Two streets of board hire, pupusa stands and bars, ending at a black-sand beach with a rock shaped like a pig lying offshore — that is El Tunco, and it is where most people who come to El Salvador to surf end up sleeping. The wave in front of town is a right-hand point over rock and cobble that works nearly year-round, best on the mid to high tide, and it gets crowded because it is the most accessible good wave on the coast.
It is a small place with an outsized weekend. Midweek it is surfers, coffee and not much else; from Friday night the bars fill with people out from San Salvador, forty minutes away, and the music runs late. If that is not what you want, El Zonte ten minutes west is quieter, and the serious wave — Punta Roca — is at La Libertad in the other direction.
Beginners are well served: the beach break at the western end is forgiving, boards rent by the hour on every corner, and lessons are cheap and plentiful. Experienced surfers should know that the take-off is over rock, not sand, and reef booties are not a bad idea.
The sunsets are the other reason people stay longer than they planned. The coast faces due west, and the whole town walks down to the rocks for it.