Did you know that when you stay our eco resort our chef will prepare all your food according to your diet? Our food that we prepare and serve is fresh, locally grown or caught. Breakfast is served buffet style with fresh fruits and juice, yogurt and granola, French pastries and breads, and locally grown and roasted coffee. La Cocotera’s eco resort can accommodate any dietary restriction or preference.
Our staff at our eco resort are more than happy to help to accommodate any of your requests. Sandy, our bartender, can make a drink that you can enjoy poolside or while you are on the beach in El Salvador!
As the weather starts to warm up, you are thinking about where to go on vacation. Look no further than La Cocotera. Our eco resort offers an extremely relaxing tranquil experience. If you are an eco friendly traveler or simply looking to enjoy a trip to El Salvador, La Cocotera has so many things to offer that you will be able to make the most of your experience in El Salvador.
Be sure, while staying at our eco resort, to check out the “Behind the Scenes Eco Tour.” You will get a personal tour of La Cocotera’s water treatment facility, turtle nesting area, and much more!
During the holiday season, taking a vacation to a tropical destination and staying in an eco resort is a great alternative to a “white Christmas.” Instead of being cold and surrounded by snow, why not go to El Salvador and have a relaxing trip on the beach and feel the sand in between your toes. While staying at an eco resort in El Salvador, you can enjoy fresh local food and there are a wide range of activities that you can do.
For breakfast, La Cocotera provides a delicious breakfast buffet. The breakfast buffet includes: fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, French pastries and breads, locally grown and roasted coffee and fresh juice. El Salvador is a major coffee producing country in the world and you will be able to taste how truly delicious it is when you able to consume El Salvadorian coffee at the source. Lunch and dinner is prepared with all fresh ingredients and local fresh fish and seafood are available daily. You can eat poolside in the open air dining area and enjoy the ocean breeze. The restaurant is has beautiful scenery and has a nice backdrop of coconut, mango, and almond trees that have inhabited the area for years and produce an abundance of fruit.
The Barra de Santiago is a nice relaxing beach in El Salvador. While you are staying at La Cocotera and on the beach, you will feel like you are in your own tropical paradise. The Barra de Santiago is a great place to go surfing in El Salvador because the beach is not crowded and you can surf without competing for a wave. You can also kayak, water ski, and go fishing.
Spending your holiday in a warm tropical paradise like El Salvador definitely beats the cold and snow and La Cocotera would love to have you for the holiday season. So when you are thinking about how to spend your vacation, why not go to El Salvador and stay at an ecoresort?
During the months of October through February the flowers are blooming on the Ruta de las Flores, or “Route of the Flowers.” The road, which is located near our eco resort, gets its name from the white flowers that blossom on coffee plants that are in region. The “Route” through its 36 kilometer road will take you through El Salvador’s coffee growing region and links five towns together where locals have kept their traditions and culture very much alive.
In the town of Nahuizalco, you will be able to admire the beautiful hand-crafted furniture and enjoy the night market that is illuminated by oil lamps, lanterns, and candles. Juayúa offers one of the largest food and artisan festivals where you will be amazed at the variety of local and international food that you can eat. A notable black Christ statue is located in Juayúa at La Iglesia del Cristo Negro or “Black Christ Church.”
Apaneca has two lagoons, Laguna Verde or Green Lagoon and Laguna de las Ninfas or “Nymphs Lagoon,” which provides for stunning landscapes. You can soar over Apaneca through forests while getting a bird’s eye view of the area with an Apaneca Zip Line Tour.
Every weekend in Salcoatitán, you can enjoy a large selection of food in front of the colonial church of San Miguel Arcángel. El Salvador’s first coffee plantation was located in Salcoatitán. Be sure to check out the local art galleries and eco-art.
The “Route” ends with the village of Concepción de Ataco. Concepción de Ataco is rich in history as it dates back to pre-Columbian times. There are viewpoints where you can gaze at the town and its surroundings. While driving, there are multiple viewpoints where you will be able to pull over and enjoy the scenic views that El Salvador has to offer. La Cocotera’s closeness to Ruta de las Flores makes this a must do activity for any eco-friendly traveler.
As an eco friendly resort, we constantly strive to ensure that our hotel and practices always put the environment at high priority. But what does that entail exactly? We wanted to take the time to share with you what makes La Cocotera truly an eco friendly resort.
La Cocotera was built following the “green leaf” system utilized by the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST). The planning of the resort involved mapping out how to carefully minimize footprints on the land and ensuring that structures were built around the natural landscape. Local natural materials such as palm fronds, sustainable teak wood, plant vines, natural stone and hand woven fabrics are used throughout. In fact, all the wood used in construction was derived from sustainable teak plantations.
Energy conservation and recycling are also important elements of our eco resort. We use solar energy, energy saving lightbulbs and kinesthetic power flashlights. We have a biological (not chemical) waste water recycling treatment plant and we utilize gray water recycling as well as black water recycling, which not many hotels do. All trash is presorted for recycling before it leaves the property.
At La Cocotera, we pride ourselves on the freshness of the food we serve. Mangoes, cashews, almonds and our own citrus trees are all grown on the property and we use them in our desserts. We will soon be buying Tilapia fish from the local elementary school, which is raising them, and will be adding a vegetarian menu. For drinks, we use plastic cups made from corn which are 100% compostable.
Ionization pool filtration, rather than chlorine and other chemicals
All rooms are non-smoking
Being a green hotel is more than just having environmentally friendly practices in place. We also educate our guests by offering a free Behind The Scenes Eco Tour that shows you all we are doing to be green. We educate all our staff in the same way.
As an eco friendly resort in El Salvador, we are glad to offer world-class accommodations in a beautiful and unique setting. We encourage environmentally conscious travelers, nature and luxury lovers alike to visit our green hotel in El Salvador for a different vacation experience surrounded by nature, far away from the stresses of everyday life.
El Salvador is an area that offers not only striking beaches, but a wide variety of exciting water activities. In fact, La Cocotera’s ideal geographic position allows for some of the best water activities in the world. Those seeking solitude will enjoy our ultra-remote location on the northern Pacific coast, known for its national park, estuaries and mangroves. In these groves, you’ll find our El Salvador eco lodge set in a tawny sandbar with thatched-roof bungalows in a stand of coconut palms.
The country’s Balsam Coast is known as a surfer’s paradise, well known for its beach breaks, river mouths, reefs and cobblestone points. For the longest wave in El Salvador that’s perfect for both long boards and short boards, try El Sunzal. The waves are big and surfer enthusiasts can often be found spending their time here.
Eco/nature/wildlife observation in the Barra de Santiago estuary
Kayaking
Scuba diving
Snorkeling
Jet skiing
Boogie boarding
Boat tours/sailing
Visits to local conservation projects
White-water rafting
Deep sea fishing
To better serve our guests, La Cocotera eco lodge offers life vests, boogie boards, kayaks and other equipment. Because we are not a large chain resort, these are easily accessible for our guests to enjoy.
After a day of nature and water activities, don’t forget to relax by the pool! Designed to be very private, relaxing and secluded, the La Cocotera pool is the perfect place to lounge and enjoy paradise. One of the most characteristic features of the pool is the design, which allows two mature palms trees to remain in the center of the pool. This is a testament to our commitment to not disturbing the natural surroundings and our effort to accommodate nature and our guests. The pool is environmentally friendly, with an ionization filtration system, eliminating any need for chemicals and chlorine.
Take your time and have fun with these uncrowded water activities. If you are looking for an all-inclusive eco lodge far away from the crowded beaches that allows you to be a conscientious consumer and tourist, then La Cocotera is for you!
One of the great advantages of ecotourism is having the opportunity to witness the wonders of nature first hand. Just one of the many unique and amazing animals that reside in our little area of El Salvador is the Olive Ridley sea turtle. If you are lucky, you may be able to see this sea turtle on the Barra de Santiago beach.
Olive Ridley turtles get their name from the coloring of their heart-shaped shell, which starts out grey when they first hatch, but becomes olive green once the turtles are adults. Olive Ridley turtles are one of the smallest species of sea turtle, with adults reaching 2 to 2.5 feet in length and weighing 80 to 110 pounds.
Female Olive Ridleys have a remarkable way of nesting that sets them apart from other animals. Large groups of turtles gather off shore, then simultaneously come ashore to nest and lay their eggs. The nesting rush is known as an “arribada”, which is Spanish for “arrival”. During these arribadas, hundreds to thousands of females come ashore to lay their eggs.
The Olive Ridley turtle’s conservation status is threatened, which means it is likely to become endangered unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve. In breeding populations on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, the Olive Ridley turtle is endangered. The main cause of the historical decline of the Olive Ridley sea turtle is the collection of eggs and killing of adults on nesting beaches.
Olive Ridley Turtles
At La Cocotera Eco Resort, we sponsor a turtle release program that allows guests to participate in the release of baby Olive Ridley turtles into the Pacific ocean. Our eco lodge aims to promote ecotourism and inspire guests to help preserve our natural environment. We purchase the eggs from locals and raise them until they are ready to be released. If you would like to learn more about our eco resort and the turtle release program, contact us at info [at] lacocoteraresort.com
La Cocotera Eco Resort is located on the sandy shores of the Barra de Santiago coast, with the Barra de Santiago Estuary and Mangrove forest as its neighbor. If you are looking for an eco vacation that offers relaxing luxury and intriguing wildlife exploration, then La Cocotera is for you.
Barra de Santiago is home to seven different species of mangrove, and measures approximately 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres). Along with lush vegetation, the inner mangrove coastline is a haven for thousands of native and migratory birds and a various wildlife. Guests at our eco resort can see many types of wildlife while floating along the peaceful estuary waters including iguanas, lizards, marine mammals, shellfish, sea turtles, crocodiles, blue crabs and more!
If you are a nature and wildlife enthusiast who is looking for the perfect eco vacation activity, you must try kayaking through the Barra de Santiago estuary. To learn more about kayaking, see our other post on Eco Resort Nature Activites: Kayaking. For those staying out our eco lodge, kayak rentals are included.
Turtle Release programs are a type of wildlife conservation program in which participants can adopt a baby turtle and help release it into the ocean. These types of programs not only help preserve these animals, they’re also a great way to learn about the turtles and their habitat.
At La Cocotera Eco Lodge, guests have the opportunity to take part in this wonderful project. Our Turtle Release Program is for the Olive Ridley turtle, one of the smallest species of sea turtle. It is named for the olive-green color of its heart-shaped shell. Olive Ridley turtles are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The turtles nest on the La Cocotera beach and instead of letting the eggs be eaten, we purchase them from locals and allow them to hatch, raise them and release them. This turtle release program in Central America allows La Cocotera to safely release thousands of Olive Ridley turtles each year. Come experience this wonderful event and set baby turtles free in the ocean!
Want to learn more? We are a proud sponsor of a variety of ecotourism activities including nature tours of local forests, kayak bird tours, and a Species Reintroduction Program for the Scarlet Macaw. Find out more on our Ecotourism page!
During the holiday season, taking a vacation to a tropical destination and staying in an 
