Best Surf Spots (Beginner+intermediate): Las Flores, El Salvador

What’s the Surf Spot Series ?

It’s the Salty Team’s favorite surf spots 😉

When it comes to surfing, it’s never easy to pick the right spot, especially as beginners. There are so many and they all work better at different time of the year, with different swell direction, tides etc. In this series, we will be sharing informations about those surf destinations we adore.

This month, the spotlight is on a very playful wave located in one of our favorite countries: El Salvador!

The view from above // photo: Israel Barona

The first time I went to Las Flores, there was a surf contest and there were barely any waves. I remember thinking “ Why the heck are they doing a surf competition here…this wave is shitty!”

Well.

Be careful what you say, because a couple days later, it proved me that I was so, but SO wrong… I saw what Las Flores has to offer: a long (+/- 300m) right-hand, perfectly-peeling wave! The first section of the wave – which is breaking behind the point of rocks- is a fast tubular section mostly for advanced surfers. The rest of the wave is a fun long solid wall breaking over a sand bottom, which also allows beginners to have their “best-wave-ever” !

Las Flores is located on the East Coast of El Salvador, about 2 hours from San Salvador airport. This part is also called the “Wild East” because of its impressive natural area. It is a small beach village where fishing is the main lucrative activity. You can, and should, explore around as there are lots of other breaks, especially one called Punta Mango: a juicy powerful mechanical right-hand wave, faster than Las Flores and probably the hollowest in the region (but also the most wind sensitive.)

El Salvador offers incredibly constant waves and is his people are so friendly. This why we offer an epic 8-day surf yoga experience in El Zonte!

Surf Spot type: Right point break with sand bottom

Las Flores works pretty much all year round, but mostly between March to December. Bigger swells are between May to September.

Mid to low tide. It tends to flatten out at high tide.
When there’s a bigger swell, it works at all tides: a higher tide provides a fatter, slower wave and a lower tide means a hollow take-off and strong current.
When there isn’t much swell, you can also enjoy the beach break that works better from mid to high tide.

Beginners: 3 – 5 feet.
Intermediate and Advanced will love everything between head high (5-6 feet) to triple overhead (+/- 15 feet)— although at this size it must be pretty hard and intense to paddle out and wipeouts must be legendary !

S, SW, SSW

The view from within the water // photo: Israel Barona

Las Flores is a very consistent wave working 90% of the year- 330 days.
It’s a machine-like kinda of wave, it peels perfectly !
Unless you’re taking off behind the point of rocks (where there’s the tubular section), it’s a sandy bottom- so no worries about injuring yourself in the rocks.
Locals are super friendly. And you rarely see more than 3 or 4 of them in the water.
The water is super warm, no wetsuit needed ! 😀
The landscape is pretty sick: it’s a palm trees paradise !
There’s not much to do beside surfing which means you can’t get distracted from getting your daily surfing fix. 😛
There are other fun and perfect breaks around. I highly recommend Punta Mango which is about 20 minutes away from Las Flores. There are also accommodation close to that break.
My recommendation for accommodation in Las Flores is Rancho Alicia (from 25$US to 50$US/night). You might not find it on Internet but you can use the latino way of communicating and WhatsApp them: +503 7168 9023

On a big swell, there’s a lot of current, especially at low tide: your arms will feel like spaghetti and you’ll surely feel the burn in your neck and shoulders. There’s a price to pay for surfing amazing waves !
When there’s a good swell, it can be crowded- mostly with tourists.
The sun is pretty strong so wear looots of sunscreen and drink tonnes of water -or coconut water since it’s a palm-tree paradise.
There’s not many cheap accommodation options. In a matter of fact, one of the fanciest hotel of the country is in Las Flores: Las Flores Surf Club. I also recommend Hotel Miraflores which is a bit less fancy but way more affordable.

El Salvador is definitely one of my favorite place to surf in the world! About you come see by yourself? More infos about our 8-day surf trip in El Salvador.