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!
The 129 bus from Suchitoto last stop is within the Eastern bus station. We decided to catch a taxi for $10 to the Western bus station…20 minute ride.. Within a few a minutes of arriving, we caught a bus for $1.50 to Congo. Lastly, we caught a ride from an “unofficial” private vehicle to Captain Morgan Hostel from Congo for $5. Total trip tone took 4.5 hours from Suchitoto to Lake Coatepeque. Price per person -x 2 was $10 with 2 taxi rides and 2 bus rides.
Could have saved about $4 person for a total cost of $6 had we bussed it all the way without taxis…but add about 90 minutes to 2 hours to the trip.
Could have saved about $4 person if no taxis are used…but add about 90 minutes to 2 hours to the trip.
The 129 Bus to Suchitoto leaves from Terminal Nuevo Amanecer and costs $1.
If taking an Uber from the downtown area, it’s about $4.
I doing this trip now.
From Terminal de Occidente to Punto de microbus 140 you can take the bus 4, that saves you 5$ Uber and probably more on Taxis
We did the Santa Ana trip on march 2nd 2020:
-Suchitoto to Aguilares Texaco station: we left 8.30 with a big chicken bus from the mercado in suchitoto and arrived about 50 min later at the texaco gas station in Aguilares. Cost 75cts pp
-Aguilares Texaco to Apopo puma gas station: the buses were already waiting when we arrived. Both petrol stations seem to act as transport hubs. Trip to apopo took about 30 minutes (around 10.00) and cost 50 cts pp.
-Apopo puma gas station to Santa ana: surprisingly the chicken bus turned up at 10.00u (on the left side of the station) and left 15 minutes later. Trip to Santa ana took 2 hours. Cost 80 cts pp
I have taken the 129 to and from Suchitoto (coming from San Salvador). In San Salvador it also passed the GPS point for the 140 behind Iglesia El Rosario and on the way back I got off the bus close by the church, too. So I didn’t have to deal with the Terminal de Oriente at all.
I did a new trip between Suchitoto and Santa Ana on 5 Feb 2020:
#1. 9.40 – 10.30 Suchitoto – Aguilares 0.75$ (you could take the next bus or two, as the bus leaves every 40 minutes) -> Get out at the large junction of the town Aguilares (crossing between Carretera Suchitoto AND Carretera Troncal del Nte)
Now walk towards the mercado municipal. The bus stops between the crossing of the streets 8a calle oriente and 5a Avenida norte. Ask locals around for the bus #2:
#2. 12.00 – 12.55 Aguilares – Tacochico 0.75$
There is a direct bus that goes from Tacochico, but it leaves at 3:30 PM. I did not want to wait, so I took the bus to Opico (#3):
#3. 13.05 – 13.55 Tacochico – Opico 1$ (Say you want to get off at the Parada Del Desvío (the bus stop is also on Google maps)
Walk a bit towards “El norteño discotec bar”. Many buses will go from here to Santa Ana:
#4. 14.00 – 14.45 Opico – Santa Ana 0.85$
The mentioned route does not sound better than the provided ones here. However, they do not contain clear timetables. Also the route for Apopa contains buses that come every two hours. From the stop #4, there are many busses from San Salvador and the Apopa direction 🙂
The bus location for suchitoto is not accurate anymore: The bus departs nearby Terminal de Buses de Oriente “Plaza Amanecer”. Don’t go inside the terminal, but ask on the main road “Bulevar del Ejercito Nacional” where the bus stop is
Hello! Tried to catch the 129 or 140 buses from San Salvador via Oriente Terminal area and the locals said they no longer run that way! Tried 2 other terminals suggested by the locals to no avail, and at Terminal Nuevo Amanecer the people said to catch it either in San Miguel or via Calle Oro. After being 0/3 on terminals I ended up taking private transport so can not confirm if those two routes work, but just a heads up for people! Happy travels! ✌️
Hello there!
We went from San Salvador to Suchitoto on the 23rd of October 2020 and the info found above were on point for us. Collectivos 140×3 left from the GPS point indicated, el punto microbus 140, just behind l’iglesia del Rosario. Cost 1$ per person, duration about 2 hours.
Safe travels!