El Salvador with Kids: 5 Days of Adventure, Vomit, and Unexpected Familiarity

date

Nov 29, 2025

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el-salvador-family-trip-2025

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Published

We never planned to go to El Salvador.

It started the way a lot of our family trips do: opening Google Flights during the kids' Thanksgiving break, looking for somewhere warm and cheap. Living in California, we wanted to go south, no snow, no cold. Mexico and most of South America were quoting us $3,500-4,500 for four people. El Salvador? $1,896 return.

That caught my attention. I remembered reading about Bukele's crackdown on MS-13, how the country had transformed from one of the most dangerous places in the Western Hemisphere to reportedly safer than Mexico. Did some research, confirmed it seemed legit, and booked it. Total planning time: maybe two weeks, mostly using Claude and ChatGPT to batch out activities by region rather than a rigid hour-by-hour itinerary.

What we got was five days that felt less like Central America and more like a time machine back to Indonesia.

Day 1: The Airport Adventure Begins

We landed around 6-7am after a red-eye from San Jose. The airport was surprisingly modern, we even took the obligatory photo with the country seal. And then things got interesting.

I'd booked with Sixt because they were half the price of everyone else. Couldn't find them anywhere in the airport car rental area. Using Google Translate, we talked to an officer who motioned for us to follow her. She grabbed a taxi driver, and suddenly we were walking through dirt paths outside the airport, following this guy to his car parked in some random lot, then driving to an unknown destination.

He was on WhatsApp the whole time, calling people, clearly trying to figure out where this place actually was. I pulled up Google Maps and showed him the address from my booking confirmation. He looked confused. We turned onto a rocky road that was clearly still under construction, and there it was: a tiny office in the middle of nowhere with maybe three cars parked outside.

Lesson learned: don't cheap out on car rentals in El Salvador. But also, it's an adventure. I had the same sketchy experience returning the car later. Just part of the charm.

The drive into San Salvador proper was my first "wait, is this Indonesia?" moment. The outskirts looked exactly like Indonesian villages, people riding on the open backs of pickup trucks, no safety equipment, just holding onto the frame. Coconut sellers everywhere. The chaos felt familiar.

Can’t figure out how to embed videos, so here’s a screenshot

We dropped luggage at the hotel (couldn't check in yet at 9am) and headed to MultiPlaza mall to get an eSIM. $15 for 12GB at the Claro shop. The signup was easy, but slow. Everyone here moves slowly. Very friendly, but slow. Just like Indonesia.

The mall had tons of kid stuff for Christmas, and we ended up spending way longer than planned because Chuck E. Cheese had a 30-minute unlimited play deal for $16. The trick is that there's a short cooldown between scans, so you just wait a few seconds and scan again. The kids racked up 471 tickets, then the live Chuck E. Cheese mascot came out, did a dance with them, and threw bonus tickets everywhere. Grace and George scrambled to collect another 65. Good times.

That evening we went to Picnic, this outdoor restaurant complex with moving animal statues, a massive fountain, and their famous rainbow slide. I'd give the slide 4 out of 5 stars, genuinely fun. They had a VR walking attraction that would've been 4.5 stars if the staff could explain it in English, but they only knew words like "fish" and "planets" and "you." The kids loved it anyway.

Dinner was a feast of seafood and steak for $58 total. Four people, stuffed.

Grace twisted her ankle near the fountain due to uneven ground. First casualty of the trip. We rode a carousel that inexplicably spoke Chinese (clearly imported directly from China, language settings untouched), walked through a Jurassic Park dinosaur exhibit, then hit up a Whole Foods-type supermarket. Fun fact: there's basically one brand of bottled water here called Cristal. Complete monopoly.

The city is beautiful at night. Light shows everywhere.

Day 2: City Tour and the Vomit Begins

Originally planned to hike a volcano, but everyone was exhausted from the red-eye. We pivoted to a city tour instead.

Started at the Mercado Nacional. Rows of stalls selling identical stuff: knick-knacks, knives, fridge magnets, Bukele figurines in various costumes. His face is everywhere here, along with the First Lady. Either people genuinely love him or it's mandatory. Based on the fridge magnets and mini figurines, I think they actually love him.

The historical district was chaos. So many roadblocks and one-way streets that it took forever to find parking. We eventually found a spot near a traditional market that was definitely not touristy. Loud, dirty, real.

The highlight was BINAES, the National Library. Seven stories, and the kids went nuts. The first floor is for small children, upper floors have LEGO, video games, even VR. Kids can earn gaming credits by reading books: 3 minutes of reading for 10 minutes of game time. Terrible exchange rate, but good incentive design. They had Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones promotional displays. Interesting franchise choices for a library.

We visited the rainbow stained-glass church next to Plaza Libertad. Beautiful, packed with locals. Everyone stared at us. Worth noting: we saw almost no other Asian tourists the entire trip. One group at this church, one family at hotel breakfast, one mom with daughters at the airport on the way out. That's it. We stood out.

The Teatro Nacional was worth the tour. Private guide, very cheap. Painted ceiling like Italian theaters, the president has his own exclusive box, and there's a 7-meter deep pool under the stage to absorb sound. Candice played piano in the recital room.

We also hit the Palacio Nacional, the old government building with color-coded rooms. Pink for Supreme Court, blue for parliament. The courtyard had a massive tree, great for photos.

George needed to pee, so we went back to the library and ended up staying a while. They have beds and bean bags. The AC was glorious. Kids jumped around on bean bags while Candice and I caught our breath. On the walk back to the car, she bought a bag of rambutan from a street vendor for only $1. Cheap.

We tried Parque Cuscatlán at night because supposedly the lights are pretty. It was meh. No good food nearby either.

That's when George started vomiting. First one caught us off guard, went straight onto the car seat. We stopped at the hotel, cleaned what we could with tissues, then drove to a pharmacy for baking soda. The lady there gave us a bunch of plastic bags too. Nice lady.

Ate sushi at Bambú mall (ramen and California rolls), then back to the hotel where I covered the car seat in baking soda and cracked the windows. George vomited multiple times that night. No fever, just gastritis. Purely viral. Should be better tomorrow.

Day 3: Pyramids, Lakes, and More Vomit

Morning started with a car wash to clean the baking soda disaster. $20, about an hour. We walked to a pharmacy for hydrocortisone (Grace's ankle was swollen and bug-bitten), then waited at a mall while George lay down feeling miserable. Bought electrolytes.

Once the car was ready, we drove to San Andrés ruins. Really pretty pyramids sitting on lush green fields. There was a school group visiting, some students interviewed Candice for what seemed like a class project. Asked her which part was her favorite. "We don't know, we just arrived." They pointed us toward the pyramids.

It was brutally hot, but we found a tree in the middle of the field and rested in the shade. The coconut seller there was great, the kids brought their empty coconuts back and used a chopping hand gesture to ask her to split them open. She understood immediately. You'd be surprised how much you can communicate with just body language.

The drive to Lake Coatepeque was surreal. Armed soldiers and police stationed along the entire route, all holding M4 assault rifles. Not just at the lake, I saw heavily armed security everywhere in El Salvador. Even the supermarket security guards carry shotguns. Long ones.

At first it felt intimidating, but after watching documentaries about the MS-13 crackdown, I understood. These guys are defending against gangs who used to kill with impunity. Every interaction we had with police and soldiers was friendly. Smiles, waves. They could tell we were tourists.

Lunch was at Rancho Alegre by the lake. Live DJ singing and playing music. There was a diving board off the first floor, a sad little playground, a dirty swimming pool with three slides (we skipped it), and a trampoline. Grace and George played on the trampoline with a local kid. Kids don't care about language barriers, they just figured it out.

We ordered rabbit, mixed grill, chicken, fish. $40 total. Insane value.

The drive back took almost two hours due to traffic and construction. Construction everywhere in this country, buildings going up, streets being widened, Christmas decorations being installed. El Salvador is clearly in the middle of a renaissance. Waze took us through back streets that looked exactly like poor neighborhoods in Indonesia: small houses with zinc roofs, people sitting outside chatting with neighbors. Pre-internet vibes.

Candice drove for the first time this trip and handled it perfectly. The aggressive driving culture is similar to China, so she's no stranger to it.

Back at the hotel, we swam, hit the jacuzzi, then ordered room service: chicken soup, spinach linguine, salmon burgers. Good day despite George vomiting into a plastic bag during the drive. At least it didn't hit the seats this time.

Day 4: Beach Day and the Google Maps Disaster

Grace's turn to be sick. Vomited after hotel breakfast, multiple times. We started late.

Originally planned to hike to a waterfall, but after talking to another tourist (Zack from Miami) who said it took 3+ hours, we decided the kids weren't healthy enough. Pivoted to beach day instead.

Accidentally drove to La Libertad first instead of El Sunzal. Turned out to be a happy accident. La Libertad is more developed, proper restaurants, shops, even a run-down amusement park. We had lunch at a beachfront restaurant.

It was loud. Every restaurant blasting their own music, plus multiple mariachi bands competing to be heard. One band was mostly young kids and genuinely annoying. The others were more refined, slower songs, actually added to the atmosphere. We treat trips like this as novelty pumps. New experiences, even chaotic ones, are the point.

After lunch, we drove to El Sunzal and stopped for coconut along the way. George was struggling to scrape out the meat (too slow), so the lady just took over and fed him. He rolled with it.

El Sunzal had black sand beaches but was very undeveloped, reminded me of Pagar Timun in Ketapang. Bunch of food stalls, kids played in the sand, I had a fresca. Then back to the hotel.

Candice took the kids swimming while I returned the rental car. Forgot to fill up gas. Opened Google Maps to find the nearest station.

Big mistake.

Google Maps led me down increasingly sketchy roads, dirt, rocks, mud, trees everywhere, extremely narrow. Complete dead end. Locals were standing around staring at my car like "who is this idiot?" I had to reverse the entire way out. It was dark, no lights, completely alone. Every gang documentary I'd watched flashed through my mind. If something happened here, there'd be no recourse. I was genuinely relieved Candice and the kids were safe at the hotel pool.

Switched to Waze. The real road still didn't match the map perfectly, but I made it to the gas station. Lesson learned: always check which navigation app locals use. Waze works here. Google Maps will get you killed (okay, maybe not killed, but definitely lost in sketchy forests).

Returned the car successfully. Amazing. Took an Uber back to the hotel for $1.68.

Dinner at the hotel restaurant, good spaghetti and pupusas. Played pool with the kids until 10:30pm. It was Grace and George's first time ever playing pool, just messing around, learning the basics. Then packing, then sleep.

Day 5: The Fly Back (Barely)

4:30am wake-up call. We stayed at the Quality Hotel near the airport (yes, that's literally the name) and grabbed breakfast at 5am. Solid hotel breakfast, no complaints.

The airport was chaos.

The Avianca check-in line was absolutely packed. Looking at the queue, there was no mathematical way we'd make our flight. Luckily, they started calling out passengers flying to Miami or San Francisco to come to the front. We got through check-in with maybe 5 minutes before boarding. Cutting it way too close.

What surprised me was how strict security was compared to TSA at SFO. Back home, we don't even have to take off our shoes anymore. Here? Shoes off. They also caught my nail clipper buried in my backpack. TSA never flagged it on the way down. The security guy pulled it out, showed it to his supervisor, who eventually waved it through. But that little delay when you're already running late? Not fun.

Then there's a second security checkpoint right at the boarding gate, Singapore-style. Once you're through, you're trapped. No bathroom access, no water (they make you pour it out), no leaving the holding area. Plan accordingly.

The Avianca flight itself: cheap for a reason. This was the first flight I've ever been on where the seats don't recline at all. Not "limited recline." Zero recline. Completely vertical for 6 hours. No complimentary food but they gave us a bottle of water. Everything else costs extra. Pure budget airline experience.

Here’s a kid sleeping on the floor.

Thank god I brought my turtle travel pillow. Without it, sleeping would've been nearly impossible. The kids managed okay, probably because they can sleep anywhere. Candice and I just endured.

Landed at SFO, took a taxi home. Adventure complete.

Final Thoughts

On the Indonesia parallels: This was the biggest surprise. The pace of life, the driving chaos, the buses that stop anywhere to pick up passengers (they have "kernets" - guys hanging off the bus shouting destinations), and “bajaj”, the stratification between wealthy city centers and poor outskirts, the zinc-roof houses. It all felt familiar in a way I didn't expect from Central America.

On safety: Yes, there are armed soldiers everywhere. Yes, it felt surreal at first. But every interaction was friendly. The Bukele crackdown seems to have genuinely transformed the country. Construction everywhere suggests people finally feel safe enough to invest and build.

On food: Everything was cheap and good. Pupusa quality varies by chef, and the hotel restaurant ones were great. We avoided street food to prevent stomach issues (ironic, since both kids got gastritis anyway from who knows what). Horchata was fine, nothing special. Basically sweet rice drink. The mixed grills and seafood were the highlights.

On tourism infrastructure: This is still a raw place. Not ready for mass tourism. The rental car situation, the navigation app problems, the language barrier (almost no one speaks English), the lack of signage. It's all very DIY. Only come here if you want authentic adventure, not polished resort experiences.

On the people: Universally friendly and helpful. Even when communication was impossible, body language and Google Translate got us through. Don't let them type on your phone though. Some of the older folks type one letter at a time. As fast as Flash the DMV sloth from Zootopia.

On Bitcoin: Completely invisible. We never saw a single Bitcoin ATM or sign accepting crypto. Just credit cards and cash.

Would we go back? Yes, but not soon. When Grace and George are teenagers with stronger immune systems, we'll return for the volcano hike and waterfall we missed. The nature here is stunning and still pristine.

Three words for El Salvador: Raw, cheap, surprisingly familiar.

Trip stats: 5 days, 2 vomiting children, 1 Google Maps near-disaster, 1 nail clipper interrogation, 0 MS-13 encounters, 0 degrees of seat recline on Avianca, pupusas everywhere, and countless good food and drinks.

PS: All the juices are real and tasted so good.