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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

El Salvador: Playa El Tunco

Sunset over the rocks on El Tunco
Sunset over the rocks on El Tunco

There's nothing particularly wrong with Playa El Tunco, the surfing beach on El Salvador's western Pacific Coast. The beach is pretty enough and has an interesting rock formation just off the shore that gives a certain balance to the millions of photos that you can't help snapping as the sun sets off the beach; it isn't terribly big, so it's easy to wander around on foot; there's hardly any traffic and a ticketed entry system is enforced at the weekends to keep things manageable; and most of the time there are more Salvadoran tourists than western travellers pounding the streets, so it doesn't feel too overrun with devotees of the Lonely Planet.

Sunset and surfers
Sunset and surfers

Surfin' USA

El Tunco beach in the daytime
El Tunco beach in the daytime

That said, El Tunco has its moments. It's pleasant to enjoy a cold beer on the beach as the sun sets, though the food is a lot better further back, away from the beach; it's fun to watch the surfers trying out the breaks, though as a lot of them are surfing for the first time, you end up watching more wipeouts than runs; and it's fascinating to see so many fat people, which is something you don't see so much in the poorer countryside. El Tunco is where the local rich go for a break, and they clearly eat a lot more than the poorer farmers.

The lovely colours of the sunset over El Tunco
The lovely colours of the sunset over El Tunco