Salto de Malacatiupan (Hot Spring Waterfall) — Attraction in Departamento de Ahuachapán

TL;DR Very warm/hot water. Beautiful sights. Cheap entrance. Fair bit of garbage. Many tourist

Location: We had a very difficult time getting here from the city because Waze took us through so shortcuts that did not exist so we ended up in a small town lost. I recommend you just use Google Maps and take the more basic route. When we got there, it was pretty evident as there is a large parking grass parking lot. They have washrooms and a restaurants to use before going down to the salto. Once you get into the parking lot, there will be a guy charging for entrance, which was $9.50 USD for 5 people in a van.

Waterway: You walk down the stairs and you can see the river going down to the left, towards the waterfall but you can walk to the right and see the small pools of water flowing. You can get into them but they seem to be more strong moving waters. There is also more of a build up of garbage on that side cause of the stress and rocks that collect it. If you decide to go towards the waterfall on the right, you can go down the adventurist side which is to the right of the walk way, where you will need to use a rope that is there to get down because the stones are wet and a bit muddy because of the trickling water. If you want to go down safer way, you can go towards the left towards the waterfall, where it's a walkway of dry rock. They both lead to different sides of the water but if you get into the water, you can cross to either side. You can't jump off right directly from the waterfalls, as you will see the yellow tape preventing it. However, on the lower level, there is a spot to jump off too but the water is somewhat shallow so you should wear water shoes and try to jump. It is about a 12ft drop but the depth into the water is about 8ft so I felt the rocks when I landed but it didn't hurt because I didn't go so low so try to jump further in but be careful of the current from the waterfall. When you get in the water, you will notice that there are these little black bugs that end up all over your body. Not sure what they are but they didn't seem to do anything or harm me in anyway, just kind of weird to see on yourself. When you jump in, be careful not to go over the second waterfall, as locals told me there is no way to climb out of there and get back into the park.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the view and the relaxing nature of the area. Many of the people I was with, couldn't handle to be in the water any longer than 5 minutes but it was great for me. It hadn't rained so the water was clear and relatively calm. If you're within an hour or two, I think it would be worth going to, to experience the water fall, hot water and...

The place is beautiful! Thermal waters, if you walk just a little bit you can find areas that are calm enough for you to take a splash.

There are a few things I'd like to clarify for locals and foreigners alike.

You are parking on private property, the cost is $2 per vehicle for the whole day. This is not a park, reserve, or any form of government sponsored tourist location. The river like all bodies of water is public.

"Tourists" leaving trash behind. Salvadorians use the word tourist for anyone who is not a local in the community, this includes other Salvadorians from nearby towns or the capital. Cleanliness of the place, I am sad to say it depends on when you go, the governement of Bukele sends out prisoners who are in a reintegration phase to clean up almost weekly but us locals do not have respect for nature.

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The locals using the river for washing. As it is common in most of rural El Salvador, people don't have indoor plumbing or any local washing areas, people are so poor they must clean their laundry in a river.

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The water will be brown and not turquoise/clear if you come during the rainy season. May-September it is almost normal to get a daily thunderstorm, these storms push sediments down the mountains and give the water a reddish chocolate tint. November-December is the best month to go before Christmas Holiday. After Christmas you should go around February. Avoid during peak holidays such as Semana Santa in...

It's definitely a "must go" from the west zone of El Salvador, they don't charge you to get there, but they charge you for parking from $1 up to $4 if you have a bus, we paid $3 for a 15 seater van, there's some improvised food stores like in every park of El Salvador, but you can totally take food wich is cheaper since even if you buy food there, there's no sitting areas; We went on a Saturday so it was quite busy in the afternoon, but we got there by 8 and were the first ones in the parking lot, also the water gets hotter by the hour so in the morning it was just perfect while at 12pm it was hot enough to be uncomfortable for the sensitive skin, still absolutely worth it to go even for a couple of hours since it's relatively easy to get there, took us around 40 minutes from metrocentro Santa Ana to the parking lots and from there is like walking down the stairs of a two story building, just slightly more to get to the river and from there you just have to go down a very slippery path wich I recommend get down on bare feet and follow the water wich is less slippery than the dry looking rocks, this sounds hard but is just like 8 - 12 ft tall, looks scary the first time tho; summarizing it's a must visit place if you like hot springs, short walks and...