El Zonte in El Salvador is one of those places that time simply stops. It’s just a few dirt and semi-paved roads, some tiny local restaurants, and a smattering of hotels and surf hostels. It’s also known for some really nice surf, which was it’s traditional claim to fame. But now, it’s also known as Bitcoin Beach. As you may have heard El Salvador just allowed bitcoin to be its co-official currency with the US dollar. Here’s an article on El Zonte in USA Today:
I ended up meeting a few Americans that came down here just for the bitcoin vibe. They were not the more relaxed, sophisticated tech and investor type crypto enthusiasts I met in Playa del Carmen. They were a bit different. One lived here full time, but wouldn’t tell me what he did. The other was a carpenter visiting from the Northwest, and the third first said he did construction driving in Montana in the summer and had the whole winter to relax. Then he said he had to get back because his boss expected him to be on call. Then he tried to sell me on the fact that he was a digital nomad. All three would talk about nothing else but bitcoin and were pretty intense about it. After just 3 days here, the Montana guy was already going to partner on a real estate deal with “Michael Peterson”. He told me (not asked me) three separate times that I needed to invest with them. What part of no didn’t he get? That prompted me to look up who Michael Peterson was. If you want to go further into this rabbit hole, here’s a fascinating article on a different take of the whole Bitcoin Beach scene.
Aside from the bitcoin bros, I was able to spend a long, slow week in this little slice of backpacker paradise. I got 5 days of surfing in, one day of watching sports (NFL divisional playoffs), and a day of reading on a hammock when the waves really picked up.
One morning at breakfast I saw a whale in the distance. I got my phone out in time to catch it breaching.
I stayed in a very relaxed Airbnb/hotel
For my own future reference: I got a great coaching class in the heavy whitewater on the first day and spent a couple hours there on my second day. The next three days were out at the main right point break. I had a really hard time judging the waves. They were either too small and didn’t fully break or they were fast 4-5 foot rights that gave me some nice wipeouts. There were only a few goldilocks waves that I caught. But I had a blast trying. And I realized this was not a good longboard break that I would come back to in the future. But for more experience surfers this is a potential paradise. A number of the surfers I met there agreed with me that this wasn’t the best place for beginners.
San Salvador
I spent a couple of days in San Salvador to get some errands done (since it’s the first real city I’ve been in this trip) and see what it’s like. It really isn’t a very scenic or touristy city. There aren’t a lot of sites to see and, even in the nicer neighborhoods, it’s still a bit rough around the edges. But the climate seems fantastic and, considering all the challenges the country has been through, it’s hard to expect too much at this point.
I got a really nice Airbnb apartment for my time here.
