Lake, Volcano Tour
by Will Lehr
Imagine a land so exotic that there are volcanoes, lakes, waterfalls, mountains, and cloud forests literally bursting out of the ocean. This land is called El Salvador.
I fell in love with the country on my first trip, quickly convinced my wife to buy a beach house, and then naturally it was time to bring our kids down for an adventure and introduce them to this magical land. Despite some public misconception, we wanted to prove that El Salvador is one of the safest countries in the world coupled with some of the most incredible natural beauty in the world.
Here I will share with you our epic 3 day journey from the beaches of the mighty Pacific Ocean up an ancient volcano to a pristine lake, then to a cloud forest, nestled at over 6000 feet elevation, then to a hot springs waterfall, and finally back to the beach in time for sunset!
It was Winter break, the kids were out of school and rainy season in the tropics was just coming to a close. We arrived at Club Cocal in the heart of Surf City, El Salvador just in time for an epic New Year’s Eve beach celebration complete with bonfire, fireworks, and beach games with the local kids.
On New Year’s Day, we departed for our mountain adventure around lunchtime with a short drive up the mountain to lake Coatepeque. The lake is situated at over 2000 feet of elevation nestled in an ancient volcanic caldera, providing surrounding views of mountains. We arrived just in time to check in to our quaint Lakeside hotel, and take a boat tour of the lake for sunset.
The lake is one of the most beautiful I have seen in the world surrounded by large properties with sweeping green lawns and palm trees at the base of a volcanic mountain range. After our sunset boat cruise, we enjoyed dinner on the deck overlooking the water. We packed in early and got ready for our adventure up to the Cerro Verde cloud forest the next day.
The drive from our hotel was an incredible tour all the way around the rim of the volcano ridge surrounding the lake. Once just behind the lake you climb a steep mountain up to 6000 feet of elevation and arriving to the Cerro Verde Cloud forest. This mountain is unique as it is shrouded with passing clouds year-round and maintains a wet rainforest atmosphere even throughout dry season (January through May). The cooler temperatures are nothing short of marvelous.
We embarked on an hour long guided hike through the Cloud forest down into another volcano caldera. It was a mellow hike, easy for the kids with incredible views of the lake down below and the surrounding mountains. We were told to keep an eye out for the occasional wildlife and saw some birds and lizards, thankfully nothing scary. Although amazingly El Salvador has few snakes, but it does have its fair share of spiders. After the hike, we had a lovely lunch overlooking the volcanoes and then headed back down the hill to our Lakeside hotel.
We had another amazing Lakeside dinner, played some cards and packed up for our adventure the next morning to the hot springs waterfalls river.
We awoke for our third day, checked out of the hotel and headed up the backside of the Santa Ana volcano. Our final destination for the trip was a place called Salto de Malacatiupan, which is a river with a waterfall where hot springs from the volcano seep into the river, making it a balmy hot tub like temperature. Despite my numerous travels to hot springs this was my first hot spring waterfall. You could sit in the waterfall with the water blasting your back and it was just like being in a hot tub with massaging jets.
El Salvador is rich with these pockets of biodiverse, unique climates. In a short drive one can experience numerous. In fact not far from the hot springs waterfall is another mountain oasis complete with geyser steamed steam rooms with branches of eucalyptus tree on the floors. Outside the steam rooms are chilled pools and mud baths offering a raw volcano resort style experience. We didn’t have time for the geyser oasis this trip if we wanted to catch sunset at the beach, so we opted for next time. After hiking playing in the river and soaking in the hot springs, we began our trek down the mountain back to the beaches of Surf City.
Our drive back was only a couple hours from Club Cocal and we arrived just in time for sunset, happy hour and a relaxing unwind from an epic, action packed, three day tour of El Salvador. The kids jumped in the pool. Mom and I ordered ceviche for delivery from the restaurant next-door and we kicked back, relaxed and marveled on the beauty that is El Salvador.
Club Cocal pool
