BOAT FROM EL SALVADOR TO NICARAGUA

El Salvador to Nicaragua: Cross the Gulf of Fonseca
 by boat (orange) or by road through Honduras (pink)?

Would you rather take a scenic, two-hour boat ride across a sheltered bay or suffer through a butt-numbing eight-hour bus from El Salvador to Nicaragua, passing through Honduras, the murder capital of the world? 

An easy choice, normally, except that our previous boat trips have gone so, so very badly that we hesitated. Briefly. 

With Todd, Kip's brother in tow, we opted for the more direct route, from El Salvador, across the Gulf of Fonseca, to Nicaragua.

Not a lot of travelers venture this way, so below we provide a "How To" guide, along with some photos from the trip. 

Shockingly, the journey concluded without incident all the way from the new port of La Union to what's left of a deserted, decrepit dock in Potosi.

EL SALVADOR TO NICARAGUA BY BOAT

The trip from La Union, El Salvador to Potosi, Nicaragua is a scenic alternative to the long bus ride through Honduras. Below are some steps and essentials to get you on your way:

What to bring: passport, water, snacks, optional seasick meds (especially if your name is Todd) though the Gulf is usually calm. 

1. La Union: Get yourself to El Sal's major port town of La Union, home to a brand new, multi-million dollar shipping center. Bus direct from San Salvador via San Miguel (4-5 hrs, $3-$5), or from El Cuco, hire a taxi (around 45 mins, $30-$40) or take a local bus (2-4 hrs, $4-$5). If you'd prefer, you could also book the entire trip at the Hotel Tortuga Verde in El Cuco.
2. Book a boat: Better to do this before you get here, but it may be possible to find a captain dockside in La Union. Boats leave in the morning if there are passengers. One option is Ruta del Golfo, though there were no departures when we contacted them. We went with Mario from Tours Panoramico (7282-4362, golfo_fonseca@hotmail.com). Negotiate a price beforehand. A private boat could be $200+, but much cheaper if there's already a boat going and you can hop on.
3.  Clear Customs: You need to be at the customs office in La Union at least an hour before departure (ask anyone for "aduanas.") Yes, it takes that long. They may ask for copies of your passport. There's a store with a copy machine across the street. Good coffee shop three blocks up with wi-fi while you wait.
4. Pick up passport, board your boat: Pretty straightforward, assuming you know where your boat's leaving from. Ask anyone. Photo below. Make sure you have life jackets on board.
5. Enjoy the scenery: It's a scenic trip, passing by a few hilly islands, some inhabited, some not so much. Try to get the captain to pass close to Meanguera Island to see the pelicans and flocks of Great Frigate birds. 
   
6. Dock at Potosi: Lower expectations. There's no functioning dock and no facilities. You'll likely get your feet wet. And then you'll need to walk a couple hundred yards to the customs office. Wake up the officer. Get stamped in. Pay your entry fee ($12 for U.S.). Walk past the soccer field and ask about the next bus to Chinandega. There may or may not be one there. We ended up going to the only hotel in town and the owner gave us a ride in his truck. Negotiate.  Or, stay the night in the hotel and hike Cosiguina volcano.

   

   Todd celebrating arrival in Nicaragua.

   

   Walking from the pier in Nicaragua, Potosi's customs office is on the left,
   soccer field dead ahead and an abandoned warehouse is on your right.

BUSES, BEACHES AND A BROTHER IN EL CUCO

El Cuco's main street leading down to the beach during rush hour.

After cooling off in the mountains, it was time to get back to the beach before heading south to the volcanoes of Nicaragua. Plus, Kip's brother Todd had joined us for a couple weeks and he really needed to learn to surf.

A kid about to smash an egg on Todd's head.

We headed to El Salvador's eastern beaches and the town of El Cuco, famous for wide swaths of sand, nesting sea turtles, and the nearby surf break Las Flores. 

Cuco would be our last stop in El Salvador, and probably our last time (and Todd's first) riding the country's bone-rattling local bus system, so we made the most of it. 

At the San MIguel bus terminal, after a three-hour slog from San Salvador (we splurged...no chickens allowed inside the bus), we convinced a cheeky young Salvadorena to crack some cascarones, eggs filled with confetti, on the head of an un-suspecting gringo named Todd. Both were terribly amused.

After an hour waiting at the station, we hopped a local bus from San Miguel to El Cuco. 

As is typical, the already full bus stopped every few hundred feet to pick up additional passengers, who simply have to wave an arm from the side of the road to get a ride.

 

Todd and Kip prepping to surf.

"How many people are gonna fit on this bus?" Todd asked. Great question.

As we crammed together a little closer, allowing for six women in starched nurse uniforms to squeeze past, Kip gave him the standard answer -- "at least one more, brother, always one more."

An hour later, the bus pulled into El Cuco, a dusty, oceanside town frequented on weekends by vacationing Salvadorenos and most other times by international surfers.

Besides a few food stalls by the water, there's not much for visitors to see. The main attraction is a long walk or short pick-up ride over rolling hills to the famous surf break of Las Flores.  

As seen in the photo below, the waves were a bit large for us, so we surfed the waves right in front of our eco-friendly hotel, La Tortuga Verde.

Yes, Todd learned to surf. Skip one photo for the visual proof.

No, it's not Todd or Kip surfing. But Kip did take the photo.

Yes, Todd caught a few waves. Mission accomplished.

We squeezed in a little fun at sunset. 

For some reason, Liz loves beach cows. The herd of adolescents above was even more fun than Zanzibar, she says.