The Wild East

Located between Playa Las Flores, San Miguel, and Punta la Piragua, Usulután, Oriente Salvaje (Wild East) features more than 2,500 hectares of natural protected areas along its rugged 18-kilometer coastline. Right-hand point breaks such as Las Flores and Punta Mango have attracted surfers from around the world to this remote part of El Salvador.

With the support of the USAID Economic Competitiveness Project (ECP), 12 local tourism operators, some of whom were the first to build and operate hotels in the region over 20 years ago after the civil war, came together to spearhead the creation of their tourism business association, ADETCO (Asociación de Empresas Turísticas de la Costa Oriental) in 2020. ADETCO aims to maintain the balance between growing the tourism economy and protecting the rustic and rural character of the Wild East.

For 2022, STOKE is working with ADETCO and public and private stakeholders on a long-term sustainable surf tourism plan to help the community create its own Destination Management Organization (DMO).

Oriente Salvaje has been benchmarked against the STOKE Surf Destinations standard and is working towards STOKE certification as a USAID ECP-funded project.