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Salto de Malacatiupan isn’t your normal waterfall. This waterfall is HOT!
One of the most unique waterfalls we have ever visited, Salto de Malacatiupan is a hot springs waterfall, created by El Salvador’s volcanic activity.
Nestled in the Western Highlands, this waterfall is the perfect day trip from Santa Ana or the Ruta de las Flores.
The waterfall is still a relatively unknown attraction so you can experience this amazing natural phenomenon without the crowds. And the entrance is only a few bucks, winning!
I’ll cover everything you need to know about Salto de Malacatiupan, including how to get there via public transport, costs and opening hours, what to bring and the best places to soak in the steamy thermal waters.
Quick facts
- 📍 Location: Google Maps
- 💰 Entrance fee: $1.50 USD
- ⏰ Opening hours: technically 24 hours, 7 days a week
- 👙 Swimming: Yes
- 🥾 Hiking: Not required, short walk from the entrance to reach the falls
About Salto de Malacatiupan
El Salvador is home to 20 volcanoes, which means a lot of geothermal activity bubbling away under the surface! All this activity has created steaming hot springs all over the country, but none is more impressive than El Salto de Malacatiupan.
Forget thermal pools, this is a thermal waterfall!
The river flowing to the waterfall is hot, before tumbling over the side of a cliff, splitting into multiple different falls and cascading into a huge, steamy pool below. The water continues flowing downstream, and it’s hot the whole way!
Hovering at a usual temperature of around 100°F (37°C), the water is actually HOT. Not like those hot springs that are just lukewarm and a bit yucky, I couldn’t believe how steamy it was when we jumped into the waterfall!
Salto de Malacatiupan is a relatively undeveloped site, and the waterfall still feels very natural. You need to pay a small fee to enter, and there are a few amenities at the entrance to the waterfall, but it hasn’t been overrun or turned into a tourist trap.
Locals know about it, but if you visit during the week, chances are you might be the only ones there! Not bad for $1.50!
Where is Salto de Malacatiupan
Salto de Malacatiupan is located in the Western Highlands of El Salvador, just outside the small town of Atiquizaya.
It’s approximately 1 hour from the Ruta de las Flores area, 1 hour from Santa Ana and 2 hours from San Salvador.
How to get there
By public transport
It’s easy to get to the hot waterfalls using El Salvador’s very efficient chicken bus system. You may need to change buses a couple of times and take a short tuk-tuk or taxi ride to reach the falls, but it’s very straightforward.
FROM RUTA DE LAS FLORES 🌸
No matter which town you’re staying at on the Ruta de Las Flores (Juayua, Ataco etc.) you’ll first need to take the #249 bus to Ahuachapan. These buses run frequently from 5 am. We were charged 75 cents per person from Juayua.
You’ll be dropped off just outside Ahuachapan, at the end of the Ruta de las Flores around here.
The next step is to take the #210 bus to Santa Ana. It departs in front of Ferretería Montecristo, at this location just a short walk from where you’ll be dropped off. We were charged 50 cents per person.
After about 25 – 30 minutes, the bus will turn into the town of Atiquizaya and stop around Parque San Juan, get off here.
The final leg of the journey is jumping in a taxi or tuk-tuk to the waterfall, which is about 15 minutes away. You should easily find one around the park, there are both little Fiat taxis and tuk-tuks.
Negotiate the price before you get in, you want to pay around $5. We paid $4.
*I have read that there is a bus that goes from Atiquizaya to the waterfall, but it is infrequent and we didn’t see any other buses when we arrived in town. We didn’t want to wait any longer, and the taxi wasn’t that expensive so we just went for it.
Get the WhatsApp number of your driver before you get out, so you can message and ask them to come back and pick you up when you’re ready.
The waterfall is on quite a remote road, so you might be waiting a while for one to pass. We didn’t get the number of our driver and we waited around 20 minutes for an empty tuk-tuk to pick us up.
Negotiate the price again before you get in, we paid $3 on the way back.
Get dropped back at Parque San Juan, and ask the driver to show you where the #210 bus to Ahuachapan leaves from, it will be a different side of the park from where you got dropped off.
Once you’re back in Ahuachapan, walk to the #249 bus stop and wait for the bus to Sonsonate to return to your town on the Ruta de las Flores.
FROM SANTA ANA ⛪️
Start at the Bus Terminal Francisco Lara Pineda and take either #210 to Ahuachapan or #214 to Atiquizaya.
You shouldn’t have to wait too long for one of these buses to depart, but I’d recommend checking in with your accommodation for the latest schedule. Expect to pay around 50 cents per person.
After about 45 minutes (depending on traffic), the bus will turn into the town of Atiquizaya and stop around Parque San Juan, get off here.
The final leg of the journey is jumping in a taxi or tuk-tuk to the waterfall, which is about 15 minutes away. You should easily find one around the park, there are both little Fiat taxis and tuk-tuks.
Negotiate the price before you get in, you want to pay around $5. We paid $4.
*I have read that there is a bus that goes from Atiquizaya to the waterfall, but it is infrequent and we didn’t see any other buses when we arrived in town. We didn’t want to wait any longer, and the taxi wasn’t that expensive so we just went for it.
Get the WhatsApp number of your driver before you get out, so you can message and ask them to come back and pick you up when you’re ready.
The waterfall is on quite a remote road, so you might be waiting a while for one to pass. We didn’t get the number of our driver and we waited around 20 minutes for an empty tuk-tuk to pick us up.
Negotiate the price again before you get in, we paid $3 on the way back.
Get dropped back at Parque San Juan, and ask the driver to show you where the #210 or #214 bus to Santa Ana leaves from, it will be a different side of the park from where you got dropped off.
📍 The locations of all these bus stops are pinned in our El Salvador Google Map
By car
If you’ve rented a car to explore El Salvador, it’s an easy drive to Salto de Malacatiupan.
It should take about an hour from the Ruta de las Flores, an hour from Santa Ana (pending traffic), or about 2 hours from San Salvador, again depending on the traffic.
The drive is straightforward on well-paved roads for most of the journey. The final stretch from Atiquizaya is on an unpaved, bumpy road. It should be fine for any kind of car, just take it slow. Note if you’re visiting in or immediately after the wet season, the road may be in worse condition. Check recent Google reviews to get the latest info.
There is parking on-site at the waterfall. It’s $1 for motorbikes or $2 for cars.
🚙 Browse for rental cars in Santa Ana, San Salvador or the international airport
Salto de Malacatiupan entrance fee
The entrance to the waterfall is $1.50 for adults over 12 years old. You can only pay in cash. Kids under 12 years are free.
There isn’t really an official ticket booth, so don’t be alarmed if a local walks up and asks for payment. The waterfall is on local land, so it’s totally legit.
If you’re coming with your own vehicle, you’ll need to pay for parking too. It’s $1 for motorbikes, $2 for cars, $3 for minibuses or $5 for buses.
Opening hours
Technically the waterfall is open 7 days a week, 24 hours. There are no other published hours.
You can pay to camp here and stay overnight, so I guess access is always available.
But given that you have to pay to enter, chances are you’ll encounter a closed gate if you visit outside daylight hours, plus the waterfall isn’t lit at night, so I’d suggest keeping your visit between around 9:00 am and 5:00 pm.
Do you need a guide?
No, you don’t need a guide. It’s only a very short walk from the entrance to reach the waterfall, you can do it solo.
Best time to visit
The best time of year to visit the hot springs waterfalls is during the dry season, from November to April.
If you visit outside this time, it might be raining. This isn’t a problem in itself, but storms can churn up the water and cause a lot of sediment and runoff to make the whole waterfall brown, which isn’t very appealing for swimming! It can also be super strong and unsafe to swim after heavy rains, with a lot of debris in the water too.
I’ve read a lot of recent reviews saying the waterfall is filled with trash. This is really sad and something I hope they can clean up, but it’s most likely because these people were visiting during rainy season when anything and everything is washed down the river from neighbouring villages.
Although Salto de Malacatiupan is rarely crowded, I’d still suggest avoiding visiting on the weekends or public holidays. This is when the waterfall will be the most busy with lots of local families and friends.
If you plan your visit for a weekday, you might even have it to yourself. We visited on a Monday and there was only a handful of other people there.
Amenities at Salto de Malacatiupan
The waterfall itself is still very natural, and once you make the short walk from the entrance, there are no amenities. The only thing there was a small palm-thatched shelter, which was nice to leave our bags.
At the entrance, there is a relatively new amenities block with very clean flushing toilets and a changing room. I don’t recall there being a shower.
They have recently added a restaurant, which apparently serves some nice home-cooked food and drinks. I wouldn’t count on it being open every day though. It’s more likely to operate on weekends and holidays when the waterfall is busier.
Experiencing the hot springs waterfall
Getting to the falls
Once you’ve paid your entrance fee, you’ll follow a short trail down to the river.
When you reach the river, you want to turn slightly left and walk across the rocky river. Large rock formations divide the river and it’s channelled into different pools. There are some wooden bridges leading you across to the other side.
Tucked right in the far corner of the river, before it drops down over the cliff is a rickety natural staircase carved into the rock. It took us a minute to find it, but there is a wooden handrail built into the cliff.
It’s really slippery here as it constantly gets sprayed by the waterfall, so be careful coming down.
You then open out onto a large rocky ledge, overlooking the waterfall and main pool. There is a small, palm-thatched shade where you can hang your towel and leave your bags.
At this level, you can see the water splits into three different falls and a couple of different pools.
Soaking in the pools
If you’re looking at the waterfalls, the one on the far left falls into a smaller pool.
Naturally created by a rocky barrier, this pool is calmer than the main one, and the perfect place to relax if you want to soak in the thermal waters.
We found a comfy spot leaning against the rocky ledge and soaked in the mineral goodness! I couldn’t believe how hot the water was. Especially given there is so much of it and it’s flowing so fast, but the pool really was steaming. It was nothing like the fresh and chilly waters on the Seven Waterfalls Hike that we did the day prior!
One thing we encountered was some strange black slimey slugs. I don’t know what they were, probably some kind of larvae, but they were gross. They obviously thrived in the warm water, and I was constantly brushing them off.
A bit icky, but the water was so nice so I tried not to think about them and we brushed each other off thoroughly when we got out.
Jumping in the main pool
The other two falls drop into the large main pool. The water is still super warm in here, but the current is quite strong, and getting in and out can be a bit tricky.
If you’re brave, you can jump into the pool. I would have been happy to jump, BUT we didn’t see anyone else doing it, and we weren’t 100% sure where it was deep enough, and if there were rocks hiding under the surface.
I know people do jump, and it’s probably fine, but I always feel better seeing someone else go first!
The other way to get into the main pool is to scramble down the rock wall. It’s quite steep, but there are lots of natural steps in the rocks you can use. Just remember you have to work out how to get back out again, and it can be slippery.
You can swim over to the middle fall, and there is a rocky ledge to sit on next to it and feel the spray of the hot waterfall.
The right fall is a bit harder to reach. The current is very strong, so unless you’re a really strong swimmer you might struggle to swim under this one.
Exploring downstream
If you walk away from the waterfalls, you’ll find a path that continues downstream.
The first part of the path is still very elevated, with steep rocky walls making it impossible to get into the water. But the view looking back towards the waterfalls is nice, and you can see another set of mini falls cascading out of the main pool.
If you keep following the dusty track through the forest, eventually it levels out and you’re at the river level again. You can find some shallower and calmer sections of the river here to sit in and soak in the hot water.
Walking upstream
On our way out, we walked a little further upstream past the entrance.
The rocks in the river thin out, and it goes back to being mostly water. There were a few wide sections of the bank where you could walk straight into the river.
The water was still warm, but this area was quite dirty. I think locals use it more frequently as the river is calmer. It would be a great place to wash your clothes in the warm water, but we didn’t find it as nice to swim in.
What to bring
- 👙 Swimwear
- 🧖🏽♀️ Towel
- 💧 Lots of water
- 🥪 Snacks or a picnic lunch (there is a restaurant but it may or may not be open)
- 💰 Cash
- 📸 GoPro/action camera or waterproof phone case
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Final thoughts on Salto de Malacatiupan
To this day, we have never seen a waterfall quite like Salto de Malacatiupan! Steaming hot waters thundering over the edge of a cliff into a huge pool below, like a giant bathtub. It’s something special.
Visiting the waterfall was an easy day trip from the Ruta de las Flores, which is an area we highly recommend visiting in El Salvador.
If you want more waterfalls, you have to check out the 7 Waterfalls Hike in Juayua, and we spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in more hot springs at a spa back on the ruta.
Have you ever seen a hot spring waterfall? Where was it?
MORE RUTA DE LAS FLORES POSTS
- Ultimate Guide to the Ruta de las Flores, El Salvador
- Seven Waterfalls Hike, El Salvador: Las Siete Cascadas
- Guide to Cafe Albania & The Rainbow Slide, El Salvador
The Comments
Rafaela
your blog is my main source of info traveling here in central america. I would like to give an info for travelers that want to visit this place. If you’re solo, want an adventure or want to save a little bit, there is a bus from Atiquizaya that leaves you right in front of the waterfall entrance too. Route 245 to RIO FIO-ATIQUIZAYA costs 0.61 cents. It leaves from 13.976835,-89.757065. Locals were giving me different information about the time, but apparently it leaves Atiquizaya at 3pm and 4pm everyday. I got there at 2:50 and lucked out seeing this bus exists. Also transportation was free in the country for the week so very worth it. I hitchhiked on the way back and it was very easy. Motorcycles/taxis are always passing by too.
Sally Rodrick
RafaelaThanks so much for sharing that info Rafaela! I had also heard there was a bus but the times were a mystery to everyone and it seemed we would have to wait around for hours. So glad the timing was perfect for you! Keep enjoying El Salvador, Sally