Las Flores Resort, El Oriente Salvaje, El Salvador

Guests Words

 

 

Hi Henry,

We’ve just returned from Las Flores, and all of us had a great time. The resort exceeded everyone’s expectations…The accommodations, the food, the staff and the surf were all amazing. Thanks again for all your help. Eric and I will be in touch soon to reserve another week for next year.

 

Talk to you soon. Sean

Sean M. Pence

SVP & General Counsel,

Americas Quiksilver, Inc.

 

 

Henry,

 

I just wanted to drop you a note and say that we had a great time at your place in El Salvador. It was a dream to be there, your staff was great, the facilities very nice, and the waves were so much fun. What a perfect right. I hope your arm is healing well. If you get to Hawaii, look me up,

Aloha John Morgan

 

 

Henry,

 

Thanks for a AWESOME trip, I WILL be back. You have a great set up there and all of your staff is super cool. Mark Morgan

 

 

Henry,

 

We had a great time at Las Flores last week. Good waves, good food and good times. Having been to Las Flores last June it was great to see the upgrades and improvements they have made. I especially liked the Dining area overlooking the point and the new board room with lockers. Also the addition of a menu was nice for breakfast and lunch. Just more options all around. Julio and Gabby were a nice change from Luis, they were very accommodating. Francisco was spot on as always with his sense of humor.

 

Although we did not catch it as big as I would have liked, it was still all-time. It was 4 - 6 every day with a morning and afternoon low tide. We had at least 2 good session per day with sunny skies and favorable winds. Mango never quite turned on, but it was a nice change from Flores. We even had a night session under the full moon that was insane.

 

As a mid week break we did the Eco tour to the volcano and coffee plantation. We still managed to get in a morning session and an afternoon session, but it was nice to get away for half a day and see some other parts of El Salvador. Tobias was our guide and he was very knowledgeable in El Salvadorian culture and spoke very good English.

 

I think next year we may want to try something away from Central America. We have been down there over a dozen times and might want to try something like the Maldives, mentawais, Fiji..... Let me know some of the packages that you offer. I have a friend, Scott McCranels who has been doing the Maldives the last few years and loves it. So let me know.

 

Lastly can you forward to me the email addresses of the 10 guys from California that were there last week. We all got along real well and were talking about doing another trip together. They were Jay, Shawn, Jim, Jim, Steve, Trevor, Doug, Tim and John. We had to leave before we had a chance to exchange addresses.

 

Thanks again, Andy

 

 

Hi Henry,

 

Thanks for such an awesome trip to Las Flores, El Salvador.

We loved it!

 

Joy

 

 

Henry,

 

Thanks again for all your help in coordinating our trip to Las Flores. Our flights went super smooth and our boards got there, thankfully, with us and in one piece. From the time Jose picked us up to when he dropped us off... Clay and I had a great time... Country was beautiful, Waves were fun (would like to see it double overhead next time), Staff was awesome, and the food was off-the-hook.

 

Much Mahaloz, Nathan

 

 

Hola Henry,

 

Thanks for the killer trip last week. Everything went perfectly! You called the surf and the conditions were super. Pretty much every day was surfable all day, some glassier than others.

We had a great surf before we left Friday AND while we were packing the wind picked up and truly blew it out for the first time all week. Wow...talk about luck!

 

The improvements made since October are fantastic. They kept the best and improved the rest.

I can be a walking, talking ad for Las Flores if you need it...I have told several of my buddies (actually I should rephrase the verb to raved) about how great a time Kenji and I had.

 

Thanks again, Dana

 

 

To all of the Los Flores 8/3-8/11 rat pack,

 

Seriously it was an absolute pleasure to meet everyone and spend the time not only surfing together, but eating, drinking, relaxing and sharing stories vacationing as a close knit group.I think we'd all be hard pressed to plan such a trip with friends and have a better time than (I think) we all did. It was just a great and widely diverse crew (without any of the riffraff so commonly experienced on surf trips). Kathy and I had great week vacationing together with all of you, celebrating a few birthdays, etc.Let's plan a return trip next summer and I'd expect that those that didn't bring their significant others certainly will next summer. We for two are coming back for sure. Mitch I can only say I'm happy you're be able to return; alive and in one piece after the scare of the week. For those that missed it Mitch managed to take off and land on "the rocks" at the point, high and dry, on his board.none the worse for ware, sans some confidence and ego.

 

Now for what else you may have missed if you left before Friday night; first the Friday night session was just like the last few days, Epic, I only surfed for 10 hours on Friday! Then on Friday night a couple, Gabby and her husband, showed up and informed us that they work 3 out of 4 weeks a month as managers and tour guides for the resort. Of course they were off for the Holiday week we all appeared on. They mentioned lot's of things they arrange for all to do and explore outside the resort and seemed very knowledgeable (good for non surfing significant others on a return trip). Later Friday night it poured, and I mean poured, so much that when we awoke on Saturday morning the swim up Bar Pool was filled with muddy water. Also a break in a dam or something else upstream apparently brought down a ton of sewage as well as tons of mud to the ocean. Not knowing about the sewage part and thinking the water was only brown from the torrential rains with mud I none the less felt compelled to surf that morning as the point was absolutely going off! I was alone for the first half hour of daylight (I might have even beat Julian in the water had he still been there) before "green shorts" paddled out. All the locals were mysteriously missing so he was actually being pleasant for once. We were then soon joined by only Brett and Keith for a great morning session with all the waves we could get (by the time we left the resort at 9am I did notice the count was up to the usual 12-15 surfers). Don't be jealous though, today I have a serious eye infection that I'm nursing, I cannot go out in the sun as my eyes are super sensitive at the moment, hopefully with proper medication being back in the states I'll get better real soon. I hope Brett and Keith fared much better. Don't worry; I'll be back next year undeterred, just a bit more careful when I see foam in the lineup and on the beach! It was at the same time both ugly (beach and water) and beautiful (waves). Beauty won again! (Henry, if you end up putting this letter in the testimonials you may delete this part).

 

Henry and Rodrigo, please pass along our thanks (and this e-mail) to such a great and sincerely caring staff for making all of our stay so wonderful. Everyone was absolutely the best from Mauricio, Juan, Antonio, Eduardo, and the rest of the boys running the boats; to Isabella and the kitchen staff "coudos" for sure, all the food was unbelievably outstanding; to Miriam and the girls the waitress service was first rate, I couldn't even hide in a hammock for 5 minutes without being offered a drink; to Lissette, Lorena and whomever else had our rooms sparkling clean everyday before we could even finish breakfast; to David and Oscar for keeping the grounds looking so beautiful; to Francisco for the great drinks (and pours); back to Rodrigo and the rest of the staff for the wonderful organization and planning to make our stay so relaxing; to Henry for the simplicity and straight poop about what we'd get when we arrived, right from the airport pick up to the drivers for getting us to and fro on time we were all in your staffs good hands; did I leave out massages? Yes special thanks from Kathy! If I somehow missed anyone, please accept my apologies but there was so much and so many people that were so great about this trip that is impossible to name everyone! We found all the El Salvadorian people as a rule to be especially nice, smiling and happy with so little all the time! My only apology goes to the local surf crew for stealing so many of their waves. Not that they were giving any away. But thanks anyway to them for somehow letting us get our share of waves! And finally a great big thanks to the South Pacific for firing us such a great week of swells.

 

OK, Kathy is going to download a bunch of pictures she took, not more surf shots, but rather those from the sightseeing most of us passed on. Wait until you see the pictures from town and the zoo! I hope everyone else takes the time to pass along their photos as well, Mike and Mike I'm really looking forward to those from Punta Mango Friday morning (a 9 am session wherein all the boats left 10 minutes after Mike, Mike, Mitch, and I arrived leaving us all alone) with perfect conditions and just enough tide to not kill ourselves (no stars here)! Keep in touch, good surfing and see everyone next summer at the latest! Jorge and Carola, see you in Brazil much sooner! Also please all reply not only with pictures but phone numbers and addresses so we can stay in touch and share surf stories and good times in the future! This was too good of a crew to do a once and out for life!

Oh yea, did I say how great the breaks were? Go back to the web site and look up the write ups on the waves and see how accurate they are! Los Flores was absolutely the most fantastically fun wave! Finally to sum it all up, one word for everything.AMAZING.waves, breaks, week, place, country, staff, value, and guests!

 

Best Regards to All!
Steve Steven Maloy

President CGM Capital Inc. 506 63rd St. NW Bradenton, Fl 34209

 

 

Henry,

 

we had an awesome time in Flores. Even better than last year: the food was better; the new dining area was a huge improvement; the air conditioned bar was cool; and the addition of the new managers -- Gabby and her husband (I am drawing a blank on his name at the moment) was great as well (they really added a very customer oriented attitude). I would rate the trip as a ten-plus. It certainly didn't hurt that the surf was overhead every single day we were done there and just perfect. Glenn of course appreciated the fact we had a desert every night - except the night we had a monsoon on the downstairs patio.

 

-Brandon

 

 

Henry,

 

Just a very quick note to let you know what a fabulous time we had at the lasfloressurfclub, August 24-31, 2007. You really have some great people working there, Gabriella and Hans in particular, have huge gifts in the Hospitality Industry, but all were very nice. While Las Flores was crowded most of the time, we all scored some great waves, and frankly I have never seen my guys so happy with a surf trip. It was very pricey for my budget but I too, thoroughly enjoyed myself. I see why this is your most booked surf-destination. Keep up the good work! It is much appreciated. Everything came off without a hitch. I will write more comments when I get a minute! Please keep my group in mind for destinations with waves of this caliber, particularly for new start ups when crowds are few.

 

Sincerely, Jan Mayer

 

 

Hey Henry,

 

You have an awesome operation going at El Salvador. Very professional staff, helpful, and kind to the guests. Not to mention the accommodations, food availability/quality and comfortable surf in and out spots. We're very happy with the trip. We were also happy the meet the other group, they were outstanding. All in all, an A1 operation. I hope that we can do business again in the near future.

 

Kind regards, Zasha

 

 

Hi Henry - Hi Rob,

 

I have just returned from an awesome trip to Las Flores!! The surf was great!! And the upgrades are really cool. Lorenzo was great and Misel and Antonio did great jobs as captains. Unfortunately, I left 3 items hanging on the clothes line out front of the surfboard storage room. A white long-sleeve Spyder rash guard, a black Body Glove neoprene vest and a pair of O'Neil reef shoes. I'm really bummed I left behind these items and was hoping there is a way I can get them back. What can be done? My next surf trip will be to Las Flores for sure!! The flight time, facilities staff and surf are all top notch.

 

Thanks for all your help! Eric Strength

 

 

Henry,

 

Thanks so much, and I have to tell you I fell in love with el salvador and I told tws I want to go every time we send a crew over, a perfect place to get stock photos to fit into profiles, etc. I am sending a disc for cowboy( the photog kid) of him surfing and maybe you could forward to him. If you want to use any of those shots or others for your web site, by all means please do. Thanks so much for everything on this trip, I got some insane waves myself right out front of the hotel everytime the guy's were done surfing.

 

Thanks Brian Bielman

 

 

Rodrigo and Henry,

 

I am sitting in the airport on my way home from a week long stay at Las Flores Surf Club and I can't stop thinking about how amazing the past week has been. The surf was pumping non-stop all week. I caught some of the best waves of my life and saw many other happy surfers getting tubed. The accommodations at Las Flores are beautiful. From the swim-up bar, to the clean and comfortable rooms, the hotel facilities are amazing. I wanted to take a minute to thank the entire staff at Las Flores. The waitresses were very attentive and sweet, and the bartenders were a pleasure to be around, but most of all, I wanted to thank Antonio and Mauricio for their help in the water. The waves were a bit larger than I am used to surfing, and the surf guides went out of their way to make sure that I was comfortable in the water and that I got some good waves. Also, your new chef, Tom, is great. The food was way above my expectations. Dinner each night was a truly gourmet meal. Thanks for owning and operating such a wonderful surf resort.

 

Pura Vida, Nikki Quinn

 

 

Hi Henry and Rob -

 

I thought I'd drop a quick note to let you know how much my brother and I enjoyed the trip. First of all the resort is great. The accommodations are nice, the eating areas are picturesque. The lower Breakfast and Lunch area is great for hanging out and checking the surf. The swim-up bar fantastic after some of the long session we'd pull at the end of a multi-session day. The staff and management at Las Flores was top notch. They went out of their way, all of them to ensure that we were happy. The two girls who served us a all day really made you smile - they were great. The boat captains were fantastic. But Lorenco and Mauricio really made the trip for us. I just cannot say enough about them. They took an already superb trip and made it that much better. The food was something I was not expecting. The pictures looked great - but wow. Breakfast and lunch were tasty with a wide variety of menu items including some local flair. My brother ate the salvadorean plate and that was it - everyday. Portions were perfect for those spending long hours in the water. But when it was dinner-time, Thomas really took it over the edge with taste and appearance/plating. I have to say one of my favorite things to do other than surfing is eating. I do it well. Thomas did a great job and I can't wait to see where he takes it in the future. As you know, we caught all of the major swell that hit California two weeks ago. It easily hit 10 foot plus with some of the best and plentiful barrels in ages. We caught both Mango and Las Flores very good, by the end of the trip, both my brother and I had the place pretty darn wired - it's hard not to. The waves are super good. I have to say that both my brother as well as others we have talked to are in for next year. We took lots of video so if interested, we can certainly send you a disc. Mahalo for the great trip. we'll be in contact, soon.

 

aloha, Marc Nagao

 

 

Henry,

 

Just got back from Las Flores. Waves were perfect the entire week. 10/28-11/4 The stay was wonderful. Met Rob Fletcher. A great guy. Helped a great deal with a problem I had with my ticket. He is a terrific rep. for you guys. Just wanted to say thank you!

 

Rich Burns

 

 

Rob,

We had a great time at Las Flores.  The waves were 4-6 to 6-8 the whole week.  The staff (Luiz, Mauricio...) were super cool and the accomodations were awesome.  I will definitely go back.  

 

Thanks again, Andrew I. Spengler

 

Henry-

 

What a sweet trip that was!! Had a great time and really enjoyed the company. Marshall, Jim, Kristin, Chris, and Sylvia were all awesome to hang out with. The waves were super fun and the resort was sweet. And damn that
food was tasty! Your staff at Las Flores was the best I've ever encountered. Everyone was incredibly nice and upbeat the entire week! I can't wait to go back. I was thinking about going back again in april. How are the waves that time of year?

 

Cheers, Bobby

 

 

Henry-

 

I just wanted to let you know that I had a great time at the Las Flores Resort. The fact that the waves were firing the whole 2 weeks didn't hurt! The staff...Scott, Lorenzo, Luis and all the boat drivers, cookstransportation drivers, cleaners, bartenders, surf guides were all first rate. The facilities were very comfortable and the food and beverage excellent. I am already looking forward to another trip in April or May next year. I have heard something about expansion plans and some kind of membership / partial ownership type possibilities in the future. If that is the case I would certainly be interested. I would mention that the boats are nice but the ramp could use some reinforcing, the power certainly gets blasted by lightning and the Wi-Fi has some of the same issues. Not much you can do about such inconveniences in such a remote location and I heard a back up generator was on its way. I would also suggest some guide poles to make getting those beautiful boats you have easier to line up correctly in the surf; so they don't get tire rub. All in all I had a great time, even spent enough time to get somewhat friendly with the hot local surfers and think you've done a great job managing such a class operation so quickly in such a remote location.

 

Sincerely, Phil Buran

 

 

Hi Henry-

 

Just wanted to drop a note and say thanks for hooking Mark and I up with the Las Flores surf trip. I had a great time. The waves were really fun and the staff was terrific too. Our 2 surf guides (Francisco and Luis) were awesome. The accomodations and food were also really good. I hope to make it back again someday.

 

Have a great week, Daniel Campbell

 

 

Hey Henry,

 

Just wanted to thank u for gettin us down there. Had an awesome time. Waves were fun but we could see the potential for perfection if they were cleaner. Nice setup, great staff and great bunch of fellow guests. Luis shot an hour or so of video on Saturday and Sunday. But since he was heading home Sunday for a week off, he said he would get the discs to you and would ask you folks to mail them to Dan Campbell and I. We would really appreciate it. Let us know if you need us to re-send mailing addresses.

 

Also, already thinking about trying to get a group of 3 - 5 and get down there for a week next April or May. Like to get it when the low tide is during the early to mid morning. Can u suggest some weeks with AM low tides or a website for El Sal tide info? How much lead time do u need to book this?

 

thanks again, Mark Kelton

 

 

Henry-

 

Thanks so much. we really enjoyed the place. we thought the staff was superb...mauricio, the women chefs, luis....great. a little suggestion: get some waterproof cushions for the chairs in the main area. they could be a little more comfortable and the everyone sits around there. the food was also great. we thought the guys on our trip were fantastic; since it costs a little bit more the people going are not just your 20 year old surfer type. I was nervous about punta mango, but the second section was fine for me and my longboard.

 

talk to you soon. Bill

 

 

Henry-

 

I hadn't had a chance to thank you for arranging our Las Flores trip. We(Tom Powers, Mike Castro and Alex Vecchiet) all had a GREAT time. I did wantto talk to you about a September and March trip to El Salvador. In September can you do a five day trip for 2-4 of us. Additionally we wanted to do a March trip and want to know availability. Can we split the March trip between East and West Coasts?

 

Thanks, Jay
Dr. Jay D. Pruzansky

 

 

Hey Henry-

 

Jay shared your email. Your vision for Las Flores sounds unreal! Wanted to let you know what a great time I had. I'm very stoked on the East Cape of El Salvador. The surf was super fun, and non-life threatening like other destinations can be. Your staff did an excellent job. I enjoyed hanging out with Mauricio and Francisco. They are great guys. The overall vibe at Flores was awesome. Nice, smiling, sincere staff, and no bad vibes out in the water. I like your vision of keeping the number of guests limited, and making it somewhat exclusive to preserve what is there.

Please thank the staff (Rodrigo, Francisco, Mauricio, Kai, Kevin, Scott, Francisco the bartender, the other kitchen help and boatmen) for making us feel welcome and watching over us, and for the great job they do! Look forward to coming back!

 

Tom Powers

 

 

Henry,

 

Thanks for a great week. Your staff down there was awesome as were the waves, the food and the rooms. We scored killer surf the whole week. Saturday and Sunday were a bit small, but the swell came in as expected on Monday and lasted the rest of the week. The sets were very consistent and alleviated any crowd factor. My mind was totally blown as this was easily the best surf trip of my life. It will be hard to top this one. Extra kudos to Kai the chef, our guides Luis and Joaquin, and the bartender Francisco who may be the coolest guy I've ever met in my life. I am already looking forward to my next trip with Wavehunters next year. Where I will go, I am not sure yet. The other guys on the tour were really cool too and the Salvadorian people are amazingly friendly! Going solo was not even an issue.

 

Keith Kengla

 


Hello from El Salvador,

 

Leaving Peru behind, we flew north to begin the Central American leg of our trip in the wild east of El Salvador. After nearly three months without waves in the Caribbean and South America, a surf trip was like a dream come true. Although we had shipped our surfboards from Tobago a month prior, they were still stuck in customs on arrival. Board-less, we began our Punto Mango surf trip with ultimate guide Luis who was like a brother to us.

 

Still bearing the scars from the civil war a decade ago, most of the population was living in extreme poverty. Shacks lining the dirt road were caught in the billowing dust as we 4x4'd to the surf. In the midst of the dry season the landscape was scorched; the hills were soft and brown.

Pulling up to Las Flores we watched set after set of perfect rights peeling off the point, and Luis loaned us his boards to paddle out. The water and air must have been a seamless 90 degrees. Craig enjoyed the luxury of Super Panga ensured un-crowded head high to double over head surf. Jamie, who was intimidated by the intensity of the waves mostly enjoyed paddling around, watching flocks of pelicans fly overhead and wild horses grazing on shore.

 

Luckily, money talks in El Salvador and a few hundred dollars pulled our boards out of customs the next morning.

 

Between sessions we both enjoyed reading and resting in the hammocks under thatched palapa. We watched the waves roll in while waiting for huevos rancheros, handmade tortillas, fresh fruit, and the best coffee to date

 

(Jamie is a coffee connoisseur). The simplicity of the surf trip made us want to hang up our hats and settle down in a big hacienda, but we still have the rest of the world to explore.

 

We're off to Costa Rica! Best wishes, Craig & Jamie

 

 

Henry,

 

Just some lines to tell you about our trip. My children and I spent a great time. In our first 3 days, the Casa de Mar resort at Sunzal was very convenient and Manzano an excellent guide. At Las Flores Surf Club we also enjoyed our stay a lot. The guys from Santa Cruz ( the other group) were first class surf camp partners. My children enjoyed every minute of our time there!!!. Even though we did not have a big swell we got nice waves. One day (tuesday 2) the three of us spent each 7 net hours of surfing in four different times going out to surf. Your partner Rodrigo was at the camp working hard and making us feel comfortable. We also met Luis dilligently taking charge as the new manager of this camp. Our guide Jorge was also quite good. Thanks for your advise for this vacation. We have got great lasting memories.

 

After my trip to Tuamotu this september I will contact you for your advice in our next year surf vacation !!!!!!

 

Javier Rehder

 

Luiz,

 

Thanks again....even though we didn't score the best of waves, we had a great time. You guys have a great operation there and both you and "predator" did a great time keeping us entertained. I may try to run down there again when a big swell is headed that direction so i'll email if that is the case. We had a great time at "lips" friday night in san salvador......

 

Let me know if you ever need anything that i can send down to you...computer stuff, surfing gear, whatever.... you guys took care of us and i'll always remember that. Now i have to get back to work...........Agggggghhhhhhhhhhhh

 

Peace Out, Alec