All-inclusive El Salvador & 5 Ways to Explore it

El Salvador is often referred to as the home of the right surf. El Tunco beach surfing, whale watching, or the “Wild East” forest hikes – whatever you choose, this place will give you a fantastic experience. However, this part of Central America still remains untouched by mass travellers, so there are only a few all-inclusive resorts in El Salvador. Still, if you’re looking for unforgettable emotions for you and your family, you are looking in the right way! This country is often chosen as a place for a family vacation, and there’s a big chance that if you visit it once, you’ll come back here again.

As a travel destination, El Salvador is a bit underrated, but it can offer a full package for your vacation if you know what to do and where to go. Whether you are looking for world-class surfing, chilling on dark-sand beaches, or visiting volcanic coffee plantations, this multifaceted country has it all. And it becomes more and more popular among experienced tourists. If you are curious about a new destination and want to go exploring new places or simply relax in an all-inclusive resort, El Salvador will amaze you in any case.

Alternatives. If you want to stay at an adults-only hotel, you will find a few options in El Salvador, but they won’t offer all-inclusive options. So, if you’re planning to celebrate your special event somewhere in Central America, you’d better check for Nicaragua honeymoon All Inclusive packages. But if you prefer more exclusive tourist locations, take a look at Bonaire Island in the Caribbean Sea, with vibrant reefs, quiet white-sand beaches, surrounded by a turquoise sea, and impressive local cuisine. There are several offers for Bonaire All-inclusive vacations so that you could choose the best place to explore this piece of paradise, as locals call it.

If you are only interested in all-inclusive deals, scroll down or click here.

If you want to stay in the capital of El Salvador, you won’t find any all-inclusive resorts in San Salvador. However, since it’s a relatively small country, it will be easy for you to get to other cities for an all-inclusive vacation or take the best of what its capital has to offer. Barceló San Salvador, a 4-star Hotel rated 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor, is well-designed both for work and for relaxation. It is also one of the most expensive hotels in the city. El Salvador’s all-inclusive packages will have a significantly wider range of activities included in the price, but this centrally located hotel is worth staying at.

Right in the heart of the San Benito business and social district, Barceló San Salvador is so close to all city sights and somewhat close to the airport too. It takes around a 45-minute drive to get to the place. When you are there and want to explore El Salvador’s capital, cross the road and you will see the new Bambu City Center shopping mall. Then you can walk through to Multiplaza, Cascadas, and Gran Vía shopping malls, and finish your day by visiting the fabulous Museum of Art.

The price for a room starts from around $75 per night, and you’ll have a wide choice of rooms to stay in. The hotel offers 205 luxurious rooms (64 with double beds and 41 with king-size beds) with unique views of the cityscape with a backdrop of the San Salvador volcano. If you don’t want to leave your room, you can always order food via room service. Barceló has 2 options here: you can order dinner with a variety of local and international dishes either from the Restaurante Garden Court or from Strikers Sports Bar & Restaurant.

If you want even more, you can always choose a Premium Level while staying at the hotel. It includes:

• separate check-in area for premium guests: no queues and 24/7 service;
• access to the hotel’s VIP Lounge located on the 10th floor;
• different breakfast options for premium guests. You can either have a continental breakfast in the VIP Lounge from 06:00 to 10:00 daily or have a buffet breakfast in the Garden Court Restaurant (located in the Lobby) from 05:30 to 11:00 daily;
• special snacks and non-alcoholic beverages menu from 11:00 daily;
• 3 included alcoholic drinks per registered adult, served from 17:00 to 23:00 in the hotel’s bar;
• computer station for your business trip with internet access;
• unforgettable panoramic view of San Salvador;
• 3 pieces of in-house ironing per stay.

Whether you need any beauty services or just want to relax, you should visit the Fitness Centre & Spa, located on the 11th floor of the hotel. It includes a gym, a hot tub, a Finnish sauna, and a steam room, as well as a beauty zone, where you can get your hair treatments and facials, makeup, and haircut or hairstyle. All hotel guests have access to this area.

As it’s still a rather unexplored travel destination, there are yet limited options for all-inclusive resorts in El Salvador. Of course, it is possible to find a range of nice and modern resorts and hotels in El Salvador, but if you want a real deal all-inclusive vacation package, you’d better stay at the Royal Decameron Salinitas in Los Cóbanos – the best and only all-inclusive resort El Salvador has to offer.

Located on the Salvadorian Pacific Coast, it is probably the best place to stay in El Salvador. The capital is just 56 miles or 90 km from the hotel, so you can always choose a day and visit San Salvador for shopping or a guided tour.

The Royal Decameron Salinitas Hotel covers a large area with a mile of beachfront. While staying here, you can enjoy the beautiful Pacific Ocean or spend time in any of the four freshwater pools. There’s even an option to sunbathe near the spectacular saltwater pool filled daily by the ocean tides. And of course, during your stay, you will enjoy the advantage of all-inclusive drinks at any of the four hotel bars.

The Royal Decameron Salinitas is a complex of two hotel towers of 6 and 4 floors, and 3 blocks of rooms of 3 floors, so wherever you stay, you’ll always have a comfortable room with a nice view from a balcony or a terrace. For your stay here, the hotel offers 552 rooms with all the comforts and amenities to make your vacation perfect. All of the hotel suites are equipped with a bathtub, TV, and air-conditioning, and you can choose a standard or a superior room with a large terrace and a direct view of the ocean.

Let’s take a look at what you’ll get with your vacation packages to El Salvador. An all-inclusive stay at the Royal Decameron Salinitas Hotel will make it a memorable experience. If you choose an all-inclusive plan during your stay here, you will get:

• Unlimited food experience. Starting from varied buffet-style breakfasts and lunches, delicious midday and midnight snacks, and up to a great a la carte dinner with several options, exclusive desserts, and exotic fruits.
• Daily evening show program. Enjoy live music while you are dining, but don’t forget about your extensive choice of entertainment after dinner: casinos, reggae bars, merengue, mariachi, games, and contests. Or you can always spend the night on the dance floor at the club for hotel guests only. It also includes an amazing open bar.
• Unlimited drinks and alcoholic beverages. While staying at the Royal Decameron Salinitas Hotel, you are free to use open bars on beaches and pools where you may find alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails, fresh fruit juices, sodas, and more.
• Entertainment for everyone. The hotel’s all-inclusive deal offers a wide variety of activities for all ages and interests, like yoga or aerobics, dance, or scuba-diving classes.
• Pools and beaches for adults and children will always make your vacation even more relaxing.

The price for your all-inclusive vacation at the Royal Decameron Salinitas Hotel starts from around $150 per night per person, but obviously depends on the season you will be staying there. It will be more expensive from December to March during the peak tourist season. And it will be relatively cheap from August to October. The other months are either transitional months or rainy months, but still offer okay-ish prices.

If you are looking for luxurious offers in Central America, you can also choose a Mexican destination. Well-known for its prime location on the Pacific coast, all-inclusive Punta Mita resorts will make your vacation unforgettable!

How about active tourism? If you are an explorer, there is a lot to do for you here, so you don’t simply need to stay all the time in El Salvador’s all-inclusive beach resorts like you used to do in other countries. Be adventurous and take a taxi or have an Uber driver who will take you on a guided tour, learning the best parts of this small country.

Enjoy local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems of El Salvador. Here’s the list of must-see places:

1. Iglesia El Rosario is, probably, the finest church in Central America with a stunning interior design, including an arched roof and a rainbow of natural light rushing across the altar. The best time of the day to see the most dramatic light effect is early in the morning or late afternoon.

2. Parque Nacional Los Volcanes. A guided volcano tour is an absolute must if you want to see one of the most beautiful places in El Salvador. The Los Volcanes National Park area includes three of the 14 “young” volcanoes of the Cordillera de Apaneca mountain range: Santa Ana volcano, Izalco, and Cerro Verde. These volcanoes are just between 2 million and around 250 years old. Park has acres of lush forest and volcanic peaks that can be tackled in a day – but not the same day. If you have very limited time, you’d better take a short stroll in the forested area of Cerro Verde.

3. Joya de Cerén, known as the Pompeii of America. It used to be a small Maya settlement that was buried under volcanic ash in the year 595. Now Joya de Cerén is included in the UNESCO World Heritage. Preserved structures include the village shaman’s house and the temazcal sweat lodge. There is also a small museum with excellent signage to explore.

El Salvador has 320 kilometres of coastline with water temperatures ranging between 77°F to 84°F, 25°-29°C, so it’s definitely one of the world’s best places for surfing. El Salvador’s Pacific coast is divided into 2 separate surf areas. The most popular area is La Libertad. The second one, the “Wild East”, is now slowly growing in popularity due to a lot of good waves and the rising quality of accommodations and services offered. El Salvador’s Pacific coast is also home to two world-class surfing beaches: Punta Roca and Punta Mango.

What is the best time for surfing here? The wet season in El Salvador lasts from May to October. One can catch the most considerable and consistent swell, averaging head high but regularly peaking to 8′-12′. The dry season lasts from November to April and brings clear sunny days, consistent waist-high swell, and prevailing breezes.

If you want to enjoy a nice meal, you should know that El Salvador is one of the best places for foodies in the world. Traditional cuisine is a mixture of Spanish food and indigenous recipes from native groups: Mayan, Xinca, Lenca, Pogoman, Cacaopera, and Pipil. It began its blend during colonial times. Even though El Salvador is a small country, its different regions offer a variety of traditional meals.

The typical dish of El Salvador is the pupusa, which is a corn or rice tortilla stuffed with ground beans, chicharrón (fried pork belly), and cheese. Some recipes also include Loroco (a local edible flower). It is recommended by natives that foreign tourists who come from completely different regions consider what to add to the pupusa before ordering it. El Salvadorian pupusas are well-known worldwide today, so you definitely have to try them.

When you get tired of street food and decide that it’s time to spend an evening in a restaurant, you’ll be able to choose one of many with local or international cuisine. Tipping is not necessary, but 10% would be more than enough.

What is the best season to visit El Salvador? It depends on what you want to get. Generally, the climate of El Salvador is warm or tropical for most of the year. The annual average temperature here is around 80°F or 27°C. But as usual in tropical destinations, it has a wet and a dry season, full of warm sunny days. The dry season starts around the end of autumn and lasts until mid-spring.

El Salvador is very convenient for travelling: you can easily move to different tourist destinations in a very short time, among popular cities and colonial towns, lakes, beaches, volcanoes, and archaeological sites. It’s easy to communicate too: here you will meet many English speakers in all tourist locations. So now you just need to decide whether you want an all-inclusive vacation package and relaxing stay at the resort, or you want to see cool places like volcanoes or Mayan ancient cities, and take several stops during your trip. All while eating delicious pupusa.