About El Salvador:
El Salvador was named after the Spanish word for “The Savior”. Known as the Land of Volcanoes, El Salvador has frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and is smaller than the state of Massachusetts.
Many of us tend to think of South American countries as generally unsafe, and to some extent, that has been the case. In the 20th century El Salvador was roiled by political turmoil under a brutal dictatorship of the Salvadoran Armed Forces, which ruled the country for almost 48 years from December 2, 1931 until October 15, 1979….when a coup d’état took place, during which junior officers of the Armed Forces of El Salvador’s Military Youth Movement bloodlessly overthrew General Carlos Humberto Romero, the president of El Salvador. The coup leaders established the Revolutionary Government Junta that ruled El Salvador until 1982.
As recently as the summer 2020, the U.S. State Department El Salvador listed El Salvador as a level 4 “do not travel”.
President Nayib Bukele took office in 2019 and was at the helm of a radical transformation. He led one of the most aggressive anti-gang efforts ever seen, suspended key constitutional rights, reshaped the prosecutorial independence, and consolidated unprecedented political power in the process. Although some of these might be seen as somewhat anti-democratic, it was obviously the answer to such rampant crime and violence, and probably the only answer.
Fast forward to 2025, El Salvador has gone from the murder capital of the world to having one of the lowest homicide rates in the Western Hemisphere.
The U.S. State Department has updated its travel advisory to level 1 travel (exercise normal caution), listing it as one of the safest travel destinations on earth.
Commercial development has been spurred by the newfound security of the country. In 2025 El Salvador appointed Liberty Networks to design, build, deploy, and manage its inaugural undersea cable system. The project will see the deployment of an 1100-mile (1,800-kilometer) undersea cable which will connect El Salvador to major international hubs. Exact details have not been released, but we expect landing stations near La Unión and potentially other coastal areas, feeding data to the capital, San Salvador, and other tech hubs.
Catholic places of interest in El Salvador:
Juayúa: Church of Santa Lucia (El negro Senor, the black crucifix)
San Salvador: Cathedral of the Holy Savior (tomb of St. Oscar Romero)
Traveling to El Salvador:
By air: Most visitors to El Salvador arrive by air. There is only one airport in El Salvador with scheduled flights, which is San Salvador (SAL) / Comalapa International Airport (El Salvador). Many airlines serve El Salvador, including Aeromexico, Air Canada, American, Avianca, Delta, and United.
By ship: Several major cruise lines—including Crystal Cruises, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Cunard—offer itineraries to El Salvador, primarily calling at the port of Acajutla on the Pacific Coast, with sailings ranging from 9‑ to 32‑night Panama Canal and Central America routes.
As of October 10, 2026, the port of Acajutla temporarily suspended the entry due to strong waves as a result of tropical storm Cristina. The port administration stopped the maneuvers in the main maritime terminal of El Salvador as a security measure, a decision that threatens to generate logistical delays and accumulation of cargo as the climate evolves. Check the latest status with the official website of the Port of Acajutla.
The official currency of El Salvador is the U.S. dollar. U.S. citizens need a U.S. passport and either a Salvadoran visa or a one-entry tourist card.