Pan American Highway > El Salvador Currency to display:

1 Visiting El Salvador
2 Entering El Salvador with a Car or Motorbike
3 Driving in El Salvador
4 Gas and Diesel price in El Salvador
5 Safety and Security Considerations
6 Camping in El Salvador
7 Navigation
8 Special Overland Travel interests
9 Vehicle Maintenance
10 Buy or sell a car or motorbike in El Salvador
11 References
12 Helpful External links

Visiting El Salvador

Give a brief overview of what it's like to visit. How easy is the border, how safe is the country, are there great things to see and do, etc.

Entering El Salvador with a Car or Motorbike

Correct as of: September 2013

Required Paperwork

Passport of registered owner (original and 1 copy).
Vehicle registration (original and 1 copy).
Drivers license of registered owner (original and 1 copy).

Process at border

(To check if you need a travel Visa for El Salvador, application instructions and fees see: El Salvador Visa online application at VisaHQ.com)

The owner of the vehicle gains entry at immigration (migración), including a stamp in their Passport.
The owner must show the new passport stamp , drivers license and the original vehicle registration to customs (aduana).(Plus photocopies of each).
The owner is issued a temporary import permit for the vehicle.
Must purchase FONAT card ("Fundo Nacional de Accidentes de Transito"). Receipt and 'insurance' card are provided.

NOTE: You will encounter pushy locals offering to help you with paperwork to get across the border. See Border Crossing Helpers for advice.

Cost of entry

Cost of mandatory FONAT card: $10.00 USD for 30 days. Longer is available.
La Hachadura border: $5.00 USD for community road improvements (possible scam, but police would not let us go without paying. Receipt provided)
We just crossed at El Poy and it was for free!

Permitted length of stay

90 days. El Salvador is part of the CA-4 Border control agreement. This agreement grants travel between Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua for a TOTAL of 90-days. The number of days remaining on your CA4 is written in your passport as you travel from country to country. The 90-day limit begins when you enter any country that is part of the CA4 agreement. To avoid penalty and fines, Exit the CA4 countries and enter into Costa Rica or Mexico/Belize before the 90-days limit expires.

Extension of stay

Unknown.
Describe the process to extend the permitted length of entry for the vehicle, if possible.

Storing a vehicle and temporarily leaving the country

(unknown)
Describe if/how a vehicle can be stored, and for how long.
Also mention if the owner / temporary importer can leave the country while the vehicle is in storage.

Exiting with a vehicle

The registered owner presents the temporary import paper to customs.
The registered owner is stamped out of El Salvador at immigration.

Driving in El Salvador

Insurance requirements

Insurance is not required. However as of May 2013, you must purchase a FONAT card, "Fondo Nacional de Accidentes de Transito". A government fund created to support the victims of accidents and fund safer roads.

Cost of insurance

$10.00 USD for 30 days. Longer is available.

Where to purchase insurance

Office near Customs ('Aduana').

Driving license

Technically an International Driving Permit is required.
In reality, showing a license from anywhere in the world seems to be good enough.

Driving side of road

Right.
Right hand drive vehicles are NOT permitted without a SPECIAL PERMIT.
This permit takes about a month to process, so will need to be arranged in advance. Many people driving RHD vehicles get help with this from a 4x4 club within El Salvador, or they completely bypass El Salvador.
Here is a blog post from Jan 2014 of Overlanders who got the permit to drive into El Salvador with a RHD vehicle: El Salvador Bordercrossing With Dog and Foreign Car
This discussion on expeditionportal.com also has some details.

Mandatory items in vehicle

None.

Roads

General Road quality

Roads in El Salvador vary greatly. The Pan American is paved and good quality for the length of the country, as are most other highways. Lesser roads are gravel and can be very bumpy and rutted.

Road signs

Road signs are uncommon, and can not be relied upon.

Toll roads

None.

Bribery in El Salvador

Police bribery is relatively common in El Salvador, so you should expect it to happen. See the bribery tips page for advice.

Checkpoints

Police checkpoints are not very common in El Salvador. You'll primarily be asked to show your Passport, Vehicle registration, drivers license, FONAT card, and the temporary import permit you were issued at the border.

Traveling with pets

According to travelers in 2012, you need: ^[1]

Travelers in 2013 wrote this when traveling from Guatemala to El Salvador. They had to pay $9.00 USD for a dog permit and show the vaccines, that's it.^[2]

A Health Certificate for the animal in Spanish (updated at least every four months)
A vaccination record (the European Pet Passport works well)

You might not be asked for either one, but you should have them ready.

Gas and Diesel price in El Salvador

Last updated: April 2012 (September 2013)

Currency and unit to display:

Gasoline Grade	Price
Regular	??
Super (90)	??
Premium (95)	$4.89 USD per Gallon (US)
Ultra (97)	??
Normal Diesel	$1.11 USD per Liter
Diesel (low sulfur)	??

Gas and Diesel Availability / Frequency

Gasoline is common, shortages are not a problem.

Gas and Diesel Quality

Unknown.

Safety and Security Considerations

Driving at night

Driving at night is absolutely not recommended in El Salvador, due to safety considerations.

Vehicle parking

Find a secure parking lot to park for any length of time. Price unknown.

Special driving considerations

None.

Security advisories and information

Camping in El Salvador

Camping is popular in El Salvador anywhere along the ocean but not very popular inland. Roadside camping is generally not recommended.

Camping guide books

Unknown.

Drinking water

Tap water in El Salvador is not safe to drink.

Navigation

Paper maps

Reise Know-How are amoung the best paper maps. Purchase paper maps before arriving in El Salvador

Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador = Nikaragua, Gonduras...
by Reise Know-How Verlag
From $9.49 on Amazon

Nicaragua, Honduras, And El Salvador (national Geograp...
by National Geographic Maps - Adventure
From $7.49 on Amazon

Lonely Planet Central America (shoestring Travel Guide)
by Carolyn McCarthy, Greg Benchwick, Joshua Samuel Br...
From $16.99 on Amazon

Purchase maps before arriving, good ones are very difficult to find in El Salvador.

GPS Maps of El Salvador

Open Street Map: Appears to have good coverage.^[3]
Cenrut: Free Open Source GPS map of Central America. ^[4]
Garmin: Apparently no map of El Salvador.
TomTom: No map of El Salvador. ^[5]

GPS co-ordinates for camping, propane, gas, repairs, etc. in El Salvador

Places in El Salvador - Camping Places & Sights in El Salvador from Pawsontour
El Salvador Campgrounds and Hotels - Life Remotely - List of campgrounds and hostels with photos, GPS co-ordinates, descriptions and amenities from 2012]
Camping Sites: El Salvador - Detailed list of campsites and propane filling with description, directions and GPS co-ordinates. Some at hotels (lists facilities and price), some roadside and free.
Central America Camping Locations - List of campsites, with basic directions and GPS co-ordinates. Mostly free sites.
Camping Log 1: Central America - List of campsites, shopping, fuel, propane and border crossings with excellent descriptions and GPS co-ordinates.
White Acorn camping log page - GPS co-ordinates and excellent description of campsites]