“It’s Like Staying Beachfront At A Tropical Trestles”

When I was looking for spots, there were no shortage of options up and down the coast, but Mar de Flores quickly caught my eye and went to the top of the list. The unique architectural design spoke my language, in other words, I was like, ‘damn, this place looks dope.’ I used to work for a surf travel company so I’m no stranger to the aesthetics of lodging options throughout the surf world but this really stuck out. I’m happy to report that it was even better than it looked in the photos—which is always what you want. 

The longer you travel, the higher the chances are of falling victim to a catfish style of place where smoke and mirrors are employed to make the place look better than it is, that was not the case with Mar de Flores, it fully delivered. Honestly, the only hard part was trying to get work done while the wave was in plain view from every corner of the villa—that’s a problem I’m willing to accept. 

To be honest, I kind of thought I had missed the boat on El Salvador, after hearing so much about it for years I figured that it would be too crowded and not exactly what I was looking for, it should be noted that I’m a goofy foot and any land of rights always comes in second place to any land of lefts. The fact is that there are a couple of lefts to be had in El Sal and one was conveniently located right there in front of Mar de Flores. 

To be fair, the wave isn’t just a left, it’s a cobblestone A-frame that, at least during my stay, reminded me a lot of the wave at Lowers—only warmer and with more of a punch and far less of a crowd. The morning sessions weren’t empty, but they weren’t too bad either. From first light around 6 am until 7 am, there were only a few heads. From 7 to 8, a couple more joined the fray. Peak crowd was from 8 to 10. Luckily, the swell during my stay had enough to create several peaks throughout the zone, both rights and lefts, inside and outside. Best of all was the fact that the afternoon sessions were basically empty, sure, the surface conditions ranged from kinda bumpy to pretty choppy but, hey, it was easy to catch a ton of waves and work up an appetite for dinner. 

I did some exploring when my friends were in town as we had a truck to use but by the time I checked in to Mar de Flores, I didn’t go anywhere else and I was totally cool with it. I admit that I didn't even go to see the WSL event as I was much more content with surfing myself and running back the heat replays later. Everything I needed was a short walk away and there were plenty of cool restaurants to choose from that were all very reasonable in price. Food highlights include: the ceviche at Captain Cook, the breakfast croissant at the Surf Cafe, and everything at Bao House seemed to be pretty solid. The one place I missed out on was Pupuseria Jeisi which, from what I’ve heard, has the best pupusas around. 

Good coffee was easy to find, thank god, because there’s nothing worse than being surfed out and in the throws of peak tropical heat at 2pm and there being no espresso machine in sight. Another upside to Mar de Flores was that the spot came fully equipped with good local beans, a coffee maker, and even a blender, which, if you’re like me, and like to blend coconut oil with your morning brew, is a huge plus. 

If you're hoping to score in El Sal, just avoid the big ISA events and, if you get lucky, you may just have a tropical Trestles with a light crowd right at your front door.