Everyday practical information for El Salvador

The basics

• Plugs are the American flat two-pin, type A and B, at 115 V, the same as the United States.
• The currency is the US dollar - see the money section.
• Spanish is the language and English is limited, including in hospitals. This is less of an English-speaking country than its neighbours' tourist trade might lead you to expect.
• UTC-6 all year. Dialling code +503, eight-digit numbers, no area codes.

Scale

• El Salvador is about the size of Wales and is the only Central American country with no Caribbean coast. Everything is close.
• You can surf in the morning and be at a volcano crater lake by lunch, which is genuinely why people like it here.

Climate

• Dry season November to April, wet May to October with heavy afternoon rain.
• The coast is hot all year; the mountain towns on the Ruta de las Flores are cool enough to want a jacket at night.
• Surf is good year round and biggest in the wet season.

Conventions

• Pupusas are the national dish and are eaten with the hands, with curtido on top. Pupuserias are everywhere and cost very little.
• Carry ID. Checks are routine under the state of exception.
• Sunday is family day at the beach and the lakes, and everything is busier.
• People are notably friendly to visitors - the tourism economy is new and welcome here in a way that it is not in more visited neighbours.