All of the buses coming and going through Suchitoto pass by the Mercado Municipal (see map). They continue down that same street and head out of town at the Alba gas station, where buses to Aguilares go one way and buses to San Salvador go another.
Suchitoto to Terminal de Oriente
When in Suchitoto you can grab either the 129 full size bus with a/c for $1, or the 140 microbus $0.90. Important: on the return trip this bus passes close but not right at the Terminal de Oriente. You are likely to be let off in the same spot I was and I am not sure I recommend it, especially late in the day. Essentially you are dropped at a little side street that leads to a staircase that goes to the terminal through a back road. There is a high military presence and probably for good reason. Remember, the area around the Terminal de Oriente is not a good one, and my guess is a little back alley like this is low on the safety list. So what to do instead? Stay on the bus until the last stop and grab a really cheap taxi to the terminal. See photos below.
Terminal de Oriente to Suchitoto
The bus doesn’t pull into the actual station, instead it passes on the main highway outside of the station just ask someone and they will tell you exactly where to stand. Buses to Suchitoto are originating from the Punta de Microbuses 140 in the centre. Open in Google Maps. You have two bus options. You can either take the 129 full size bus with a/c for $1, or the 140 microbus $0.90 and both take about 1hr. Very important: there are several 140 microbuses that pass here so be sure you get on the one labeled Suchitoto. I am told some of the other routes go to some less safe areas. Both buses take about the same time.
Suchitoto to Santa Ana
I have not done this one myself but here is what the lovely girl at the tourist information centre mapped out for me. First you need to get the 163 heading to Aguilares. This bus leaves every 40 minutes and costs $0.70. Tell the driver you are going to Apopa and need to get off at the Texaco gas station. You can then grab the 119 or the 125 heading to the POMA last station in Apopa. From there grab the 276 to Santa Ana. This bus passes every 2hrs and starts at 7am. Sorry not sure when the last bus is but my guess would be around 5pm.
One traveller named Davy confirmed this and commented below with extra details from Sept 2018:
Suchitoto -> Aguilares 40 minutes $0.75
Aguilares -> Apopa 30-40 minutes $0.40
Apopa -> Santa Ana 2 hours $0.80
The bus to Santa Ana left at 10:45h at the Puma gas station, but stayed for 10 minutes at the market around the corner to fill up. The bus 276 final stop is at Terminal de Occidente.
Another Traveller named Lauren added extra details to this route (Dec 2018):
Note: the gas station you want is the Puma at the end of Apopa on the right hand side, NOT the first one you pass on the left at the beginning of town. The 276 only goes between Apopa and Santa Ana. Because of this it doesn’t come down the main road, but rather comes into the carpark of Puma. If you look at the gas station from the road it arrives and leaves on the left hand side. The bus arrived at 11.15am, left at 11.20am and slowly went through the markets, meaning it didn’t really leave down until 11.45am. Arriving at Santa Ana at 1.45pm.
San Miguel to Suchitoto
Get on the bus headed to San Salvador and ask the bus driver to drop you at San Martin and be sure you make it clear you are going to Suchitoto so he will drop you in the right spot. There is a bus that runs approximately every hour to Suchitoto. We haven’t done this but one helpful traveller confirmed some details – “When the driver drops you at San Martin, you have to cross the big boulevard using a crosswalk overpass and wait for the bus 129 or a microbus 140 with Suchitoto written on it, that comes much more frequently then the 129 bus!” (see comments section below)
Suchitoto to San Miguel
One helpful traveller name Kostas has given us the details on this route. He says: “In Suchitoto, take bus 129 to San Salvador from the side street at the market. Let the driver know you want to get off at San Martin on the highway at the overpass. It takes about an hour. Cross the highway (use the overpass) and catch bus 301 to San Miguel. A couple things to note: San Martin is not the safest town, so don’t get off on the town center and walk to the highway, or don’t wonder around. The 301 buses to San Miguel are newer and the number is hard to see, pay close attention or you might miss one, or two, like we did.”
El Tunco to Suchitoto
Heading from the beach – El Tunco to Suchitoto? Here is how you do it nice and quick! Grab the 102A (a/c microbus) from El Tunco (or Sunzal or La Libertad). This bus will cost $1.50 and will take you all the way into San Salvador. From the last stop, take a taxi to the Punto de Microbuses Ruta 140. It isn’t far from where you are dropped off, but this area of San Salvador isn’t the greatest and I am told by locals that the safety of this area is improving, but I myself prefer to take the cheap taxi ride which only about 17 blocks and shouldn’t cost you more than $5. Once you are at Punto de Microbuses 140, you will know you are getting on the right bus because it will be labeled Suchitoto in big letters. This bus will cost you $0.90 and takes about 1hr.
Suchitoto to El Tunco
Head back to San Salvador and go all the way to the last stop, Punto de Microbuses ruta 140 and grab a taxi to the Punto de Microbuses 102. Make sure they are taking you to the stop with microbus 102A to Sunzal. This bus will pass by El Tunco on the way to Sunzal. Easy! (see above for extra info)
Aguilaris to Suchitoto
The bus from Aguilaris to Suchitoto is #163. It depart every 30-40 minutes. More information coming soon.
Help your fellow traveller
If you have taken any of the buses on this page, please drop us a comment below about how the trip went, what time you left, how long it took and what it cost. And, definitely let us know if we have anything wrong.
Lets help each other in our travels!
San Miguel to Suchitoto
I made the stop in San Martin – the driver dropped me here
13.735893, -89.051251
I walked along the road and found the bus stop for the 129 to Suchitoto here
13.735442, -89.053941
I didn’t cross the highway on the overpass – you get dropped off on the right and the buses turn right to head north to Suchitoto – so don’t cross the highway!
Hopefully this will be very helpful. It is impossible to find a bus company that takes this route. Thank you
My brother suggested I might like this website. He used to be totally right. This publish actually made my day. You can not consider simply how so much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
We did San Salvador to Suchitoto and it went like others described in the comments. From the historical center, close to the punto de microbuses 140, we took a 140 bus to the new station called Terminal Plaza Amanecer. There you can either go inside or wait at the exit gate to catch a bus to Suchitoto. The bus we took was also a 140, clearly labled “Suchitoto”. One way is $1 per person (same price for locals).
Went from San Salvador to Suchitoto today (April 2024).
Got an uber to the Nueva Terminal where there was a 140 and 129 bus to Suchitoto. We were told to get on the 140 bus as that was leaving first.
We were charged $2 per person for the trip. Not sure if this is the usual price, we were told it was $1 by someone in a tourism office but didn’t feel the want to argue as was just glad to get on a bus right away.
Hey folks,
We did Juayúa – Suchitoto 3 days ago and it went as follows:
1. Juayúa – Sonsonate: Bus 249
2. Sonsonate – San Salvador Bus terminal Occidente: Bus 205
When you arrive to Sonsonate bus terminal you need to cross to the other side of the road there is a bus terminal for the 205 buses that go to San Salvador.
3. In San Salvador we arrived to the Terminal Occidente and there we took a uber to the center close to the Punto de microbuses 140. There we found out that the buses to Suchitoto leave from the new terminal: Terminal Nueva Amanecer that kinda replaced the old terminal oriente. This terminal is already in Soyapango. At the Punto de microbuses 140 was a microbus that took us to this new terminal. All locals refer to it as Nueva Terminal. If you ask around a bit they will help which microbus to take or could grab a taxi directly there.
From this new terminal we boarded the bus 129 which took us directly to Suchitoto.
This new terminal felt safe and it was very new.
We followed the same Suchitoto to Santa Ana route via Aguilares as mentioned previously and it was all very smooth.
We board a 163 bus at 9.20am and arrive into Aguilares at 10.13am. Just south of the gas station the next bus (125) is there waiting for us. We’re on the way a minute or two later and arrive into Apopa at 11.10am..
Again we find our next bus (276) waiting for us opposite the Dispensa Familiar. We’re slightly confused at first as it’s on the opposite side of the road facing away from Santa Ana but after being reassured that this is our bus it leaves at 11.15am.
We only go about 200m before pausing outside the market to pick up more passengers and don’t actually get going until 11.25am. It’s then a little over 2hrs to get to Santa Ana.
All in all a pretty decent journey.
Total cost $2 per person and 4 hours in total.