While hanging out in the flat summer surf here in Puerto Rico for the last month I was beginning to get itchy for some real surf. I’d already had to postpone my trip to Puerto Escondido because of the damn H1N1 Swine Flu virus outbreak, and it was time for me to get out of here and surf some fun waves.
With a little luck and some help from the Swellinfo forecasting tools I made the right call to visit my friends in El Salvador.
Like any of my favorite Central American surfing destinations, El Salvador is always in my top three when it comes to a quick in and out surf trip. Some of the best waves are within minutes of the San Salvador airport, prices for lodging and food are very low, the official currency of El Salvador is the US dollar, and when you cruise with Francis “El Chute” Hasbun or Jimmy and Bob Rotherham’s Surfing El Salvador tour guide operation you can’t go wrong.
On this trip I decided to stay close to the city and tackle the infamous La Libertad, a world-class point break in the town of the same name, which was pioneered by Bob Rotherham in the early 70’s. From my point of view this wave is one of the best right point breaks in all of Central America and especially when it’s in the 4 to 8 foot range.
The wave breaks from the first peak far up the point all the way past the cemetery and into the next bay right in front of the town of La Libertaad. If you were to ride a wave all the way from the top of the point to the sand it would be a ride of about half a mile. The bottom is a cobble stone reef until you pass the point in front of town, and the water is a very warm greenish color. It’s pretty much like a warm water Jeffrey’s Bay.
If you ever plan to make a surf trip to El Salvador short boards are the call. You might want to have a medium sized board for the bigger days, or a longboard for some of the softer spots like El Sunzal, but you won’t be in need of a gun here (not for surfing, anyway). More importantly, make sure you leave all the bad vibes and the crowd at home. The El Salvador locals are super cool but they don’t take grief from anyone in the water. If you start pulling the Puerto Rican dropping in action, or try to employ the “Voy! Voy! Voy!” or the “Mira! Mira! Mira!” approach to getting your waves, your trip can quickly change from a first class surfing affair to a situation where you find yourself completely barred from the peak.
Overall El Salvador is a fun place for surf in Central America and the food is unreal. If you hire a guide you could be surfing completely uncrowded spots by yourself or with just your mates.
If you haven’t decided where you’re going to surf this summer El Salvador could be the perfect surf getaway. Especially with the current economy and the price of getting to far-off destinations like Indonesia, South Africa, The South Pacific, New Zealand, or Australia so high, Central America is the perfect low cost trip for any budget. And if you’re a regular footed surfer like me you just can’t go wrong in El Salvador with all the right hand point breaks.
For the best places to stay and awesome surf guides in El Salvador try Jimmy Rotherham at Surfing El Salvador (www.surfingelsalvador.com) or Francis “El Chute” Hasbun who rents accommodations and also provides surf tour services and can be reached via e-mail at sgtchute@gmail.com or visit his Jungle Surf Tours website (www.junglesurftours.com).
And whatever you do this summer, go surfing and have fun!