La Libertad

Introduction

Sunset at La Libertad Beach

© kalimero

La Libertad is a beachside municipality along the Pacific coastline of El Salvador and has about 35,000 inhabitants.

Sights and Activities

People come here to relax, enjoy the beaches and great surfing. The La Libertad beaches are some of the best surfing beaches in the country as well as in the whole Central American region.

• El Sunzal Beach - The best surfing beach in El Salvador and one of the best 10 of the world.
• Puerto de La Libertad - Has one of the country's major ports, and is a good area for tourism and surfing, as well as for eating the delicious Salvadorian "cocteles" or "ceviches".
• Playa San Diego - A huge sandy beach, deserted bar a few fishermen at dusk & dawn, maybe some kids playing football with bamboo goalposts. Great surf for beginners. Nnone of the rocks and crowds of Sunzal. Friendly residential area, a few hotels and one hostel and a few cheap comedores & pupusarias.
• Joya de Ceren - A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Joya de Ceren is an archaeological site featuring a pre-Columbian Maya farming village preserved remarkably intact under layers of volcanic ash. It is often referred to as the "Pompeii of the Americas" in comparison to the famous ancient Roman ruins.

Getting Around

You can walk and surf in the nearest beaches. Buses from Liberad to other beaches like El Tunco and SunZal cost .25 US and catching a ride in a truck is always an option.

Eat

You can eat the world famous cockteles de camaron (Shrimp Cocktails) and a lot of seafood. Pupusas seem to be a staple food for travelers 3 for a dollar is hard to beat. These are sold just about everywhere in Libertad and all along the highway. The local comedors along the Highway and in town also sell large plates of tipico for 2-4US, well worth the splurge. There is a selection of higher priced gourmet restaurants dotted throughout the area also.

Drink

The neighbouring town of El Tunco has most of the bars frequented by travelers and local surfers. Beer starts at a dollar in most places. Watch for event parties in Libertad on the weekends at the pavilion near the beach.

Sleep

There are many options along the coast ranging from 5US to 50US per night.

• Casa de Mar Hotel & Villas, El Sunzal, La Libertad, Ph: +503 2389-6284, +503 2389-6281, +503 2389-6020, +503 2265-2080. Offers guests direct beach front access to perfect waves. Each room overlooks the ocean, as do the swimming pool, bar and hilltop restaurant.
• El Hostel is a new place in Sunzal with friendly English speaking owners and a good kitchen with large refrigerator. Dorm 6-10US One Private double available, big, with shower(more to come). Get to know the locals by talking with the gardener and the friendly neighbors. Also ask about painting/writing just about anything you want on the walls. Or get a Foosball tournament going on the full sized table upstairs. Beer/water $1, Soda/Juice $.50 available.
• Surf Inn sits just above El Hostel and offers private rooms for about the same price.
• El Roble Hostal. Hostel at Playa San Diego. Large swimming pool, lots of sports & games, hammocks set in gardens and communal areas. Meals provided or you can cook your own on the outdoor kitchen & barbecue area. Bar open all hours supplying beers, cocktails and fruit smoothies. Dorm rooms and privates available. A few minutes to the beach of Playa San Diego. You can safely walk or jog this beach for hours.

Mizata Resort, ☎ +503 7890-4751. Playa Mizata, km 86,5 en Litoral,La Libertad. Relax at one of the nicest sandy beaches of El Salvador, one of the hammocks with ocean view. Hotel with all amenities to have a tropical holiday just 50 minutes from the airport. edit

• El Roble Hostal (El Roble Hostal), #17 4ta Calle, Playa San Diego, El Salvador 503. El Roble Hostal is a great hostel with an English and local owner. It's 500 metres from a beautiful beach. Has it's own pool, has internet and dorms as from USD$ 8.00 per night. The area is also save, and if you want to go to La Libertad you can go by bus for USD$ 0.25.

You can use the form below to search for availability (Travellerspoint receives a commission for bookings made through the form)

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafes are available in pretty much every town and charge around US$1-2 per hour. There is almost always wifi (usually free of charge) in hostels, mostly in midrange and luxury hotels (but less so in budget hotels and guesthouses), but connection speeds and reliability varies dramatically. Be aware that many high-end hotels charge between $3 and $10 per day for internet use although some will let you log on and print an airline boarding pass free of charge.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

The international country code for El Salvador is 503. The general emergency number is 911.

To place a call within El Salvador, simply dial the eight-digit number beginning with 2 for landlines and 7 for cellphones.

The main companies are Movistar, Tigo, Digicel, and Claro, with Tigo reputedly giving the best overall reception. When using your own cell phone, the roaming can cost anywhere between $1 and $4 a minute and internet charges are extremely high as well. It's better to buy a local SIM card, which can be bought for about US$25-30 and have much lower rates. Especially when you are in the country for a longer time and wish to use internet and make a call regularly, this might be a better option.

Pay-as-you-go phones can be purchased in the airport, the cheapest of which cost $60. Make sure to ask if the phone can take international calls and how much this costs, as packages vary and can be restrictively expensive. Look out for promotions such as free incoming calls and cheap international calls for US$0.10 a minute with certain networks.

Post

Correos de El Salvador is the country's postal service. Most towns in El Salvador have post offices marked by a blue sign reading correos. Post offices are open Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm in larger cities, and 7:00am to noon and 2:00 to 5:00pm in small towns. To mail a standard letter or a postcard from El Salvador to the United States costs around US$0.70 and US$1 to Europe and Australia. It might take anywhere from a week to the USA to a few weeks further afield. If you'd like to send a package, it might be better to use an international company like TNT, DHL, UPS or FedEx, as they are fast, reliable and not overly expensive.

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