Casa de Mar

On my second trip to El Salvador, I wanted to go surfing on some breaks that I had only read about in magazines and books. My cab driver from the airport recommended the break at Playa Sunzál. Stephanie looked online, and she found some pictures of a new hotel, Casa de Mar. It was really nice for a reasonable $120/night plus 13% in taxes, so we decided to check it out. Wow, what a find! The hotel had just opened that weekend, and we believe we were the first guests there (we stayed in the Yellow Suite, which had the best deck view of the whole place). The food at Cafe Sunzál, which is at the top of the complex had some great food for about $7-$12/plate for lunch and dinner. The restaurant also had a very solid collection of wines that complimented the meals well. My favorite was the breakfast "plato tipico" (included in the price of the room) which includes eggs, refried beans, rice, pancakes, and bread along with orange juice and coffee. It really hit the spot after surfing.

Speaking of surfing, it rocked! The break at Playa Sunzál is definitely not for beginners. I recommend only going out if you're already comfortable in the water on a surfboard. If you are, then this place is pretty sweet. You can longboard or shortboard on this break. The lines are long, but the breakpoints shift around, so they're a little hard to read. But if you do get one, the ride is pretty awesome. Be sure to go early...like around sunrise. The water is calm and warm (around 80 degrees), and there usually aren't more than a few people in the water. Also, the locals are cool, so it's pretty friendly out there. Even better is that Casa de Mar stocks a whole set of long boards and short boards and rents them for $20/day. For the $20, you can go out on a longboard, come in for breakfast, and then go out with a shortboard later. The $20 lets you rent any board in their collection of about 8 really high quality boards. If you want lessons, I recommend contacting Vladimir Flores (vflores2@hotmail.com or vflores@integra.com.sv). He knows the breaks up and down El Salvador, and he can show you where to go outside of Sunzál including breaks for beginners and more advanced surfers.

The best part of the hotel by far, though, is the staff. Daniel, Ceci, Blanca, Amanda, David, Jimmy, and Ernesto, are super friendly and provide some amazing service without being intrusive. They do everything from bartending to cleaning the rooms to being the wait staff at the restaurant. It's hard to explain in words, but you'll know what I mean if you go there. You'll leave loving these folks. We like to tip them a collective $10/day, so if Stephanie and I stay for 2 nights, we tip them a total of $40 above and beyond the normal 10% tip the bar charges automatically. The service is that good.

After spending five weekends there, we're looking to buy a condo on the beach from Alfonso, the owner of Casa de Mar who is planning to expand the development. We certainly hope that we'll be able to return there at least once per year to just relax and enjoy the warm weather, water, and most of all friendly people of Casa de Mar who truly represent the best of El Salvadoran hospitality.

- Jeff