When my friend and I booked our flight on Avianca Airlines from the United States to Peru we had no option but to book our flight with a long layover in El Salvador, a country in Central America. Our layover was 7 hours to be exact. Because both of us have somewhat adventurous spirits we definitely didn’t want to stay at the airport that long and we started looking up what to do on a long layover in El Salvador. We looked on Trip Advisor and all over the internet, but didn’t seem to find any real viable options.
Now there are TONS of great layover options all over Viator and TripAdvisor, but at the time we went, there wasn’t much. One option we did find was to go on a tour of the city in a cab. As two traveling females, we had heard that San Salvador wasn’t the safest place so we opted to do something else. If I were to go now, I probably would have given San Salvador a chance on our 7 hours layover.
After speaking with one of my colleagues, I learned that El Salvador’s beaches were amazing. Specifically, Playa El Tunco. So, we decided to arrive in El Salvador, try and leave the El Salvador International Aiport, and go to Playa El Tunco. Adventuress Kate also recommends Play El Tunco as a great place (and safe place) to visit in El Salvador.
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What To Do With A Long Layover In El Salvador
Here’s what we did, and I highly recommend you do it too if you have a layover in El Salvador. If you’d rather do something else, I have a list at the bottom of this post with other great options for your long layover!
Note: Please make sure you do your research on official government sites as the systems and prices may have changed since I was last there.
Step 1: Pay the “leave the airport” tax
We realized quickly that you have to pay an airline tax to leave the airport and come back. El Salvador’s International airport is long and skinny with a lot of people in wheelchairs (this was weird?) and we found the Avianca desk at one end of the terminal to pay the tax. They made us pay $37.00 USD to leave the airport and come back in. Be prepared for El Salvadorians to take their time. We thought it was a little expensive but worth not sitting in the airport all day.
Step 2: Get your visa
We went down to the customs gate and bought our visas to get into El Salvador. This cost us $10 and was the minimum visa you can get in El Salvador. This gets you 90 days in the country. They also took their sweet time to do this but were very kind, excited to talk to us, and gave us recommendations of food to eat…mainly papusas. There wasn’t any extra charge for our visas.
Step 3: Grab your cab
We asked the officers at the gate where to get taxis to El Tunco and they guided us outside to a taxi who said he would take us to El Tunco for $30 USD for about a 45-minute ride. After getting in, we asked him to take us to Playa El Tunco and tried to tell him to take us to the public part. Clearly, we were clueless and really meant to ask him to take us to the main drag.
Step 4: Enjoy the ride and the beach
The beach was about 45 mins away from the airport, but we had time to kill. The drive there was interesting enough and it was fun to see the beautiful coastline and countryside of El Salvador. Our cab driver ended up dropping us off at the main walkway down to El Tunco and we got out and hoped we’d find a ride back later!
Step 5: Visit El Tunco
El Tunco was SO COOL! It was very beachy and full of surf shops, hostels with hammocks, and a wonderful beach. We went down to the beach and hit the water first. We wished we had rented surfboards or taken a lesson because the water was so warm! It was a great change of pace from traveling on a plane overnight! Do not sleep on the burrito, papusa shops, and fresh juice places. You might also want to try the morro horchata which is a famous Salvadorian drink! It’s different than the Mexican drink made with rice, this one is made with morro which is a large green fruit that resembles a coconut.
Step 6: Try the papusas
We laid around and hung out at the beach for a few hours and then got up to go eat some papusas at a local shop along the beach called Fifi’s. My favorite papusa was the chicharron con queso and the homemade salsa they provide with papusas was AMAZING. You can get these at the airport too and I highly recommend trying them.
Step 7: Find a ride back to the airport
After a few hours, we decided it was time to head back to the airport. Unfortunately, there weren’t any cabs around so we asked the guys guarding the gate to the beach and they said their friend could drive us. This would have normally probably been sketchy to do in El Salvador…okay it was. But something in my gut said we were safe and it ended up working out great! I recommend asking the gate guards for a ride or someone in one of the shops.
Step 8: What to do back at the airport
We made it back to the airport with probably too much time to kill and could have stayed longer at the beach. It took us about 20 mins to get back into the airport through security and 45ish minutes to drive back. The airport in El Salvador doesn’t have much going for it, but there is a bar if you need to sit there for 7 hours. I highly recommend biting the bullet and going to the beach though!
Not a beach person? Try taking one of these other El Salvadorean adventures
There are so many cool things to do in El Salvador on a layover, so you don’t just need to do what I recommended above!
Try a guided tour with Salvadorean Tours
You might want to try a tour company that has great reviews for your adventure. This tour has plenty of tour options for your layover. Book your tour here.
Santa Ana Volcano Hike
This is a great option for a longer layover if you feel like renting a car or getting a cab. The Santa Ana Volcano is a moderate 4.3 mile out and back trail that many people say takes about 3 hours. This trailhead is about a 2-hour drive from the San Salvador Airport. Check out these tips from a blogger who has actually done the hike. It looks epic!
Visit the Historic Center of the City of San Salvador
You can always take a trip to San Salvador city. Visit the famous and unique El Rosario Church and pop into the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador (or the Catedral Metropolitana), the most important church in El Salvador for the Catholic community. It is also the seat of the Archbishop of San Salvador. Don’t miss the National Palace while you’re in this area. It’s beautiful and full of history.
Hike the the Boqueron volcanic crater in the Boqueron National Park or Parque Nacional El Boqueron
Visit the Joya de Ceren Archeological Site
Joya de Cerén is an archaeological site that features a pre-Columbian Mayan farming village. It’s about an hour and a half drive from the airport and is El Salvador’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you’re into history, this might be the place!
Have you ever experienced a long layover? Would you go to the beach or do something else?
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Thanks for the advice on the layover in El Salvador. I will definitely be taking your advice on the beach and food.
Great! I hope you enjoy it if you go! 🙂
I love this! I’m usually not brave enough to leave the airport, so it’s helpful to hear what you did with the timeline. Thank you!
It was really easy for us to get a cab to the beach of El tunco if you want to spend time there. I felt very safe. I didn’t go to San Salvador though, but I’m sure it would be fun too!
Hi Katie, thanks for sharing your experience. I’m planning our Peru trip and flights have 7 hours layover too in El Salvador. The only risk I can see is the return ride to airport. How much did you pay for the return ride? Another option is to ask the airport taxi who drop us off to return after 2 hours and just pay extra? Did you check if Uber works? I love your photos.
We found locals who ended up taking us back. If you go to a shop they could find one for you, but not sure the price. I didn’t check if uber works…I doubt it, but I would definitely just ask the locals. They were super nice and willing to drive you for a bit of money!
Hello! Thank you so much for sharing! I have a long layover and was wondering if this was possible and if so, where to go! I’ll most likely do this as well!
Question though, did you take your luggage with you? Or were you able to leave it at the airport?
Of course! 🙂 Yes, I went to El Tunco and it was great! We did take our luggage, but we had backpacks so it was easier while sitting on the beach! Hope this helps. You might be able to find lockers at the airport though!
I am currently in the San Salvador airport and the first thing that stood out to me was all the wheelchairs. Can anyone venture to explain why there are up to a dozen elderly women (didn’t see any men) that use the wheelchair service in this airport? Is it priced too cheap, is it part of the culture or is it a effect caused by health policy or something? This was fascinating to see. Never seen it anywhere in the world, and I have been to 20+ countries.
SAME! I seriously couldn’t figure it out myself and there were even lines at the San Francisco airport with wheelchairs too to get on the plane to San Salvador!? So confusing.
hahahaha, it’s fun to read this, because in El Salvador we see it as something normal. Well I tell you what happens at our airport. In the United States we have a large number of Salvadorans, almost 3.5 million and many of these Salvadorans migrated leaving their families a long time ago. For an average Salvadoran it is difficult to get a VISA, for the reasons that you already know, but for a person who is already over 67 years of age, it is much easier. So these grandparents go to visit their families after a long time without seeing them, but since it is difficult for them to have a relative with an American visa to accompany them, they have to travel alone. The airline takes care of them only in case they can not walk or any similar impediment, so the relatives send the grandparents in a wheelchair in this way someone takes care of them in the whole journey. For this reason, you will always see that number of grandparents in a wheelchair.
Greetings from El Salvador. Good article.
P.S. I also offer free travel advice in El Salvador, you can contact us at: https://www.ecotourspetate.com
That is so so interesting! I always really wondered why there were so many, but that makes sense now. Thank you for letting me know! 🙂 I’d love to come visit again!
I just love your article. I’m usually not brave enough to leave the airport, so it’s helpful to hear what you did with the timeline
thanks for this great post keep it up.
Thanks! It was a crazy experience, but very much worth it! 🙂
Hi Katie
Very helpful article. We are planning to go to Peru and wanted to see if we could scoop a long layover either in Panama or el Salvador. This sounds like fun. What time of year did you travel?
Diane
Yay! I’m so excited for you! I went in November and it was great in El Salvador and Peru!
I have an eight hour layover and searched what’s cool to do in ES in the time frame. Your page came up close to the top and it’s exactly what I was looking for and sounds exactly what I would want to do with 2 more flights and 14 more hours of flying to do after the layover. THANKS
YAY!! I’m so glad that worked out! I wrote it because I couldn’t find anything when I searched so glad it worked out!!
In my opinion you’re lucky lucky to be alive, I’ve been there many times on business. My friends have been robbed and shot at the beach and at a gas station.
Woah that’s crazy! At the El Tunco beach? We were told that’s a pretty safe place to be and we felt safe honestly!
Hi Katie, thank you so much for this article, it really helped us to get a good idea of our layover in El Salvador.I have been to El Tunco and wanted to visit another destination and we were able to find a good tour to the city. If it helps, check salvadorean tours layover section https://salvadoreantours.com/el-salvador-layover-tours/ we took the San Salvador City & Boqueron tour. It was great! The City Center is renewed and we felt pretty safe. You also talked about the taxes and now (2019) there is a tax exemption included on the tour. Hope this information helps everybody, it is worth to go out and visit this lovele yet unknown country
Oh that’s so good to know! Thank you! I’ll have to use this advice when I go back!
I’m from El Salvador and the Tunco is good beach for people like surf , relax time or just walk at sand , the atmosphere is really amazing … love it El tunco , I love it El Salvador 🇸🇻 I’m proud you like my country 🤙🏼
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