As we hurtle around blind corners, overtaking every car in sight, my taxi driver Hugo assures me he has never felt safer. Noting his foot jammed on the accelerator, I try not to raise an eyebrow. But it’s not the white-knuckle ride from the airport we’re discussing – it’s the state of his beloved country, El Salvador.Just a decade ago, the small Central American country was known as the world’s murder capital – with one killing on average every hour.Gangs terrorised its six million population, relying on extortion and resorting to kidnap, torture or worse.Much of 32-year-old Hugo’s own life was defined by violence. Before Uber, he was a bus driver and was forced to hand over one-third of his £75 weekly wage to gangsters as ‘renta’ – protection money. ‘If you didn’t pay? Well, they killed you,’ he says.But now? Things are different. President Nayib Bukele – self-described as the ‘world’s coolest dictator’ – has used emergency powers to arrest every suspected gang member. That was around 91,000 in total, from a population of just six million.With the bad guys locked up, Salvadorians can finally wave goodbye to a century of military dictatorships, civil war and gang-violence. And in their place? Tourists. Lots of them. Stunning El Salvador was once filled with gang violence and murder – now, it’s a far cry from that Jim Norton visits the country’s most popular resort, El TuncoEl Salvador is now the world’s third fastest-growing holiday destination, according to the United Nations’ World Tourism Organisation.It’s easy to see why. Just a 30-minute drive west of the airport – or quicker if you ride with Hugo – you soon find yourself winding along a stunning 190-mile Pacific coastline, where volcanic cliffs give way to rough-and-ready surf towns lined with palm trees and black-sand beaches.I’m en route to the most popular resort, El Tunco. Once frequented by only the hardiest backpackers and surfers, it is still dominated by budget hostels and greasy-spoon joints selling cheap pupusas and fried plantain – thick corn tortillas with fried sliced banana.But with the arrival of wealthier tourists, they’re steadily being neighboured by luxury beachfront villas and chic coffee shops.We are waved through the armed checkpoint, and I’m dropped at my lodgings: Balance Surf & Yoga Retreat.I’m greeted by owner Adrian, a tall, long-haired surfer from the US whose laid-back vibe echoes the boutique hotel’s bohemian style. El Tunco is a backpacker’s paradise, with budget hostels and cheap food Surfing is one of the great appeals of El Tunco, so Jim checks into the Balance Surf & Yoga RetreatThe retreat is a haven of peace. It’s hard to leave and I spend much of my time swinging in a hammock beneath mango and walnut trees, chomping on tacos, sipping cacao smoothies and cooling off in the plunge pool.Over a beer, Adrian reveals how he stumbled across the spot by accident on a road trip to Costa Rica in 2004 with his best friend Matty.Police had stopped the 19-year-olds at gunpoint in the dead of night and warned them not to go any further due to civil unrest in their next stop, Honduras.When they woke, the keen surfers found themselves overlooking perfect waves rolling in – and no one in the water.Elsewhere, El Salvador was buckling under the rise of notorious gangs, such as MS-13 and Barrio 18, that had filled the power vacuum after a brutal 12-year civil war. But the tiny town of El Tunco was seen as ‘neutral’.They ended up staying a month – surfing every day and spearfishing – and vowed to return. Two decades on and it is no longer the same sleepy village, instead earning itself a reputation as El Salvador’s party capital for Salvadorians at weekends. Once a quiet, sleepy destination, El Tunco has become a party hotspotIndeed, my first two nights are spent in a haze of mezcal and margaritas, dancing to reggaeton in beachside bars. I can’t decide if it’s reassuring or disconcerting to see a line of stony-faced armed soldiers keeping watch.Weekdays in the town are a quieter affair. It gives me a chance to focus on the real reason I, like many, have travelled here – El Salvador’s world-class waves.American surfers first started seeking out the consistent swells in the 1960s. Now, President Bukele is looking to supercharge this, pouring a billion pounds into revamping the coastline as ‘Surf City’.I head out for a lesson with Balance’s finest surf coach Brayan, 24, who has impressive English. On one side of the bay is El Sunzal, a perfect, mellow 600ft longboard wave. But given my level, I’m taken instead to La Bocana, a more powerful, faster – and unfortunately shallower – break over sharp rocks. Surf lessons are very much on the cards, and Jim heads out to catch some waves El Tunco beach is beautiful, and the locals are happy hereI appear to have oversold my surfing abilities, and return nursing cut feet and grazed knees. But I’m happy – it’s hard not to be in El Tunco under cloudless skies and 30C (86F) heat in January.And it’s fair to say the locals are, too. Everyone has a terrifying story of the El Salvador of old. Take street seller Eddy, 50, who tells me how he was just eight years old when he watched his mother set upon by five men and stabbed to death.As the sun sets on my final evening, a fiery glow casts silhouettes across a busy beach. It’s already a raucous atmosphere.Not long ago the nation was too scared to set foot outside after dark. Now it’s just getting started. TRAVEL FACTS Doubles at the Balance Surf & Yoga Retreat from £111 a night (balancesurfyoga.com). Flights to San Salvador via Bogota with Avianca from £749 (avianca.com).