The tuk-tuk dropped us off, after traveling for a while on a narrow road through little known places of El Salvador. Supposedly, we had arrived at the hot springs waterfalls. We saw the tuk-tuk gradually disappear and then glanced around. The place looked deserted and dry on that summer afternoon. “Is this where we are supposed to see the waterfalls?”, we wondered. Soon, we noticed a worn out board with a welcome message. We had indeed arrived at El Salto de Malacatiupan, the hot springs waterfalls of El Salvador.
But even then, the waterfalls were nowhere in sight. Walking for a bit, past a dry and dusty ground, then down a few stairs and then some more on a rocky terrain, we arrived near a river. But the hot springs waterfalls were still not visible.
Did we find the waterfalls finally? Of course! We spent an amazing afternoon at this beautiful spot in El Salvador, which is a combination of natural hot springs and waterfalls! So, In this comprehensive guide, we share all the details that you need to plan your own visit to El Salto de Malacatiupan in 2023.
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Do You Need a Guide to Visit El Salto de Malacatiupan?
No, you do not need a guide to visit El Salto de Malacatiupan. It is a place you can pretty much visit and enjoy on your own, unlike the Tamanique waterfalls, where a guide is mandatory.
You can go for the Malacatiupan excursion during your stay in Santa Ana or in one of the towns along the Ruta de las Flores.
We visited El Salto from Santa Ana. After spending the morning at the Mayan Ruins of El Tazumal, we headed to the hot spring waterfalls in the afternoon. It was a pleasant and easy trip from Santa Ana the day after working our muscles for the Santa Ana volcano hike.
If you are looking for places to stay in Santa Ana, check this for a list of top rated hotels in the city.
For a visual feel of El Salto de Malacatiupan, check out our YouTube video below. For more videos about traveling and living in Latin America, subscribe to our channel.
Things to Do at El Salto de Malacatiupan
It is a short hike from the entrance to the river and waterfalls area of El Salto de Malacatiupan. However, even when you are near the river or can see the waterfalls from above, you are not there yet.
Use the small wooden bridges (see photo below) to cross over to the other side of the river. From there, take the rocky steps to walk down till near the waterfalls and natural pools. Be careful here, as it is a naturally sculpted path of rocks and stones, often covered in moss and is slippery with water drops.
But after you arrive, grab a spot and enjoy. There are plenty of things to do at El Salto de Malacatiupan.
Admire the Views of the Waterfalls
When you are amidst nature, nothing beats sitting quietly and immersing yourself in the beauty of our world. I take moments like these as opportunities to reflect on thoughts, to connect with self.
At El Salto, despite the adventure the place brings, you can find your quiet spot and admire the views of the waterfalls and the surrounding nature.
Jump Off the Cliff!
Talking about adventure, you can get a good dose of adrenaline rush at this hot spring waterfalls of El Salvador. You can jump from the edge of the cliff, directly into the warm water pool below! This may be the highlight of your visit to El Salto de Malacatiupan.
However, the jump is high, the water is deep and the river has current. So, before you take that jump, assess if you are equipped with the required skills. I (Pubali) am a beginner level swimmer. So, although I have done jumping off cliff into the water before, I chose to skip this one.
Indranil, on the other hand, being a more skilled swimmer than me, decided that he would go for the jump. But given the height of the jump, standing at the edge of the rock, he hesitated a bit. Then, within a couple of minutes, he conquered all his doubts and took the leap!
I saw him splash into the pool below, beaming with joy! “The water is warm”, he screamed. He continued to swim around a bit , enjoying the large warm water natural pool, before getting back.
Indranil was so elated with the experience that he did it again, and again. He jumped off the edge into the warm water pool of the hot springs waterfalls a total of 4 times!!
If you are going for this jump at El Salto, to get out of the pool, you will need to hold on to a rope, scramble on the rocks and climb your way up. This kind of arrangement always reminds me of the Montezuma waterfalls!
Swim in the Warm Water Pools
Even without jumping into the large warm water pool, you can walk down to it from the other side and enjoy a swim there.
Relax in the Natural Hot Springs Pool
The way the hot spring waterfalls are formed at El Salto de Malacatiupan, it has created couple of smaller pools. They get nice shade because of the cliffs above. And one of the waterfalls streams drops directly in this area.
So, if you are looking to relax in the natural hot spring pools at El Salto, this is your spot.
The hot springs that we had experienced prior to this in Costa Rica, in La Fortuna (like Eco Termales or Los Lagos), and near Rincon de la Vieja, usually have multiple different pool areas, each of varying temperature ranges.
But, El Salto de Malacatiupan is different. There is no human intervention here for cutting out pool areas using hot spring water, neither are the temperatures controlled. So, we were a bit skeptical in the beginning if the water temperature would be too hot for us, or not warm enough.
But, as soon as we sunk our bodies in the natural pool, we realized that the water temperature was perfect! The warmth felt similar to that of a hot tub or a hot shower. Feeling the warm water on our bodies, we spent good amount of time here and occasionally swam up to the waterfalls, to get a cooler swash.
Enjoy a Picnic Lunch
El Salto de Malacatiupan is a place where you can spend as long as you desire during the day, if you are prepared for it. There are no restaurants or cafes or food vendors nearby. So, to get the most out of your visit to this hot spring waterfalls, you may want to pack a picnic lunch!
At the time of our visit, we saw a few Salvadorans doing this – enjoying a family picnic, under the shades of trees, with views of the waterfalls. It seemed like a lovely idea.
What did we do for lunch? We spent the whole afternoon at El Salto, right after visiting El Tazumal Mayan ruins. So, amidst all this, typical of us, we forgot to account for lunch and ended up skipping it altogether! Like we did here and here.
New goal unlocked: Some day, we will learn (or remember?) to pack a picnic lunch!
Facilities at El Salto de Malacatiupan
The tourist infrastructure at El Salto de Malacatiupan is still being developed. Not too long ago, it used to be this wild place where the bushes were your only option if you needed to use the bathroom. But, not anymore.
Now, near to the waterfalls, before you start walking down the trail, there are bathrooms, separate for men and women. They are clean, have running water in flush tanks and wash basins, hand soap, and supplies of toilet paper.
It is important to highlight this because this is not what you can expect at all places while traveling in El Salvador. So, it was nice to find the comforts of these little “facilities” at the remote El Salto de Malacatiupan.
The bathroom areas at El Salto are spacious too for changing in to and out of swimwear.
Entrance Cost for El Salto de Malacatiupan
The general entrance to El Salto de Malacatiupan costs 1 USD per person. Children below the age of 12 years get free entry.
The entrance fee includes access to the gated area and the use of the facilities on site. But, this is still a raw place, devoid of any tour office infrastructure. So, there is no booth to pay your fee, neither is any physical ticket provided.
At the time of our visit, as soon as we entered, a guy came up to us and asked for the 1 USD fee per person.
This price was also written on a board outside the gate. So, do not hesitate to pay if someone just walks up to you asking for a dollar.
Parking at El Salto de Malacatiupan
There is plenty of parking space on site. But, if arriving at El Salto de Malacatiupan by private vehicle, you will need to pay for parking in addition to the entrance fee. The parking charges are:
- Two-wheeler: 1 USD
- Car: 2 USD
- Micro Bus: 3 USD
- Bus: 5 USD
How to Reach El Salto de Malacatiupan?
You can avail the excellent public transport network of El Salvador to reach El Salto de Malacatiupan, or you may choose the more comfortable options of availing a Uber or renting a car. We are going to share the details for each option.
We used public transport for both onward and return journey. Although we did spend some time waiting, it turned out to be an easy choice. However, we recommend knowing a bit of basic conversational Spanish if you plan to reach El Salto de Malacatiupan using public transport.
Using Public Transport
Whether coming from Santa Ana or Ruta de las Flores, you will need to take a bus to Atiquizaya. Depending on your starting point, you may have to change buses once. But your aim should be to finally board the Bus #202 that runs between Ahuachapan and San Salvador.
- From Santa Ana: Board Bus #202 from your nearest bus stop in Santa Ana.
- From El Tazumal: Board Bus #202 from Chalchuapa, a short walk from El Tazumal site.
- From Ruta de las Flores: Take Bus #249 from your town to Ahuachapan. Then take Bus #202 from Ahuachapan to Atiquizaya.
From Atiquizaya, it is a narrow road leading to a remote place in El Salvador. Your best bet for this last leg of the route is to take a moto-taxi (a small four wheeler) or a tuk-tuk (a three-wheeler vehicle). But you may need to negotiate a bit for a reasonable price.
What we did: For our trip, we took the bus till Chalchuapa to visit El Tazumal in the morning. Then returned to the same spot in the afternoon to catch the same bus for onward journey to Atiquizaya. From there, we got a moto-taxi for 5 USD to share a ride among 3 people. While returning from the hot spring waterfalls, we did have to wait a while on the street before we could catch hold of a tuk-tuk that would take us to Atiquizaya. From there, it was easy to get a bus back to Santa Ana.
Take an Uber
For a more comfortable ride, you can book an Uber till the destination El Salto de Malacatiupan. One way ride will cost around 20 USD. However, it may be difficult to get a Uber nearby for your return journey, after the visit. The place is remote.
So, even you take Uber for your onward trip, prepare to use public transport to get back to where you are staying. Follow the same bus number routes that we shared in the previous section.
Rent a Car
An easy and flexible way of traveling in El Salvador in to rent a car. For driving to El Salto de Malacatiupan, just use Google Maps or Waze for directions. The latter usually works better in Central America.
The best way would be to rent your car right after you arrive at the San Salvador International Airport. You can start exploring the country in your rented vehicle right away and return it at the airport again at the time of departing the country.
San Salvador city, as well as some other towns in El Salvador also have rental car offices. But you may not always get a vehicle of your choice for your dates, unless you book in advance. We learnt this when we were trying to find a rental car for our drone rescue mission in El Salvador.
Some of the companies that you can consider for renting a car in El Salvador are: Alamo, Enterprise, National, Avis, Budget and Hertz. You may also use the aggregator Discover Cars for the best rental car deals across different companies.
What to Wear? What to Carry?
El Salto de Malacatiupan is a perfect spot to cool off on a hot summer day. But the trails to reach can be tricky. So, prepare accordingly.
- Wear comfortable dry-fit clothing.
- Bring swimsuit (for women) and swim shorts (for men). Do not miss getting into the warm pools!
- Put on hiking shoes or hiking sandals for the trails.
- Apply and re-apply sunscreen. You will be directly under the tropical sun.
- Use insect repellent to keep the bugs at bay. We had not used though and still were fine.
- Carry enough drinking water in your reusable water bottles.
- Bring snacks or light lunch, depending on how long you plan to stay.
- Mobile or camera, do not forget the photography device of your choice.
You may like to read what’s in our camera bag.
Final Thoughts
Away from the bustling crowds, El Salto de Malacatiupan is an oasis of charm. If you enjoy a mix of serenity and adventure in the middle of nature, add this hot spring waterfall to your list of places to visit in El Salvador.
Wondering how it is like to travel in El Salvador? Check this video about our first impressions of El Salvador.
For more travel videos from Latin America, subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Travel Planning Logistics
- Accommodation: For several years now, Booking.com has been our platform of choice for booking accommodation while traveling. You can apply all the desired filters and shortlist the ones that meet your criteria. On continued use, you will keep unlocking their Genius benefits. For long term stays, we use Airbnb. Of late, we have also started browsing Hostelworld for finding hostels.
- Tours: When traveling to new destinations, you can plan ahead and book your activities. Check for highly rated tours on Viator and Get Your Guide.
- Packing: From swimwear to sunscreen, hiking pants to insect repellents, buy your vacation packing essentials on Amazon.
- Flights: We always start our flight searches with Skyscanner and Momondo. They are aggregators that display flight options, compiling information across airlines and combinations. What we like the best about these flight aggregators is that you can put “Anywhere” as your destination, so that you find the best flight deals from your city of departure.
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