El Salvador Digital Nomad Tips, From a Nomad and (Half) Salvadoran
I’ve spent a few months in El Salvador over three trips in three years, working virtually the entire time. My dad was born here, so I come to visit family. But I also have an honest outsider perspective on what it’s actually like to work as a digital nomad from here.
El Salvador can work as a digital nomad destination, but it doesn’t stack up well to many other places in Latin America.
El Salvador Works for Backpacker Nomads, But Isn’t Great for Airbnb-Style Nomads
I think that’s the best way I can put it.
- Hostels are cheap, but hotels and Airbnbs are expensive. Rent and housing in general are very expensive here compared to surrounding countries.
- Street and local food is cheap, but nicer spots and even groceries often approach U.S. prices.
- The transit sucks and it’s not very walkable. If you’re a backpacker, you’ll thrive on the “chicken buses.” And there absolutely are walkable parts, but a lot more sprawl and treacherous streets to cross.
- You can find good wifi, but it’s hit or miss in a lot of places. So if you have a 9-5 call-heavy schedule, you’ll need to be particular about your setup.
I would recommend El Salvador if you like backpacking and don’t mind hostels. But the places that seem like natural nomad spots, like the beach towns of El Tunco and El Zonte, are not cheap. A decent room at a proper beach hotel or an Airbnb run close to U.S. prices. Co-working spaces barely exist outside of San Salvador. Wifi in beach towns is unreliable, even at expensive properties. (Speaking from experience).
Where El Salvador is genuinely cheap is on local food, street snacks, pupusas, and hostels. That’s a backpacker equation. For most digital nomads who want reliable wifi, comfortable accommodations, and a productive work environment, that equation doesn’t add up, especially if you want a walkable neighborhood. (Most of the upscale areas are more car-dependent.)
You Can Make San Salvador Work With a More Classic Nomad Lifestyle
That said, San Salvador isn’t a bad base, with all the modern amenities (coffee shops, gyms, restaurants) you’re looking for. But get out of the city every weekend, as many wealthy locals do. Head to the beach or the volcanoes.
There aren’t many walkable areas, but Ubers are very cheap, so find a place where you can walk to do your daily errands, and take cars the rest of the time.
It’s not Lima or Lisbon, but I’ve done it successfully multiple times.
What El Salvador Has to Offer Nomads
There are some good reasons to consider El Salvador.
Surf, Volcanoes, and Coffee
This is close to its official tagline.
El Salvador has world-class beaches and surf, spectacular volcano hikes, and excellent local food like fried plantains, pupusas, and fresh coffee.
It’s a beautiful country with a lot of natural richness packed into a small space. It also has some practical nomad appeals: warm weather, a convenient time zone for North American workers (you’ll be on Chicago or Denver time depending on the season), and low prices for local goods and food.
Bitcoin Communities
In 2021, Bitcoin became the co-official currency of El Salvador, and the government has continued to buy bitcoin. In practice and in the daily life of Salvadorans, this has had mixed results at best. But I won’t get into that here.
As it relates to nomads, though, this has attracted cryptocurrency and bitcoin enthusiasts and events.
That’s not really my vibe, so I haven’t explored it much, but you can look into places like Bitcoin Beach if it’s yours.
People Are Really Nice!
I’m biased, but I think Salvadorans tend to be some of the warmest, most welcoming, kind, and helpful people.
They’ll take a minute to support you the best way they can. And unlike many Latin American places, they’re not looking to rip off foreigners as often.
Even though I have a different Spanish accent (my grandparents think I spent a bit too much time in Barcelona) and am a wealthy foreigner, unlike other countries, they’ve never tried to stiff me.
The Pupusas
Pupusas are the Salvadoran taco, hamburger, or insert staple for locals. And they’re incredible. In towns, they’re as cheap as 50 cents each, and in the city, as expensive as $1.50.
When you get off the plane, tell your taxi driver to stop in Oloquilta. It’s famous for its pupusas, and there are dozens of pupuserias, some open 24/7. It’s on the way to San Salvador from the airport.
Great Place to Learn Spanish, as Nobody Speaks English
You won’t really have a choice but to learn. Good news if you really want to. If you need some help, check out my article on learning Spanish as an adult, which I did myself.
El Salvador Has a Digital Nomad Visa
On a tourist visa, you can stay in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua for a combined 90 days, and you can request to stay longer. (They want your tourist money.)
But if you wanted to stay longer, El Salvador is trying to attract digital nomads with their digital nomad visa.
Where in El Salvador is Suitable for Nomads?
Most of what I’ve read from other nomads on places like Reddit (check out the digitalnomad subreddit to read more first-hand accounts) has said they lived in beach towns. Given the appeal of the surf life, this makes sense.
However, wifi and workspaces are not guaranteed out there. The broadband infrastructure isn’t very good, so even nice, expensive places may not have great wifi.
I have always stayed in San Salvador and escaped on weekends.
Granted, that’s where my family lives, and I’ve always stayed with family. But I still think this makes the most sense. This is also the choice for most wealthy locals.
San Salvador is both the capital city and the largest city of the country. If you want reliable wifi, ample co-working spaces, restaurants, and good housing, San Salvador is likely the best place for it. After all, it’s a metro area with 2 million people, about a third of the country’s population.
For things like nightlife, you’ll want to be in the San Salvador region.
(The nightlife is okay. It’s not Barcelona, that’s for sure, but there’s plenty going on.)
Your life in San Salvador may not be the most exciting, but it has the amenities you need for work and everyday life.
San Salvador is More Like L.A. Than New York
If you’re coming to El Salvador expecting Mexico City or Bogotá in terms of having at least a few walkable neighborhoods, I’m sorry to disappoint.
Its urban design is much more like LA. It does not have walkable, mixed-use city districts, one may think of when they imagine European cities. A lot of it technically walkable, but the infrastructure prioritizes cars so much, that crossing the street can feel sketchy and you’ll inhale a lot of diesel fumes.
You don’t “need” a car, because after all, only 25% of the region has acces to a car. However, people take the buses because they have to, not because they want to.
As an urban creature myself, I’d prefer being somewhere I can walk. The result is that during the week, I mostly stay local, with a gym and grocery store in walking distance and the mall a short Uber or bus ride away.
Then on weekends, I join family or friends and head to the playas or the volcanoes. This is very typical of wealthy locals. Very few of the upper-class people live full time on the beaches, and that’s for many good reasons. The infrastructure, whether drinking water or wifi or social activity, is just not there.
El Tunco and El Sunzal Are Your Best Bets for Surf Towns
If you prioritize surfing above all else, El Salvador might be a great spot for you.
I think El Tunco and El Sunzal are the beaches that are the best bet for you. They’re close to each other, so you can test out both.
El Tunco has a hostel culture, so you can sleep for cheap and have wifi, but again, it’s not a traditional DN experience.
Problems With The Beach Towns: They’re Expensive With Poor Surrounding Infrastructure
Is it cheaper than San Diego for surfing? Of course. But other beach towns in Latin America will be a better value with better infrastructure for full-time beach living.
But the surfing in El Salvador is amazing.
If you want a daily surf life, my personal advice is to check it out and see if you can work effectively.
Santa Ana is The Backpacker Center of the Country
Santa Ana is the second largest city in the country, and it’s about an hour and a half northwest of San Salvador. It’s the traditional coffee-growing region of the country, due to its proximity to the fertile volcano soils.
I don’t have any data to back this up, but I’ve stayed in hostels in Santa Ana, and there are about half a dozen hostels within walking distance of each other in the town center.
Santa Ana is the starting point for amazing day trips like hiking the Santa Ana volcano, which I recommend. It has access to some other great nature spots like Lake Coatepeque. However, to get to these spots outside of town, it’s hard without a car.
The wifi at those hostels is okay. It worked for me for a few days, but it’s just slow enough that it would annoying for a longer stint. Some hostels are better environments to work than others. (Urban Nest is the best one to work at in my opinion).
Santa Ana is More Chill Than San Salvador and More Walkable
Santa Ana’s center is a lot less chaotic than San Salvador, and it’s very walkable, with grocery stores you can walk to. If you could find decent housing and figure out your wifi, Santa Ana could provide one of the better digital nomad setups.
Housing in San Salvador
I’ll admit I’m not the best person to ask this, because I always stay with family members. However, there are lots of options on Airbnb in the $1000 per month range. When you book, check your distance to a supermarket, other essentials, and driving distance to the nearest major mall, which in much of Latin America, fills the role of public space.
If you’re an experienced nomad, El Salvador is the type of place where you could negotiate things. So if you want to check out ordinary rentals and reach out, that’s not a bad idea.
Beach Towns That Are Options
With that said, as a nomad, you could give it a go full-time at the beach. While I’ve been to a few of these, I’ve never worked from there. All of them have nice hotels, but they’re expensive. Many have cheaper hostels, but the wifi is hit or miss.
If you need good wifi, I would scour reviews and make sure where you’re staying has it. Otherwise, it probably will be suitable, but not ideal for long work days.
Where to Work Virtually in San Salvador
Here are a few places where you can have reliable wifi suitable for calls.
The National Library
Last year, a brand new library opened in the heart of the historic downtown. It was a gift from China to the tune of $54 million dollars. Putting aside the geopolitics of this, it’s objectively a good space to work, and it’s free. There are seven floors, so there’s everything from coach spaces with coach desks, to regular desks with ample outlets, to a rooftop with seating. They even have phone booths so you can do calls comfortably.
It’s downtown, which in a car will be horrendous to get to due to traffic, but if you live close by or near a bus that goes to it, then I recommend it.
The Malls
Malls are one of the social centers of life in El Salvador. I talk more about this in this TikTok and this article on why malls thrive in Latin America.
You’ll find big malls all throughout the San Salvador metro area. They have tables, obviously many coffee shops, and free, fast wifi, so you can make it your own little coworking space.
If you’re outside of San Salvador, in another town or city, I’d also look into their malls because you’ll likely find a reliable workspace.
Coffee Shops: Local Spots and Chains
There are local internet cafes too. Like any city, you have to hunt them out a bit.
I hate supporting chains, especially outside the U.S. However, I admit a few times I’ve gone to Starbucks for its reliably good wifi in San Salvador. Honestly, the Starbucks that I’ve been to in El Salvador is nicer than many in the U.S. They don’t care if you post up, and you can count on having good wifi.
Coworking Spaces: Not Really
I haven’t found one. I’m sure they’re out there, but your options will be slim.
Transportation in El Salvador
As I mentioned, it’s not a place where you’ll do much walking and biking.
There is Uber, and it’s cheap and reliable.
There are buses too, and they’ll take you everywhere, but they have a lot of problems. First, they’re confusing to use, and they don’t show up on Google Maps or Apple Maps. You can’t find timetables of them online. You have to know the routes. Naturally, then, only locals and adventurous travelers take buses.
And the wealthy class doesn’t. The wealthy class has private drivers or drives their own car.
Also, the airport is far from San Salvador, so I recommend using a private taxi company before you arrive. Hit me with an email, and I’ll pass a company on to you.
Transportation showcases that El Salvador really is about two halves: a wealthy half and a half living in poverty.
I wouldn’t drive yourself. El Salvador’s streets are chaotic.
Traffic is Horrendous
In San Salvador, rush hour begins around 3pm and ends at 8pm. It’s terrible, and is going to continue to get worse unless they start investing into transit now.
The buses don’t have bus-only lanes, which means they also get stuck in traffic.
This means getting around in the afternoon it’s hard to get places.
El Salvador for Nomads Cost of Living: Cheap for Local Stuff, Expensive for Nice Stuff
El Salvador is both very cheap and very expensive at the same time. As a guideline, anything local and from the country will be very cheap, and anything imported will be very expensive.
In El Salvador, more so than anywhere else I’ve traveled, it’s clear what’s for the upper classes and what’s for everybody else.
For example, street pupusas will be around 80 cents to a dollars. But a meal out at a bougie restaurant will be U.S. prices. Getting lunch delivered from a local spot will be $3-$4 plus a 50-cent tip. Getting a Starbucks will be $4 for a latte, which is basically U.S. prices.
The same goes for housing. For locals, their rents are expensive, typically from $200 on the low end to $1000 on the high-end. But if you stay in a tourist-focused hotel on the beach, you’ll pay fairly steep hotel price.
Overall, you can live and not spend that much, but you may also be suprised how much you spend.
The Language Barrier: Non-Existent English
This is great news if you want to learn Spanish, actually. Few people speak English. Waiters, hotel receptionists, and taxi drivers in the tourist areas often do, but the average person you talk to will not speak any English.
Fortunately, they’re very friendly and patient with whatever your Spanish level is.
Getting to El Salvador: Lots of Cheap Flights from The U.S.
The last few times, I’ve flown direct from JFK in New York City for less than $200 with Avianca. My last flight was a whopping $107 one way on Avianca. You can read more about this airline in my review of Avianca.
Major airlines like United and American also have direct flights from cities like Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas, Newark, and more. So there are plenty of options there.
You can find cheap flights. I’d check Avianca first because they’re the “budget” airline that flies to San Salvador the most.
Before You Come Here, Understand The Impact on Locals
A less-discussed part of the big changes in El Salvador is how much they are catering to tourists, foreigners, and nomads, often at the expense of locals.
The centro histĂłrico looks beautiful to me and you, but the coffee shops and restaurants are unaffordable to the vast majority of locals (the minimum wage in El Salvador is less than $400 per month)
They’ve built new highways to connect San Salvador to beach towns, while they desperately need better public transit, schools, and hospitals. I fear that it’s heading in a direction that will lead to unsustainable tourism and rapid gentrification, unless they start to invest in the locals.
I say this not to convince you not to come. I say this to be more informed if you do. Consider engaging with the local culture, rather than just spending time in the places designed to rack up tourism dollars that the average local likely won’t see any benefit from.
If you find yourself with a soft spot for the place, perhaps you can think about tackling some of these big challenges with the health and impact of ordinary locals in mind, not just what will add most to the economy‘s bottom line.
El Salvador: A Beautiful Country With Lots to Offer and Lots of Problems
Naturally, because of my heritage, El Salvador has a special place in my heart. If you’re drawn to it for whatever reasons, I hope you at least visit and give it a shot.
Its natural beauty and welcoming culture make it a unique, albeit unconventional, option for digital nomads. From world-class surf to stunning volcano hikes and vibrant local food, there’s a lot to love, especially if you’re looking for a place off the beaten path.
However, El Salvador is not without its challenges. Infrastructure is still catching up. The cultural and political shifts under Bukele have made the country safer and more appealing for tourists and nomads, but I fear that this “progress” threatens the unstable livelihoods of most locals.
The focus on tourism development often overlooks the needs of the local population, and rapid changes could lead to gentrification that marginalizes many Salvadorans. If you go, keep this in mind, and consider how you can support the locals.
Spend time engaging with Salvadorans, support local businesses, and enjoy what the country has to offer. And stay adaptable—El Salvador is evolving, and being part of this transition means navigating both its growing pains and its promise.
It’s not yet Buenos Aires or Bogotá, but for those willing to embrace its quirks, El Salvador might just surprise you.
Thanks for your insight!!