Have Any of You Cruised El Salvador

[Stingo]

The good, the bad and the ugly, please.


TIA

[tenchiki]

The YouTube channel "White Spot Pirates" is cruising up the West coast of Central America from Panama to Mexico. I think she Skipped Nicaragua, but stopped in all the countries, including El Salvador. Might be worth checking out.

[Benz]

Hot and muggy, limited options. In the Gulf of Fonseca, there's more Honduras stops than El Salvador: Isla del Tigre and San Lorenzo are worth a visit. Meanguera (El Salvador) has a good anchorage and pleasant walking, but not real re-supply options. There's La Union, where people from Isla del Tigre go to shop, but I didn't,

Outside the Gulf of Fonseca, both available ports require local pilotage, since breaking bars must be negociated. Once inside Bahia del Sol (we skipped Barillas), life is pleasant enough: the anchoring is secure, and there's decent (and cheap) food an easy walk from dinghy dockage. There's several mooring service options as well. Buses can be cheaply taken around the country to see the sights, or to San Salvador for some city living (surprisingly attractive after weeks in the jungle).
The mosquitoes can be frightful, and the heat oppressive (sp?) and departure can be delayed by rowdy bar conditions.
This was all 10+ years ago, so things might have changed, though not the estuary entrances, I suspect.

[Montanan]

Always a good source of information for cruisers.

Noonsite reference:

https://www.noonsite.com/place/el-salvador/

Bon voyages.

[mvweebles]

Bahia del Sol in El Salvador gets very high marks. We are headed there in a month or so and will leave our boat there for about 6 months to wait out the summer before headed to Panama. I've talked with about 6 sailors who have been through there in the past 2 years, including one power boat who is there now waiting for suitable weather to cross the bar. The wait has cost them over a week delay.

Puesta del Sol in Nicuragua also gets decent reviews though Nicuragua is a bit more sketchy than El Salvador. I know of one first hand account from a sailboat who spent a week at Puesta del Sol within the last month. They enjoyed it, said the marina was very helpful (although mostly empty) and they rented a car to explore inland.

Overall, Noonsite is a good source. There are some cautions on Fonseca because three countries border the bay and they have apparently had fishing rights disputes so there is some interesting discussion.

I'd recommend finding recent first-hand information. Much of the feedback on sites such as CF is quite old and while a good start, cannot be relied upon. I have SouthboundGroup.IO and Panama Posse to be a decent source of recent, firsthand information

Good luck.