Los Cobanós

After driving far and fast from our cockroach infested night stay (see previous post), Dusty and I backtracked a little east to Los Cobanos, a tiny little fishing village home to the Los Cobanos national marine reserve. The town is known for its fresh fish, snorkeling and scuba diving to coral reefs and ship wrecks.

The tiny fishing village - Los Cobanos

We settled in a sky-blue hostel, Los Cobanos village lodge, complete with beautiful sunny rooms with private porches overlooking the beach. It was a nice change from our previous night in cockroach purgatory. Although, we again had the entire place to ourselves. I think at this point we were both eager to run into some other travelers again.

Our room at Los Cobanos village lodge

View from our room

The village itself does not have a shred of a touristy feel. Besides the hostel we were staying in, it consisted of a string of shacks and abodes on the beach lining the boat-filled bay. It was colorful, relaxed, and again, a little eerily quiet for our taste. Again, we got many stares for being the only gringos around. As a vegetarian, it was close to impossible to find something to eat, especially as the caretaker for our hostel was always conveniently missing during mealtime, or really anytime we needed him.

Beautiful sunset at Los Cobanos

We didn't do much the first day, except for explore the village (attempting to find any food I could eat), and relax. After a night of pretty much no sleep, it was definitely a called for day off. Plans were made for the next morning, to do a 2 hour snorkel tour of the corals right off the beach. Unfortunately, we didn't have the amount of people required to go on a boat to the ship wreck (you need six).

A glimpse at where we snorkelled - Los Cobanos Marine Reserve

I liked the tour a lot. I haven't snorkelled in probably around 10 years, and I forgot how peaceful and therapeutic it can be to live and breathe below the waves for a little bit. Dusty's opinion? He was a little unimpressed, but understandably so as his last underwater excursion was diving in Thailand... Pretty tough to compare to. 


After one night in Los Cobanos, it was back to El Zonte for us. This place is starting to feel like the closest thing to home on this vacation. I have my favorite hammock, my favorite items on the menu, and they just started decorating for Christmas last night much to my glee! (If you didn't know already, I have an odd obsession with decorating for Xmas)

Decorating for Christmas in El Zonte

We returned for the swell, which is peaking this weekend and providing perfect surfing conditions for Dusty. I was happy to give in to coming back to the beach for a few days, although I'm really excited for a change of pace as we head to the mountains in just a few hours!

Currently Reading / Yes Please! / Amy Poehler