Guide to El Salvador

Getting to San Salvador

The El Salvador airport (SAL) is about 40 minutes from San Salvador. El Salvador charges a $12 fee to enter the country. Payable with cash, credit card or bitcoin. There are lots of taxis and (sometimes) Ubers at the airport. If you’d like to schedule a ride use Napoleon: Whatsapp +503 6057 4825. $35 for the trip. He accepts btc or cash. If you're heading to the beach, it's also about 45-60 minutes and a similar price.

Note, the airport does have free wifi before you leave the baggage claim. Ask an attendant for the password.

The Essentials

Currency: The currency is dollars. Cards are almost always accepted. And there are tons of atms that charge a $4 fee. There are also chivo btc atms (viewable on google) where you can convert btc to dollars for a small 0.5% fee. If you want to use btc I suggest downloading the muun wallet.

Transport: Ubers are plentiful in San Salvador. They’re safe and usually cost $2-4/ride. Traffic can delay you a lot if you’re traveling between 4-6:30 pm so plan accordingly.

Car Rentals: International car rental services are available at airport or in San Salvador. They cost about $60-80/day with insurance. Vaquerano Car Rental is a lot cheaper ($20-50/day) but has a 5 day minimum for rentals. I have a few local friends that rent out cars ($25 for sedans, $50 for SUV) very trustworthy people w/ good English +503 7346 1323. The roads are in decent shape but drivers are not great. Lots of accidents. I highly recommend renting a car. The best part of El Salvador is hopping between the beach, mayan ruins, jungles, colonial towns, and volcanos. All very close to each other.

Sims: Airalo app offers an El Salvador esim for $8. The service isn't good but it's useful to have a plan when you arrive. If you need a good plan most malls will sell and activate sims (eg, multiplaza). I recommend Tigo. Bring an ID. Plans are as cheap as $5/month. Takes about 10 minutes to setup.

Food delivery: Pedidosya or Uber Eats or Super Selectos. I recommend using the mobile apps and not websites.

Do not drink the tap water! Use bottled water only. People haven't gotten sick consuming ice or vegetables at restaurants but if you want to be extra safe avoid them.

English levels aren’t that high. I recommend google translate. Google lens is a great way to translate a menu in real-time.

Where to Stay

There are tons of hotels and Airbnbs in San Salvador. Prices are quite reasonable. I recommend the Kaleo Hotel and Il Buongustaio’s hotels in San Benito.

San Benito is the most walkable, upscale area of the city. It’s very safe. Lots of restaurants, cafes, and bars.

If you don’t find somewhere you like in San Benito, I recommend Escalon. It’s also safe. It’s not as easy to walk it but fairly easy to Uber around.

Where to Eat

San Benito and Escalon neighborhoods have a ton of good restaurants. The google maps restaurant filter is the best way to find them.

Highly recommend Andian Cafe, La Tostaderia Cafes. Luma Panadería and Silvestre Cafe are also solid brunch spots. La Pampa and Hacienda Real
are great steak houses. Beto’s has good seafood. Donde Leo Concina has upscale mediterranean. Tacos Hermanos is awesome but usually has an hour wait. Biscuit Factory (nueva casa), Viva Espresso, Sucre, and Roots Food Artisans and are also good cafe options. i4tavolini is good but outside the city.

Stuff to Do in San Salvador

I do not recommend going to downtown San Salvador. It was very dangerous until a year ago so the area is still poor. The national palace is beautiful there but there's not much else to see in that area. Best to go around San Benito (has museums), Escalon, and Santa Elena. If you want an older colonial vibe you could go to Santa Tecla (just west of El Cafetalon park was fine).

Nature

Other Child-Friendly Activites:

Medical Care

Diagnostic Hospital is the best place to go if you’re injured. Medical care is great and extremely affordable.

Lab work, dentistry and primary care are much cheaper and better than in the US. Whatsapp Dr. Jaime in Escalon for primary care (+503 7769 0430).

Utilities

Attractions Outside San Salvador

A lot of the best parts of the country are within an hour of San Salvador. The people who fall in love with El Salvador are the people who go see a lot of it. It is well worth renting a car at least when you first visit the country.

Beaches: Surf City beaches: we like the beach at Atami Resort ($12 day pass) or Bitcoin Beach (aka El Zonte). El Tunco has the most lodging. We prefer the other 2 beaches though. All 3 of those beaches have surfing and rental shops that offer lessons. There is a taxi service that will cheaply shuttle you along the coast. Napoleon can drive you to and from San Salvador ($30) or airport ($35). Mizata Beach is further away but very beautiful and has a nice resort there.

Waterfalls: There are a ton of them. Our favorite is Taminique. Requires a guide. costs $7/person. It's a mile hike down and a steep hike back up. Several waterfalls and you can jump into them if you hike all the way down into the river.

Hiking: San Salvador has hiking in Bicentenario Park. The Santa Ana Volcano hike is the most popular in the country. It's an incredible hike. The crater is gorgeous. The Izalco Volcano next to Santa Ana is also popular. If you're by the beach, you can hike in Walter Thilo Deininger National Park. Very large and has mountain bikes, hiking, rock climbing, caves.

Coatepeque Lake: Very beautiful lake with mountain views. Clean. Swimmable. Can rent boats or jet skis. No public spaces at the lake but can buy day passes. Captain Morgan Hostel ($5 pass; party vibe), Villa Noelia ($10 pass [$20 w/ towels]; more upscale), or Cardedeu ($30 pass; very upscale).

Mayan Ruins: There are a lot of these. San Andres is on the way to the lake so it's an easy one to stop in at. Joya de Ceren is also close to there.

Colonial Towns: Suchitto is small but quite pretty. Lots of cafes and food. Boat tours on that lake are fun. Safe and lots of tourists. Ataco is also nice. It's in the scenic Ruta De Las Flores area which has a lot of nice little towns, hot springs, and waterfalls.

Getting a Tax ID (NIT)

Anyone can get a NIT. Takes about 10 minutes. Don't need to be a resident. They are quite useful to have. You need it to open a bank account, buy a car, and become a resident.

Go to the Ministry of Finance (Ministerio de Hacienda) in the Centro Comercial las Cascadas Mall (next to multiplaza mall). You can make an appointment here but I just walked in and there was no wait. Select libertdad - cascadas as the office name.
https://portaldgii.mh.gob.sv/ssc/serv

Good youtube video if you want more info about the process. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP_uV8xPfBc

Getting Residency

Currently residency isn't worth doing if you don't plan to spend at least 9 months in El Salvador a year. If you are residing here most of the year, then it's fairly cheap and low effort. takes about 1-2 months. Message me for a lawyer recommendation.

Banking

You can open a Banco Agricola account with just a NIT (tax id) and an employment letter from your company. They're on SWIFT so it's a good account to have. Bring a passport. Note, to cash a check you'll need your passport on you usually. You can transfer money within El Salvador for free. Wires from US cost about $55.

Buying a car

Cars are all imported from the US. pretty much all of them have been in accidents. I recommend searching on Facebook Marketplace for decent vehicles. Always check the VIN! Bring a mechanic to cars that look promising. You can get a lawyer to register the car for you (David handled mine: +503 7819 6348) and deal with the paperwork for like $60 all in including registration fees.

Car insurance here is high quality. Use Mapfre. If you get into an accident they have a whatsapp line (+503 7933 0939) that was easy to work with. Very efficient process.

My mechanic is David. Whatsapp +503 7805 2265.

Leasing a House

In the best areas housing costs $1k/mo for a 2 bed apartment, $1,600/mo for a great 3 bed house, and $6k/mo for amazing villas. Renting is not hard at all for foreignors. If you're on a strict budget Santa Tecla can be much cheaper than that. Just find a good realtor. Message me for recommendations.

Comments/additions/questions? Email Alephdao@gmail.com.