El Salvador
Acajutla, El Salvador
Acajutla: El Salvador's Pacific Gateway — Industrial Port with Volcanic Highlands and Flower Route Beyond
Acajutla is El Salvador's principal seaport, on the Pacific coast of Sonsonate department, and a working port town rather than a resort. The US dollar is the currency, and many smaller restaurants and shops will not take fifty- or hundred-dollar notes, so bring small bills.
Good to know
What Cruise Travelers Should Know
Ships dock at the commercial port of Acajutla, a working harbor that also handles container ships and petroleum tankers. The port has three modern piers with eight berths, and an offshore terminal for liquefied natural gas has operated since 2022.
- The currency is the US dollar.
- Police may ask for ID, so carry a copy of your passport photo page.
- Check your government's current travel advice for El Salvador before going ashore.
Acajutla on Your Own
Acajutla is a small port town, and the region's main sights, from the Los Cóbanos beaches to the highland towns, need a vehicle. In town itself, the fishermen's pier and the municipal market are the places to look around.
- The artisanal fishermen's pier (Muelle Artesanal): On Calle 24 de Octubre Poniente, it is where local boats land and sell their catch, and a large colony of raccoons lives in the rocks of the pier's foundations; they are easiest to see around sunset.
- Mercado Municipal: On Calle Acaxual, the town market sells fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood and household goods.
- Los Cóbanos: The beaches south of the port are not within walking distance of the town center, so you will need a vehicle to reach them.
- Sonsonate: The department's capital, inland from Acajutla, has the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, blessed in 1887.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, so leave plenty of time for the trip back.
- Opening hours change, so check before you go.
Getting Around from Acajutla
Use radio-dispatched or pre-booked taxis from reputable companies, never unofficial ones, and avoid the public buses, which are unsafe because of petty crime. For the highland towns and the volcanoes, a tour with a reputable company is the safer choice.
- Taxis are easy to find in Acajutla, and pedicabs work the downtown area.
- There is no public transport within the Los Cóbanos area, and most visitors there have their own vehicle.
- Stick to main roads and avoid unsurfaced ones, where police patrols are fewer.
- Izalco volcano is about 34 km from Acajutla, and San Salvador about 95 km east by highway CA-8.
- Avoid walking alone or on remote trails; a reputable tour company is the safer way to reach hiking areas.
Food and Drink in El Salvador
The pupusa, a thick corn or rice tortilla stuffed with cheese, beans, chicharrón or loroco, is El Salvador's most common dish. Restaurants along Acajutla's waterfront serve mostly fresh seafood.
- Pupusas are eaten by hand, with tomato sauce and curtido, a pickled slaw of cabbage, onion and carrot.
- El Salvador marks National Pupusa Day on the second Sunday of November.
- Yuca frita is deep-fried cassava served with curtido and chicharrón or small fried fish called pepesca.
- Horchata here is made from rice and morro seeds; cebada is a sweet pink barley drink.
- Do not drink tap water; bagged water is very commonly sold in the streets and corner stores.
Culture and Customs
Western El Salvador was the land of the Pipil, a Nahua people whose Nawat language still survives in a few places. Holy Week in nearby Sonsonate has been recognized by law as part of the country's religious heritage since 2013.
- Nahuizalco is one of the last places where a few people still speak Nawat, and a school there teaches it as a second language.
- Acajutla celebrates its patronal feast of the Holy Trinity in late May or early June.
- On October 24, fishermen honor San Rafael Arcángel, and townspeople take short trips on the fishing boats.
- During Holy Week, people in Acajutla decorate the streets with images made from beach sand.
- It is illegal for foreign nationals to take part in political activity, including demonstrations, so avoid any large gatherings.
History of El Salvador and the Acajutla Region
Acajutla has been a port since the Spanish conquest, and it was here that the conquest of El Salvador began in 1524. Indigo, then coffee, sugar and balsam went out through it, and the country's first railway ran from its pier.
- On June 8, 1524, Pedro de Alvarado defeated the army of the Pipil state of Cuzcatlán near Acajutla. By legend, an arrow shot by Prince Atonal left Alvarado lame for life.
- In the colonial era, Acajutla was the main port of the province of Sonsonate, and indigo was its chief export.
- English corsairs kept the port on alert: Francis Drake's ships were sighted in 1579, and residents stood guard against Thomas Cavendish in 1586 and 1587.
- Construction of a pier and customs house began in 1805, and an iron pier entered service in January 1871.
- El Salvador's first railway opened between Sonsonate and Acajutla on June 4, 1882.
- In 1900 the port moved to the western end of town, where a 700-foot iron pier was linked to the railway.
- In 1932, during the peasant uprising, two Canadian destroyers anchored off Acajutla and armed sailors briefly landed.
- The modern port's first pier opened on April 21, 1961, and two more followed in 1970 and 1975.
- To learn more ashore, visit the Museo Nacional de Antropología Dr. David J. Guzmán (MUNA) on Avenida La Revolución, Colonia San Benito, in San Salvador, which covers the country from prehispanic times to the present.
Family Experiences in El Salvador
Families can fill a port day with the raccoons at the fishermen's pier, the beaches at Los Cóbanos, or a trip inland to Joya de Cerén. Plan for heat: daytime highs here usually run from 32 to 34°C.
- Younger children: At Los Cóbanos, the water is shallow with many boulders, fine for paddling but not for real swimming.
- School age: At Joya de Cerén, a Maya farming village was buried by volcanic ash so quickly that stored beans, ripe maize and a manioc field were preserved.
- Teenagers: Guided day trips climb Izalco, the volcano once called the Lighthouse of the Pacific because its eruptions could be seen from the sea; it last erupted in 1966. Climb with a guide, in daylight.
- Swimming on the Pacific coast can be dangerous because of strong undertows, and lifeguards are few or absent.
Shopping in El Salvador
The highland towns inland of Acajutla are known for coffee and for wicker crafts. The Apaneca-Ilamatepec range, where Juayúa sits, is the country's leading coffee-growing region.
- Nahuizalco, on the Ruta de las Flores, is known for crafts woven from wicker and tule reed.
- Juayúa, a coffee town at 1,040 meters, has been on the Ruta de las Flores since 1996, along with Nahuizalco, Salcoatitán, Apaneca and Ataco.
- Credit cards are widely but not universally accepted, sometimes with a surcharge of about 5%.
Beaches near Acajutla
The beaches of the Los Cóbanos area, south of the port, are calmer than most on Central America's Pacific coast because a fringing reef breaks the waves. No other major coral reef lies along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Costa Rica.
- Playa Los Cóbanos: Several brown-sand beaches with about a hundred restaurants and hotels along them, busiest with Salvadoran day-trippers on weekends and mostly closed on weekdays and after dark.
- Snorkeling: It is possible at Los Cóbanos when conditions are right, but visibility is often poor and can be near zero in the rainy season, from May to October.
- Playa Los Almendros: A long sandy beach between Acajutla and Los Cóbanos.
- By law, part of the beach is closed at night so that sea turtles can nest.
- Swim only where conditions are calm, avoid isolated beaches, and do not swim after drinking alcohol.
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