Snorkel and dive trip on the Los Cóbanos reef

El Salvador's Pacific coast is almost all surf, and Los Cóbanos is the exception: a fringing reef off the cape south of Acajutla, the only sizeable coral reef on the Pacific between Mexico and Costa Rica, which takes the edge off the waves and makes ocean snorkelling possible at all. The coral lies mostly off the beach locals call El Privado or El Manzanillo, reached on foot along the road towards Las Veraneras. The shoreline is shallow and full of boulders, so it is a place to float with a mask rather than swim laps.

Timing decides the trip. In the rainy season, May to October, visibility can drop to nearly nothing, and even in good months it is often murky. Diving is a dry-season affair (November to April), when boats from the fishermen's pier in Acajutla make five-hour runs 5 to 10 km offshore to sites down to about 30 metres. Expect the beach restaurants to be busy with Salvadoran families at weekends and half-shut midweek.