SAT lists four customs posts on the Guatemala–El Salvador border; Salvadoran reporting adds a fifth, El Coco. The four SAT posts are not interchangeable. They sit on four different highways, only one of them is named by the international bus companies, and only two of them list tourist vehicle permits among their customs services. This page compares them on the facts the Guatemalan tax agency (SAT) and the Salvadoran side publish. Everything was read on 24 September 2026 unless dated otherwise.
Quick summary
- By bus to San Salvador: you will cross at Valle Nuevo / Las Chinamas, the only crossing any operator names (Tica Bus, Transporte del Sol).
- Driving with a tourist vehicle permit: SAT lists tourist permits at Valle Nuevo and at La Ermita (Anguiatú), and not at Pedro de Alvarado or San Cristóbal.
- Night crossings: SAT’s customs lanes at Valle Nuevo, Pedro de Alvarado and San Cristóbal run 24 hours every day; La Ermita runs 24 hours Wednesday to Saturday and 05:00-24:00 Sunday to Tuesday.
- Busiest: IGM counted Valle Nuevo as the busiest land post of Semana Santa 2026 (105,641 movements); detail on our border wait-times page.
- Fees: Guatemala charges no exit fee; see border-run costs.
The four crossings compared
| Guatemalan post (SAT) | Where SAT puts it | Salvadoran side | Distance from San Salvador (Salvadoran reporting) | Customs services SAT lists | Named by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valle Nuevo | Km 129, CA-8; Caserío Valle Nuevo, Jalpatagua, Jutiapa | Las Chinamas (Ahuachapán) | 120 km | Import, export and tourist permits; the Salvadoran customs does not allow loaded cargo over eight tonnes | Tica Bus; Transporte del Sol |
| Pedro de Alvarado | Km 166, CA-2 Oriente; Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado, Moyuta, Jutiapa | La Hachadura (Ahuachapán) | 126 km | Import, export and transit | No operator we read |
| San Cristóbal | Km 175, CA-1 Oriente; Aldea San Cristóbal de la Frontera, Atescatempa, Jutiapa | San Cristóbal (Santa Ana) | 98 km | Import, export and transit | No operator we read |
| La Ermita | Km 229, CA-12; Aldea Anguiatú, Concepción Las Minas, Chiquimula | Anguiatú (Santa Ana) | 120 km | Import, export, transit and tourist permits | No operator we read |
The Salvadoran reporting (El Diario de Hoy, 31 July 2026) also lists El Coco, in Santa Ana, 100 km from San Salvador and open 24 hours, as a crossing with Guatemala. SAT’s customs directory has no post under that name, so we cannot tell you which Guatemalan office faces it.
Hours on each side
| Crossing | Guatemalan customs, operative lanes (SAT) | Guatemalan customs, office (SAT) | Salvadoran side (31 July 2026 report) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valle Nuevo / Las Chinamas | Every day, 24 hours | Mon-Fri 08:00-16:00 | 24 hours, 7 days |
| Pedro de Alvarado / La Hachadura | Every day, 24 hours | Mon-Fri 08:00-22:00 | 24 hours |
| San Cristóbal | Every day, 24 hours | Mon-Fri 08:00-16:00 | 24 hours |
| La Ermita / Anguiatú | Sun-Tue 05:00-24:00; Wed-Sat 24 hours | Mon-Fri 08:00-16:00 | 24 hours |
Two things to read from this. The office hours matter if your crossing needs a desk rather than a lane, such as a vehicle-permit question; at three of the four posts that desk is a weekday, daytime service. And IGM, which stamps your passport, publishes no hours for any post, so the customs hours are the nearest official guide to when the Guatemalan side is working.
Pre-check points on the Salvadoran side
The Salvadoran report names two pre-check points (puntos de prechequeo) before the border:
- Las Chinamas: at the Bypass petrol station, km 92.5, half a kilometre from the Escalante bridge, on the road to the border in Ahuachapán.
- Anguiatú: at km 114.5 of the Panamericana towards Metapán, opposite the Instituto Nacional Benjamín Estrada Valiente.
Which crossing for which trip
- Bus to San Salvador: Valle Nuevo / Las Chinamas, because that is where the operators that name a crossing go. Timetables and fares are on Guatemala City to San Salvador and Pullmantur.
- Shuttle to the beaches: the Antigua shuttle to El Tunco and El Zonte does not name its crossing; see Antigua to El Tunco.
- Driving and needing a tourist vehicle permit: Valle Nuevo or La Ermita, the two posts where SAT lists that service. Check the permit rules with SAT before relying on either.
- Holiday weekends: in IGM’s Semana Santa 2026 count, Valle Nuevo was the busiest land post (105,641 movements); that is the one holiday count we cite. The record, and why no one publishes live waits, is on our border wait-times page.
Documents and fees
This page does not restate the rules: Guatemala charges no exit fee under IGM’s tariff (Acuerdo IGM-029-2023 as reformed by IGM-039-2025, Art. 3, numeral 4.2), and the CA-4 agreement governs how your permitted stay carries across the two countries. See what a border run costs and the CA-4 border run.
Maps
- Valle Nuevo border crossing
- Pedro de Alvarado border crossing
- San Cristóbal Frontera
- Anguiatú (La Ermita customs)
What is not published
- Crossing or queue times at any of the four posts, by any agency.
- IGM’s hours for its migration booths.
- Which crossing Pullmantur, Comfort Lines or the Antigua beach shuttle uses.
- The Guatemalan post facing El Coco, in SAT’s directory.
Sources
- SAT, Ubicación y horario de Aduanas, read 24 September 2026
- El Diario de Hoy, Fronteras con Guatemala y Honduras: horarios de atención, 31 July 2026, read 24 September 2026
- Municipalidad de Moyuta, Construcción puente General Manuel José Arce, frontera La Hachadura – Pedro de Alvarado, 30 November 2022, read 24 September 2026
- Tica Bus and Transporte del Sol timetables, read 12 September 2026 (see Guatemala City to San Salvador)
- IGM Semana Santa 2026 count and IGM delegations map: as cited on our border wait-times page
