I have used this as one of my title page headlines as I’m tried of the responses I get from people when I say I live in El Salvador and they say “El Salvador?! Isn’t it really dangerous?”
My response is always the same. Anywhere in the world can be seen as being dangerous depending on which district in certain cities you might be hanging out in.
It’s true that 10 years ago when i first came here certain places in San Salvador the capital city were notorious for gang hangouts. So obviously I never went there.
But at the beach in all these years I have never witnessed any aggressive behaviour. I have lived by myself on the beaches here for 10 years and I hitched — hiked daily to surf breaks and to see friends.
The current President also aware of gang violence in the past, has done a massive crack-down on arresting and imprisoning all gang members and their associates. And now my Salvadorian friends who live in the capital city tell me its safe to walk around in those districts that had the bad reputations.
Even in San Salvador city you can find a whole host of International schools. I have teacher friends who work in these schools and they never see any violence either. Many of my surf students are expats living in San Salvador city, including school teachers.
The truest testament I can give you to how comfortable you feel in El Salvador is with my expat community.
I have so many expat friends that have lived here safely for 25 years. And as you can see from the photo above 2 of my expat friends have just had babies here in the last year. I know several other non Salvadorian families here who are raising their happy beach children here.
Your accommodation is on the beach, which is next door to the Salvadorean family who owns it. Our small beach town of Palmarcito everyone knows everyone, so all of us look out for one another and are always there to lend a hand in any type of emergency’s.
So, it’s up to you to make your mind up for yourself. But if I thought in any way people could be in danger, I would not be running retreats.
My 70 year old mother and Auntie just visited here for 2 weeks and not only commented on how safe they felt but also how wonderful and friendly the entire community is here. This is why it’s my home now. You will love how welcoming and genuine people are here.
I hope this helps 🙂
