Discover the must-see volcanoes of El Salvador on this guided hiking tour. Head out to Los Volcanes Complex National Park, which is a little over an hour from San Salvador, and journey up the highest volcano in El Salvador, the Santa Ana Volcano or Ilamatepec, with a 7,822-foot (2,384-meter) summit. The 4-hour round trip hike is suitable for most fitness levels but some may find it challenging. At the crater, catch views of Lake Coatepeque and the Izalco and Cerro Verde volcanoes, as well as the Pacific Ocean on clear days.

Hiking Santa Ana is considered a must-do activity in El Salvador
This tour is ideal for nature lovers and those interested in eco-tourism
Avoid driving to the national park; transport by private vehicle included
Hotel pickup and drop-off from the San Salvador metropolitan area

What's Included

All taxes, fees and handling charges
Professional guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off in San Salvador metropolitan area
Small Groups

Food and drinks, unless specified
Lunch
Gratuities
Bottled water

Meeting And Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

06:00 am

Pickup details

We offer pick-up at hotels in the metropolitan area of San Salvador

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
What to bring?
Comfortable Shoes
Light Clothing
Sunscreen
Sweater or Jacket

Infant seats available
Not recommended for travellers with back problems
Not recommended for pregnant travellers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Swimwear
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travellers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveller Photos

Featured review

Ashley_M

Our tour guide Rafael was very knowledgeable and super friendly. We learned so much history about the country and the landscape & its richness. He also helped point us to the best viewing spots and helped us with pictures! We highly recommend this beautiful & peaceful experience

Reviews

5.0

42 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 42 reviews

Highly recommend

Nashja_J, Sept 2023

Our tour guide was the Best ! He gave us so much background information and was there with us every step of the way on the hike for those who were less experienced! I highly recommend you won’t be disappointed. Views are amazing

Santa Ana Volcano

Erika_A, Sept 2023

This tour was wonderful. Our tour guide Francisco was amazing. He gave us clear directions and explained what to expect. Once we reached the top of the volcano he helped us take pictures. As a solo traveler this tour was perfect. The pick up and drop off made it so convenient. Highly recommend 10 out of 10! Amazing

Definitely a must do

Sandra_M, June 2023

What an amazing tour. Not least thanks to our guide Josue, who made the day a very wonderful unforgettable experience. Already during the drive around Vulcan he provided us with exciting insights into the country. The hike to Vulcan offers a beautiful setting in the middle of nature with great viewpoints. Once at the top, a breathtaking sight awaited us - especially as the sea shined turquoise this day. Definitely would do that again!

Most hikers haven’t seen this!!!

Pam_H, May 2023

Josue’ was an excellent guide! Very knowledgeable & warned us where difficulties were on the hike. The Santa Anna volcano was spectacular. Wow! What a view… incredible pictures on the top!

Connect with El Salvador’s Nature

Ashley_M, Sept 2022

Amazing Experience

Joy_S, Aug 2022

My friends and I went on this tour and we had an amazing time. Even though the hike was long we were able to take many breaks and the tour guide osmaro was very accommodating to our needs. He took us to the best spots for photos, took great photos of us and gave us a lot of informative information along the way. To top it off he took us to an amazing restaurant where the food was simply delicious. We definitely recommend this tour, your money will be well spent!!!

Recommend

Alicia_L, Mar 2022

We had a great time with Fernando. Prompt pick up and polite. Excellent English. Lots of fun and jokes.

Ask if he's gonna be with you the entire tour before booking.

Cindy_A, Oct 2021

Listen, I am ALL for people trying to make a dollar but I felt so cheated with this experience. I was told we would be picked up for 6am at our hostel in San Salvador. I went to be early in preparation for the early pick up time. When I woke up, got dressed and messaged, I was told our new pick up time would be 8:00am. In their defense they sent an email at 10:24pm the night before... but we were already asleep. When we arrived at the Volcano location the Guide told us he would not be coming with us to hike the volcano as he would be taking two other hikers to another hike. Basically he double booked this tour... palmed us off to another tour guide who did not speak English and could not keep up with us. We ended up hiking the volcano ourselves and then waiting 90mins for the Guide to finish with his other tour before we could meet up. Lunch was supposed to be at the Lake, at 2:00pm the guide was no where in sight, we had to beg someone to drive us to the meeting location, go to a cafe and wait on him. We did not get the lake until 4:30pm for us to have "lunch". I felt cheated out of an experience that I paid a lot of money for. He did not apologize at all, clearly this may be the norm. If we wanted a driver we would have hired one. Thanks for dropping us back to El Tuno. It's not ok to people to pay for a tour GUIDE only to reach the destination and the plans change.

Response from Host, Nov 2021

Hi Cindy! Thank you very much for telling us about your experience in this activity, we sincerely apologize for this isolated inconvenience that occurred. You booked two days in advance, and in a completely isolated event, our assigned guide for your activity had a strong blow to her arm the night before, and she was unable to work the next day. So in order not to cancel your tour the night before, we decided to add you to a group that was going to visit the same volcanic complex. We join you with a group to climb the volcano with a local guide. To try to fix this problem, we offered and took you to Playa El Tunco, (your next destination) where normally a transfer has a value of $ 40.00 USD. You had also forgotten your shoes, and we sent them to you from San Salvador to El Tunco beach, without any surcharge, (as we already mentioned the transfer has a price of $ 40.00 USD). Cindy, We again regret this inconvenience and the discomfort that may have been generated in this experience. It is something that we know was not your fault, and we did everything to solve it and offer compensation (your transfer to Playa El Tunco). As I mentioned, an isolated event. We have more than 300 reviews between Viator and TripAdvisor and this is the first comment we have with 1 star. We will do everything possible to improve our processes, and prevent this type of problem from being repeated, thank you for sharing it with us.

Amazing!!!

Alexis_H, July 2021

I absolutely loved this tour. It was very intimate. It was me, my bf and the tour guide. We were picked up from our hotel in San Salvador. Our guide Osmaro was prompt, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable. Me and my bf are fairly active, but the hike gave us a run for our money. Round trip it took about 4 hours, but it was well worth it. Absolutely amazing views. If you can get the earliest departure do so. We started our hike at 7:30 and had the place to ourselves to take pics. On our way down we noticed tons of people coming up. Afterwards we had lunch at a nice spot overlooking the lake.

Incredible views

Daniel_S, May 2021

Fantastic day trip. Osmaro picked us up at our hotel on time and the adventure began. It’s a vigorous hike to the top of the Santa Ana volcono but the views of the lake in the crater are spectacular.

Buenísima experiencia 11 de 10.

Misael_L, Apr 2023

La subida hacia el volcán fue increible, las vistas las naturaleza. Todo súper bello para terminar almorzando en el lago. Súper amable quien nos dio el tour, adaptándose a nuestro ritmo y siempre antento que estuviéramos bien mientras subíamos y bajamos. Muy conocedor de la historia de El Salvador.