Hard Coral Snorkeling offers you the chance to get active and get in touch with nature in El Salvador. The snorkeling excursion, led by Los Cóbanos Tours, is inexpensive (only $12.00) and last about 3 hours.
The tour starts out walking down “El Amor” (Love Beach) to a point on one of the the beaches inside Los Cóbanos Protected Area. Here is where you get your snorkels ready. Held during low tide, the trip allows you to see lots of tropical fish, starfish, sea urchins, snails, and other marine life.
The hard coral is found off of “La Privada” (Private Beach) and is the second and last stop of the trip. This beach is also inside Los Cóbanos Protected Area.
All participants must be capable swimmers. Remember to bring sunscreen and bug spray!
Los Cóbanos is about 1 1/2 hours from San Salvador. Call ahead to Los Cóbanos Tours, the Fundarrecife Office, Los Cóbanos, Sonsonate. Tel: (503) 2417–6825.
Directions by car: From San Salvador, take the highway to Sonsonate (CA-8) to the coastal highway (Carretera del Litoral, CA-2). Drive a few kilometers past “Kilo 5″ and take a left at the Club Salinitas turn. Drive approximately 8 Km. (5 mi.) to Los Cóbanos. It is 19 km. (11.8 mi.) from Sonsonate and 84 km. (52 mi.) from San Salvador.
Directions by bus: Take the 205 from San Salvador to Sonsonate and take the 257 from Sonsonate.
Click here to see the Hard Coral Snorkeling page on EcoExperiencias.
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What does “protected area” mean?
This article is from a press release from the United States Embassy in El Salvador in November 2007. It reads in part:
“In order to preserve the natural resources and contribute to the sustainable development and health of the Salvadoran population, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Carlos José Guerrero, signed today the declaration of protection of Los Cóbanos, in Barra Salada, Sonsonate, in western El Salvador.
With an extension of 21,312 hectares, this is not only the first natural marine protected area established in the country, but also the largest within the Natural Protected Areas System (SANP, in Spanish) created under the Environment Law in 1998. The new protected area encompasses a coastal strip from Santa Agueda or El Zope (2.5 kilometers south of Acajutla Port) property of the government to the mangroves of Barra Salada (20 kilometers southeast) in Sonsonate. The area includes the beach and intermediate mangroves (20,736 marine and 576 on land).”
To read the full article visit: http://sansalvador.usembassy.gov/pr-11232008.html