When answering “Is El Salvador Safe to Travel to?”, the answer is a little more nuanced than yes or no. There are a variety of factors that go into safety in El Salvador. Citizen vs. non-citizen, Latino vs. non-Latino, black vs. white, male vs. female, touristy vs. off the beaten path and much more go into how safe El Salvador will be for you.
Our short answer is yes, El Salvador is safe, but you should exercise caution no matter where you travel. We’ll go over all the ways safety varies in El Salvador, and finally what you can do to have the safest experience possible. El Salvador has so much beauty packed in to such a small country, so don’t let fears of safety prevent you from experiencing all it has to offer. Read on for everything you need to know to answer if El Salvador is safe to travel to!
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History of Violence in El Salvador
El Salvador is a country that has been plagued by civil unrest, gang violence and poverty. The recent civil war, which ended in 1992, the gangs such as Barrio 18 and MS-13, and lack of resources have left El Salvadorans in difficult times. Innocent civilians were caught in the crossfire, others turned to crime to support their families, and it was an incredibly hard place to live. The country didn’t see much tourism, it was primarily just El Salvadorans living elsewhere returning home for a quick visit.
El Salvador was deemed the murder capital of the world at 103 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015. (It has since decreased dramatically, which we’ll get into next.) While 2015 was ten years ago now, many people still have this violent image of El Salvador in their heads. Let’s get on to how El Salvador became safe.
How Did El Salvador Become Safe?
Nayib Bukele can take sole responsibility for El Salvador becoming safe. He was elected president in 2019, and starting rounding up suspected gang members. Tens of thousands of people were incarcerated, and crime rates had decreased significantly. In 2023, murder rates had dropped by 70%, according to Reuters. This makes traveling to El Salvador significantly safer.
However, key word is “suspected” gang members. There were certainly many gang members who were rightfully imprisoned, but lots of innocent people were wrongfully accused. Any reformed gang member, many people with tattoos, those who resisted police brutality, and those who committed petty crimes may have been labeled a gang member. This was super controversial, and why we don’t recommend talking politics with locals. A few people offered us their opinions, but we didn’t go out of our way to ask people about this.
Whatever your political views are, El Salvador is now fairly safe for tourists due to these measures.
Is El Salvador Safe? Our Experience
We thought El Salvador was safe for the most part. The people were insanely kind, and super excited that we were visiting their country. We would say it’s extremely safe and we had no problems. However, there were two tiny incidents that made us slightly uncomfortable. The first was when we got to Santa Ana, arriving to the bus station late at night. This was our first night in El Salvador, and we saw the polluted streets, and run down sheet roof houses. We started walking towards downtown, when someone asked us for money, we declined, and they followed us for a block before giving up. Nothing came of it, but it just made us feel uneasy on our first night in El Salvador.
The second incident was in Suchitoto, when we woke up early to go on a walk. We saw a guy lying down, passed out (still breathing) in a pool of his own blood(!!!!) with an obvious head injury. We looked around to see if we could get help and thankfully saw a police officer! The police officer walked towards him, stepped over his limp body, and continued on about his day. I’m not sure what the story was with this guy but I had never seen anything like this.
Now these are just two experiences. We never felt threatened or like we were in or about to be in harm’s way. El Salvador was extremely safe otherwise and didn’t have any problems while traveling here.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance!
El Salvador is fairly safe, but whenever leaving the country it makes sense to get an insurance policy. This will not only cover health, but other things like lost luggage, meals and accommodations for delays, and much more!
Is El Salvador Safe for American Tourists?
El Salvador is very safe for American tourists. America has the most El Salvadoran outside of El Salvador, and the majority of its tourists are American. Even if you are not El Salvadoran or Latino, El Salvador is safe for you. As described earlier, it is safer to be a tourist than it is to be a citizen. The last thing the El Salvadoran police and government is crimes committed against tourists, and for that news to get out.
Unfortunately the American stereotype of El Salvadorans is usually the image of gang members rather than the greater, amazing El Salvadoran population. However El Salvadorans don’t have negative stereotypes of Americans nor do Americans have a target on their backs. We had no real issues, and people actually loved that we were from the U.S.
Is El Salvador Safe For Solo Female Travelers?
Latin America has a sometimes-true stereotype when it comes to respecting women. It is more normal to be catcalled and harassed in Latin America than in the US and other places. Because we travel as a couple, we won’t truly understand how it is to travel as a solo female.
However, the numerous solo female travelers we talked to said nothing but nice things about their experience in El Salvador. One girl we talked to mentioned her experience in Nicaragua, where she was physically harassed on a bus ride, while she didn’t receive even a catcall after two weeks in El Salvador. Unfortunately there are always bad apples, and being a woman in situations like bars and clubs can take a turn for the worse. Make sure to always trust your instincts, and travel in groups at night!
Is El Salvador Safe for Expats?
El Salvador is extremely safe for Expats! El Salvador is aggressively encouraging foreign investment, especially in the terms of purchasing citizenship. What would hold an expat back from buying citizenship you ask? An unsafe and hostile country for expats. This is the absolute LAST thing the El Salvadoran government wants. El Salvador was the first country to adopt Bitcoin as the national currency, and has since been a growing haven for bitcoiners and techies from other countries.
Is Public Transport in El Salvador Safe?
For those who don’t know, El Salvador and most of Central America uses “Chicken Buses”, which are old American school buses. They are called chicken buses because the goal is to stuff as many people in them as physically possible, like chickens. These are dirt cheap, often being less than $2 for a 1-2 hour drive. While almost every bus we went on in El Salvador we had a seat, it is a good idea to keep an eye on your belongings. These are much easier to do with backpacks rather than suitcases so keep that in mind! The drivers can be a little crazy and there aren’t any seatbelts so depending on your comfort level, chicken buses may not be for you.
San Salvador uses mini buses and these are packed to the brim with people. This would make it easy for pickpockets to take your stuff! Uber is so cheap here so I would just opt for that instead!
We took the various chicken buses from Antigua, Guatemala to Santa Ana, El Salvador and had no problems.
Dangerous Places in El Salvador
There aren’t really any touristy places that are also dangerous. Unless you’re filming a documentary for Vice News, you probably won’t end up in any dangerous areas. Most places east of the historic center in San Salvador, like Soyapanga are unsafe. Mejicanos, which is north of San Benito is also not very safe. The area around the bus station in Santa Ana could be a lot cleaner and safer, but it’s fine to walk through during the day. Sonsonate is the unofficial starting point for the Ruta de las Flores, and you should avoid certain areas at night. San Miguel, a city in east El Salvador is another place you shouldn’t visit.
Safe Places in El Salvador
All of the places that tourists frequent, like El Tunco and the coast, Suchitoto, Santa Ana, and the towns on La Ruta de las Flores are fairly safe. While you may see mentions of burglaries on the Santa Ana Volcano hike, this isn’t an issue any more. This hike is guided and there is a police officer stationed up there to prevent any petty crime. The San Benito neighborhood in San Salvador is super safe, and a short Uber ride will easily take you to all of San Salvador’s hotspots.
Is El Salvador the Safest Country in Latin America?
We actually felt safer in El Salvador than we did in the rest of Central America. Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, and Belize have the petty crime that comes with booming tourist economies, Nicaragua had lots of people that saw you as a walking money machine, and we didn’t go to Honduras, but have heard it’s the most dangerous country in Central America.
We’ve only been to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Peru in South America, and Uruguay was the safest place we visited in Latin America. It actually felt safer than the US and many places in Europe. The majority of interactions we had in El Salvador makes me think El Salvador is in the top 4 or 5 safest countries in Latin America. If not now, definitely within a few years!
Is El Salvador safer than Mexico?
Mexico is full of contrasts. In some regions you have cartels with tanks going to war with the military, and other regions the population wouldn’t hurt a fly. The extremes of violence in Mexico are significantly worse than the extremes in El Salvador. On average, I would say El Salvador is much safer than Mexico.
Dangers of El Salvador
If you’re like me, you can’t help but imagine the worst possible outcome for every scenario, no matter how unrealistic. It took some research into how safe El Salvador is nowadays to convince me to go. There are certainly a few dangers of El Salvador, and it wouldn’t be honest to leave them out. Petty crime: This is (thankfully) the most frequent danger that travelers face in El Salvador. Things like pickpockets, petty theft, and more aren’t common, but they do happen to tourists no matter what country you’re in. Then, there’s wrongful imprisonment. The details aren’t extremely clear, but there have been rare reports of foreigners getting put in jail, due to El Salvador’s state of emergency that allows police officers to detain anyone without cause. Then, worst, worst, worst case scenario is the gang violence, which can include kidnappings, assault, and murder. However, this is extremely unlikely to happen as a tourist who sticks to the safe areas. The dangers in El Salvador are easily avoided and not present as someone traveling through El Salvador.
El Salvador Travel Advisory
The United States State Department has El Salvador listed as a “3 – Reconsider Travel” due to crime. Costa Rica, which is often deemed the safest country in Central America is “2 – Exercise Increased Caution”. For reference, New Zealand’s Safe Travel Program has an “2 – Exercise Increased Caution” for the United States due to terrorism. Obviously each country has its own rating system, but thinking of El Salvador as just a little less safe than the US is fair, in my opinion.
El Salvador Safety Tips
- Use Uber in San Salvador and avoid unmarked taxis
- Get an E-Sim (we like Airalo for limited, cheap GB and Holafly for unlimited data) for emergency calls. (If you have the AT&T Unlimited plan, you get service in Latin America for Free)
- Wear a cross-shoulder bag and keep your belongings close on chicken buses
- Don’t get too drunk, watch your drinks, and if you stay out late make sure you are in a group
- Don’t talk politics with locals
- Learn some basic Spanish
- If you don’t have service, download city maps on Google Maps to get around
- Trust your instincts
- When traveling between cities and towns, try to arrive during day time
Our Favorite Travel Resources
Accommodations: We use Booking.com for hotels and HostelWorld for hostels. We also use VRBO or TrustedHousesitters for longer stays.
Flights: We recommend using Skyscanner to find the cheapest and best flights.
Ground Transport: We use 12Go and Omio for buses and private transfers, and rentalcars.com and Discover Cars for rental cars.
Activities: GetYourGuide and Viator are the best websites for booking organized tours.
International Medical Insurance: We highly recommend SafetyWing for Digital Nomads and HeyMondo for those not traveling full-time, or who frequently engage in higher-risk adventure activities.
eSIM: We recommend Airalo or Holafly for getting data internationally.
Check out our Travel Resources Page for more of our favorite travel-related products and services!
Keep Exploring El Salvador…
- The Perfect 10-Day El Salvador Itinerary
- The Most Amazing 1 Week El Salvador Itinerary
- El Salvador to Nicaragua by Boat: Your Ultimate Guide
- The Most Amazing Things to Do in Suchitoto
- The Best Things to Do in and around Santa Ana, El Salvador
- Your Complete Guide to the Santa Ana Volcano Hike
- How to Spend the Perfect Day in El Tunco, El Salvador
- La Ruta de las Flores: El Salvador’s Most Beautiful Towns
- From Antigua to El Salvador by Bus: Your Ultimate Guide
- The Absolute Best Things to do in El Salvador
