Coordinating stakeholders
Connects communities, businesses, government and institutions under a shared vision of regenerative development.
Oriente Salvaje
Who we are
Oriente Salvaje is a living territory.
Nineteen kilometers of eastern Salvadoran coastline where world-class waves coexist with tropical dry forest — one of the last intact stretches in Central America — and communities that have spent decades building an honest relationship with the sea, the ocean and their surroundings.
13th World Surfing Reserve
Save The Waves Coalition
12 world-class waves
19 kilometers of coastline
- Our role -
Surfing protects what it loves
Oriente Salvaje operates as a managed destination, with a Local Stewardship Council that coordinates stakeholders, sets sustainability standards and makes decisions about the territory with conservation at its core. The waves of Las Flores and Punta Mango are no accident: they are the product of healthy reefs, intact forests and ecosystems that deserve active protection.
See how we protect the territory
Conserving ecosystems
Protects reefs, coastal forest, nesting beaches and biodiversity corridors that create the waves.
Boosting the local economy
Surf tourism benefits those who live here first, creating jobs and strengthening community enterprises.
Real standards
Defines sustainability criteria for operators, lodging and experiences aligned with STOKE and Save The Waves certification.
A collective effort
Oriente Salvaje is the result of years of shared work between marine and coastal conservation organizations, local tourism operators in the territory, municipalities and public agencies of San Miguel and Usulután, and international cooperation and financing bodies. A single objective: to demonstrate that it's possible to build a world-class surf destination without sacrificing the ecosystems or the communities that make it possible.
ADETCO — the Association for the Tourism Development of the Eastern Coast — is the organization that coordinates and manages the Oriente Salvaje destination. Founded by local entrepreneurs and residents of the eastern coast, it brings tourism stakeholders together under a shared vision: turning this stretch of the Salvadoran Pacific into a world reference without sacrificing the ecosystems or the communities that make it possible.
ADETCO led the process that saw Oriente Salvaje recognized as a World Surfing Reserve alongside Save The Waves Coalition, and today coordinates the destination's tourism development, coastal forest conservation and the economic strengthening of local families.
- National organizations -
Guardians of the territory
NGO specialized in coastal ecosystems of the Central American Pacific. Protects the tropical dry forest, reefs and critically endangered species that make life and the waves possible.
A local collective uniting surf culture, territorial identity and conservation. The voice of the Salvadoran surf community in managing the Reserve, and a key part of the process that led to global recognition.
Municipalities of
San Miguel and
Usulután
San Miguel and
Usulután
Local governments that connect coastal management with public decisions, community participation and institutional support in the territory.
- International cooperation -
International organizations
Supports Oriente Salvaje as a model of community-based tourism in Central America, connecting conservation, local economy and responsible infrastructure.
Backs the world's first pilot parametric insurance program for climate resilience in a surf destination, financially protecting communities that depend on the sea.
Supports a pioneering initiative for financial protection against climate risks in a surf destination, designed to economically shield coastal communities whose livelihoods depend on the ocean.
- Standards and certification -
Certification and recognition
A global standard for sustainable surf tourism. Oriente Salvaje was evaluated under STOKE criteria in 2022, among the first surf destinations in Central America to undergo this process.
Xiriualtique-Jiquilisco Biosphere Reserve. Oriente Salvaje sits within this UNESCO-recognized Biosphere Reserve, reinforcing its status as a territory of global importance and its formal conservation obligations.
A nonprofit organization that manages the World Surfing Reserves program. Supports Oriente Salvaje with technical backing, international networks and the distinction that puts us on the global map of protected coastlines.