i have read quite a few threads (too many at this point) about trips to nicaragua and el Salvador and I am still undecided. looking at trip august 3-10, may very well be going solo. it is either: 1) staying at playa colorado, nicaragua with boat and road trip in the area and up to popoyo. or 2) las flores, el salvador I am a high intermediate surfer, regular foot, with 20 years in the water and a fair amount of surf travel under my belt (CR a couple time, PR many, HI, J-bay, etc). if you have experience with either I would appreciate your insight.
Nica has more options, but with that swell window, you have a damn near guaranteed chance to score two world class point breaks in Las Flores and Punta Mango going absolutely ape****. And when they are on.....they are on.
Been to Flores. It is sick! I would go there if I had to pick between the two, especially being regular
i been to nica twice.. first time was too big, second time was too small.. im feening to check out el salvador one of these days... but if you never been to either and cant make up your mind.. nica is mostly lefts, and el salV is mostly right breaking waves.
el salvador was great, i went this past summer the week before you plan on going. stayed right at punta roca...had great waves all week. it was a sweet trip
looks like it going to be el salvador. i am a fan of right points..... for those of you that have been, i have option of los flores, la libertad or a town and country tour of both. opinions on quality of points, crowds and travel experience is welcome.
Las Flores and Punta Mango are both amazing waves. When we were there, crowding was a factor at times, but nothing too bad most of the time, and there were uncrowded times every day. If you search the threads, there was one a few weeks ago with a bunch of pictures of the areas waves. Never been to Libertad
El Salvador, land of right hand point breaks. Nicaragua - offshore all, day, almost every day. Those are the incentives of each country.
I've been to both. El Salvador> Pro's: If you're driving, the roads are much nicer, basically all right hand point breaks, we found more non-surfing activities to do and slightly less crowded. Con's: A bit more agro in the line-up, sketchier characters outside the line-up (if you're halfway smart about it you should be alright), basically all right hand point breaks and a better chance of getting sick from polluted water. Nicaragua> Pro's: All day offshore's, mellower line-ups, a bit cleaner, almost 100% chance of getting barreled and we felt a little safer. Con's: Crowded line-ups, horrible roads, less non-surfing activities and jelly fish for days (at least when I was there) For reference, in Nicaragua we stayed at Iguana Beach and surfed there most the time. I would highly recommend it. In El Salvador we stayed in El Zonte and surfed there plenty but also got out and sampled a lot of other waves. If I had to choose between the two again I'd definitely lean towards Nicaragua.
http://www.elhotelmiraflores.com/ Great food, AC, they can hook you up with a taxi from the airport, and put you in touch with boats to run to punta mango. Half the price of the overpriced wavehunter's joint right on the point.
