come here as a result of the hype around the country assigning Bitcoin as a secondary national currency — this place being considered kind of the home of it. However, it's not overwhelming. You'll see the people here, but if you don't want to be a part of it, it's not something that will consume life here. Unless you want it to, then you can find plenty of people to talk about that mystery money with. When you pull into El Zonte, it's not much more than a small main road with some little businesses, restaurants, and hotels on each side until you reach the rocky beach with a perfect right-hand-point break out front. There's a few restaurants on the beach. A couple of proper hostels and some great places to stay if your budget is higher as well. But the place is small. Really manageable, and you will have a complete understanding of the place within a few days. My favorite pupusas in the country are here as well. The city itself is split into two parts, which are divided by a river. There is no bridge, so you have to walk across the shallow river, by the beach/river-mouth to get across. The south side of town is a bit more developed. — Has more shops, paved road (kind of, it was in terrible shape when I was there). Make sure to check out both sides of the river. The north is slightly more rural, with no real town center, but there's a bunch of places worth going over there.
El Zonte is located in the north-western part of the country of El Salvador. It's about 3 miles North of El Tunco so you are really close to the main tourism area here. If you are coming down from Guatemala it's about a 2-hour ride from the border crossing at Hachadura. If you are coming down from Guatemala and you elect to take a shuttle, it will conveniently drop you off right in El Zonte. So getting here is significantly easier than getting to other places in the area like Mizata. A couple methods of getting to El Zonte are outlined below.
BY SHUTTLE -
- From Antigua - A very common place for people to come from is Antigua, GT. They will drop you off directly in El Zonte, and once you get to El Zonte it's small enough that you should be able to find your way around immediately. You can book the shuttle here. It's going to cost $40, and take about 5 hours.
- From Leon - Another common place to come in from is Leon. You can book your shuttle here. They will drop you off directly in El Zonte — you just need to tell them that's where you are going. They will also make stops in the other popular beach towns — Sunzal and Tunco. This ride will be much longer, and take about 12 hours. It costs $45.
If you are already in El Salvador, navigating your way to El Zonte shouldn't be too difficult either. There is a bus stop right in front of the exit to the town, and you can take a local bus from really anywhere.
- From El Tunco you can take a local bus that departs hourly from El Tunco to El Zonte. It will take about 5-10 minutes, and cost $1. The line is 192.
- From the El Salvador Airport - This is assuming that you are flying into the country. First things first is you need to get to El Tunco. To get to El Tunco from the airport, you should probably get a shuttle if you think that will be easiest for you. You can book here, — it's going to be kind of expensive at $50. This company will also transport you to the nearby beach towns, Sunzal, El Zonte, etc. If you want to save money you can take a shuttle to the bus line near the airport. But that's going to be a tricky journey. The shuttle is just kind of a price that you have to eat.
DRIVING - To avoid all of the kind of hassle-loaded travel in El Salvador, you can just drive. Or rent a car at the airport. If you are overlanding it's easy enough, just follow Highway 2 down from the border of Guatemala and you will arrive there eventually. If you are coming from San Salvador, I would recommend taking Route 4 down into La Libertad, and then up the 2 to El Zonte. The drive is beautiful.
HITCHHIKE - Probably one of the more common ways to get around in this part of the country is to hitchhike. Locals are extremely nice and will pull over and let you hop in the truck-bed or right into the car and they will take you up or down the coast as far as they are going. If it were me, and I found myself in El Tunco and needed to get to El Zonte with no car, I would hitchhike. I wouldn't necessarily recommend a hitchhike all the way from the airport. But do you?
HOSTELS, CAMPING, AND HOTELS (IF ANY)
There's lots of housing opportunities here in El Zonte. It goes up and down the quality spectrum about as far as humanly possible. There are budget accommodation options that are probably going to be best for most people reading this page, and then also one of the nicest surf resorts that I have ever seen anywhere in the world. If you are here looking for surf recs and have the means to stay in a really nice place, then there is also plenty of stuff for you here.
Another recommendation here is if you want to spend a long time in El Zonte, there's great volunteering or work-exchange opportunities. Look out for those below.
Michanti is the most special place in El Zonte to me. It was my home for a month, as I did a work-exchange there. It's owned by an amazing local El Salvadorian — 'Pablo' — and the crew of people around both working and just hanging out is amazing, local, and very much the local surf community. It's located on the northern side of the river. It's a very nice spot, and to stay here will probably be out of most backpackers' budget. But they have the best volunteering program I have ever seen. They take about 4 volunteers at a time, and I can't recommend it enough. Even if you aren't staying here, make sure you pay them a visit to try some amazing food, have some drinks, go to a yoga or dance class, or just go by to have some beers in the pool. The only drawback to Michanti is that it's about a 3 or 4-minute walk to get to the water. But the place and the vibe well makes up for this little inconvenience.
This is the most popular hostel within the backpacking community. It's a proper hostel, a small block back from the water. They are the only place in town that has proper dorms, and the prices are going to be super cheap. It's very basic accommodation in a slowly fading structure along the water, but you get what you pay for. If you are looking to meet people, other surfers — and stay for as cheap as possible, then this is your spot.
My favorite hostel in El Zonte is Punta El Zonte. It's a pretty basic place, but it's right on the point in front of the wave. It's the best-located hotel or hostel in the entire town, and the prices are so right. They don't really have a dorm, it's more of a room with 4 beds in it that they put backpackers in who want to stay for cheap, but it's worth it to wake up and walk out and look right at the wave. In addition to the dorm room, they have a number of privates and bungalows built above the water if you are traveling with a partner or something. I would recommend staying here, 100%. — Locally owned and operated as well.
Now this is probably going to be out of the budget for almost everyone here, but Puro Surf is the nicest surf resort that I have ever seen. It's a stunningly constructed hotel on the top of the hill, with a training facility, surf skate training area, infinity pool with a view of the waves, luxury food, and impeccable accommodation. If you have the money and want a next-level luxury surf experience, this is your spot.
A cool locally-owned hotel right in the center of town, and along the river. I never spent much time here, but I heard great things from everyone who spent time here.
Little surf house on the north side of the river. The owners have been here for a while, and it's a great option if you are down for a little while with a bigger group of people. It's right out in front of the sand on the north side, so the sunsets are amazing. The local community is always here as well, so it's a cool place to come and stay if you want to be involved in the surf community during your time here.
EATS
For the tiny town that it is, El Zonte has great food options. It's home to probably my favorite local food in the northern beach town area, and there's loads of options all around that will keep you happy for as long as you are here.
As with most places like El Zonte, a lot of — if not most of the hostels and hotels will have kitchens and food options that are good.
Restaurants
Some of the best pupusas that you will ever have. It's probably the most popular place to eat in town. This small little shack is serving up some of the most delicious pupusas I have ever had, every night, for nice and cheap. The best.
Owned by my good friend Ramos. This is a great spot where you can get smoothies, healthy and delicious rice bowls, and all things of that nature. Perfect post-surf food.
— Another really good pupusa option if you have had Geisy's too many times. It's across the highway, only a 2-minute walk or so from El Zonte town.
Little local spot right on the water. They will have pupusas and other local dishes.
Epic little breakfast cafe spot right on the water. They are known for their weekend brunch, that is delicious. Owned by a friend named 'Ollie'. Great spot to go and support, with delicious food.
The aforementioned hotel on the northern side of the river has a great full menu with delicious food. 'Taco Tuesday' here is really popular, and turns into a bit of a party. Don't miss it.
A chef-driven restaurant with unique and really tasty dinners. They serve a variety of food, but a lot of it is Asian-inspired. The menu is always changing too. I never met the owner, but he's from some Nordic country, so there's a reason it's called 'The Viking'.
A new spot here in Zonte that is serving up modern good food.
A small little vegan spot on the north side of town. They have a really cool space that a lot of local skaters and surfers work at.
NIGHTLIFE
Nightlife isn't a huge aspect of life in El Zonte. But it can certainly be found. There aren't really any bars or clubs here that will be going off on a nightly basis. There's really nothing that will be consistently happening. That is all going to be found over in El Tunco, where the nightlife is burgeoning.
On the weekends people will get together, and there will be parties randomly at places. If you are here for a while, keep your ears open and maybe you will hear something. Meet a local, maybe they will tell you about something cool going on.
Other than that, I would say Taco Tuesday at Michanti can be fun for going out, and just generally drinking there is fun. Also beers at the skate park. But from a nightlife perspective, not much is going on here. That's great though, people are getting up early to surf anyways.
SIGHTS
The things to do and see in this part of El Salvador are not going to be unique based on the location. Everything in the northern part of El Salvador is so damn close to each other that the sights and touristic things to do here are pretty much identical.
Outside of exploring the individual towns that each page is already outlining, the things to do will not really — if at all, differ. But there is loads to do here in this part of the country. It's all mentioned below. Well... most of it.
SUNSET IN ZONTE
The sunset in El Zonte is absolutely stunning. It's also kind of like a social event every night. People walk down, and especially if it's low tide, walk out onto the beach to enjoy the beautiful view together. Make sure to go down for one of these if you are in town. The north side of the river is the spot to be for this every evening.
There's a cool little natural arch and cave up the beach in El Zonte. Walk north along the beach on the northern side of the river, and you will pretty much run into it. Make sure it is at low tide though, because at high tide it can be near impossible or impossible to reach.
The Tamanique Waterfalls are a series of waterfalls that are located really close to the beach towns in Northern El Salvador. It's pretty accessible from all of the towns. They are located in the town of Tamanique, and you first need to get there, which is about a 25-minute drive from El Tunco, El Zonte or Sunzal. When you get to town there is about a 30-minute hike down to get to the waterfalls. There's great pools to jump in and swim around. It's a really nice thing to do on an afternoon, and doesn't take that long. Isn't very hard either.
Most people do a tour here to make the transport there and back easy. As with everything here, I will recommend going with my friend 'Rivas'. He's great, and knows El Salvador like no one else I met. He'll even take you to some other waterfalls that are local secrets.
His Instagram is here — you can reach out directly there. He can help you with anything that you want to do in the country.
One of the best cultural things that you can do in El Salvador is travel throughout the 'Ruta de Las Flores'. Or in English, 'The Route of Flowers'. It gets its name from the stunning flowers that bloom seasonally along it. There's a number of amazing towns that lie along it, and each is unique and worth visiting. More on this on the 'Ruta de Las Flores' page.
A great day trip from the beach towns is to go up to the Volcan de San Salvador. It's not the worlds most impressive volcano, but it's a great way to spend an afternoon. You see a lot of cool little spots in El Salvador while you do the drive up as well.
Best way to do this is through a tour. As with everything here I will recommend going with my friend Rivas. He's great, and knows El Salvador like no one else I met. On this trip you will make a few other cool stops as well.
His Instagram is here — you can reach out directly there. He can help you with anything that you want to do in the country.
El Salvador is right smack dab in the middle of the Central American coffee belt, which means they produce and export some of the best coffee in the world. A great activity in El Sal is to go visit and tour a coffee farm. It's fun, informative, and you get to see an interesting part of the country. Not to mention have some good coffee.
Best way to do this is through a tour. As with everything here I will recommend going with my friend Rivas. He's great, and knows El Salvador like no one else I met. On this trip you will make a few other cool stops as well.
His Instagram is here, — you can reach out directly there. He can help you with anything that you want to do in the country.
LEARN TO SURF
Surfing is one of the main attractions in the country. Many of those who come to El Sal already surf pretty well, but if not, it's a great place to learn. Sunzal especially, is one of the best learning waves in Central America. There's places to learn how to surf all over the place, depending on what town you are in.
The Santa Ana volcano is El Salvador's main tourist attraction. — Without a doubt. It's a stunning volcano that's unique in the fact that it has a lake in the middle of it. It's one of the cooler-looking volcanoes, and certainly one of the most unique I have ever seen. If you are coming from the beach-towns, it's quite a trek. About 2 hours. There's more info on this on the 'Santa Ana' page, and if you plan on spending time there, or Lago de Coatepeque, then I would recommend going on a tour or busing yourself to the volcano from there.
The hike up the volcano isn't a short one. It's about 2 hours up, and 2 hours down. It's a pretty steep hike as well. So if you're really out of shape it might be hard. But you should be fine. More detail on the hike is here at the Alltrails.
This is going to be specific to El Zonte, but even if you aren't staying in the town, it's one of my favorite spots to spend an evening. The local skaters here are rippers, and it's a very cool, fully graffitied skate-bowl. It's fun to just go hang out, watch the locals skate, and drink a few beers as the sun goes down.
A beautiful lake here in El Salvador. Something that surprised me entirely, and I didn't even know it existed. But I really enjoyed it, — there's a very cool hostel, and a bunch of beautiful restaurants on the lake. Just a great spot that's relatively unknown. — More on that on the 'Lake Coatepeque' page.
Suchitoto is one of the coolest-looking places in the entire country. It's a small little town that is about an hour-and-15-minutes from downtown San Salvador. It's a cobblestoned street, red brick-roof and white-painted houses 'magic town' on a lake. It's such a cool spot to check out. More on this place on the 'Suchitoto' page.
— One of the stranger things that I did in El Salvador to be honest. There's this restaurant that is more of an amusement park up in the mountains on the way to Volcan San Salvador. There is this colorful slide, — pictured here, that has become something of an Instagram-famous spot. People ride down it for $5. It's weird, random, and the place is also full of a bunch of animatronic animals like elephants and such. It's weird, but people seem to flock to it.
SURFING
The surfing sections for Northern El Salvador are pretty much going to be the same. All of the individual wave recommendations below will be the same, but here I will go into a little more detail on the specific wave that exists here in Mizata. All of the waves in Northern El Salvador are pretty close to one another, which is why I will just include them all on every page.
A little on El Salvador surfing. Quickly. El Salvador is one of the most wave-rich places I have ever been. Such a small country, so many waves. If you like right-hand-point breaks, this is one of the best places in the world for them.
The photos below are specific to El Zonte.
El Zonte -
El Zonte is one of the more popular waves in El Salvador. The town is a hotspot for those coming to try and find a more laid back and chill environment to live in, while they have waves right out front. So the crowds can certainly be a thing.
— Especially when the waves are small, it can get pretty packed.
The wave at El Zonte has a few aspects. It's for one a long-peeling right-hand-point break. Shocker coming from El Salvador, right? But it has your stereotypical beautiful right-hand point break over rock. When the wave is small, it's really manageable, and a perfect spot for people to learn. As a result when it's not too big, the crowds can pick up with a lot of learners crowding the lineup. However, when the waves get big it's a different story. The waves gets faster and more steep with the inside section getting extremely bowly and hectic. This size will keep the learners away, but you will still have some decent crowds, especially if it's a weekend. If it's during the week, and big, you might just get lucky and there be only a couple heads in the water. El Zonte holds size pretty well, but not as well as per se 'Punta Roca' or 'Sunzal'. It will eventually max out as sets start coming in and breaking in the middle of the bay. Head high to head high and a half is really the sweet spot here.
In addition to the point break here, Zonte also boasts one of the best lefts in El Salvador. The land of rights. There's a left-hand, more performance wave that breaks off the river-mouth. Essentially the other side of the point. It's really fun and typically is just full of all the goofy footers in the area who are fiending for some lefts. However, the crowds here are usually pretty mellow compared to the point. So if you want some less crowded waves in Zonte you can just paddle over there.
Really fun wave here with something for everyone. The locals here are really nice, but respect them. It's their home. Keep an eye out for local standout 'Sancudo'. He surfs on a boogie board, and it's the most impressive thing you will ever see in the water.
Photos courtesy of Sunzal Surf Co.
So this is a pretty weird recommendation, but it could be fun if you want to do something weird and local. There is a ferris wheel and small amusement park on the Malecon or boardwalk in La Libertad. It opened recently, as a part of the 'Surf City' national development campaign. It could be fun to go for an evening. Ride the weird rollercoasters and ferris-wheel — reminiscent, oddly, of Venice Beach.
