--- description: Family greets man who spent a year adrift in the Pacific Ocean title: Adrift For a Year, Salvadoran Fisherman Finally Returns Home image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc67aab4c6b1109a1/6986828d3bc99945361a203a/jose-salvador-alvarenga.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [El Salvador](/tag/el-salvador/) ## El Salvador Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Salvadoran Man Returns Home With Fish Tale of the Ages by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 12, 2014 9:43 AM CUT  Pacific castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga's family watch the broadcast of his arrival at their house in Garita Palmera 118 km. west from San Salvador, El Salvador, on February 11, 2014. Pacific castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga's family watch the broadcast of his arrival at their house in Garita Palmera 118 km. west from San Salvador, El Salvador, on February 11, 2014.Jose Cabezas—AFP/Getty Images by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 12, 2014 9:43 AM CUT The Salvadoran who claims that he spent over a year adrift in the Pacific Ocean [returned home](http://world.time.com/2014/02/11/man-adrift-14-months-at-sea-returns-to-el-salvador/ "undefined") late on Tuesday, after a week of rest and medical treatment in the Marshall Islands. José Salvador Alvarenga’s 14-year-old daughter didn’t remember ever seeing her father, who left to fish in Mexico when she was only one-year-old, but greeted him with an archway of palms over the front door and a sign reading: “Welcome.” While many have doubted the 37-year-old’s incredible story, experts have attested that it would be possible to survive through his ordeals, and details emerged over several days seem to corroborate the horrible journey. \[[AP](http://world.time.com/2014/02/11/man-adrift-14-months-at-sea-returns-to-el-salvador/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6774/salvadoran-man-returns-home-with-fish-tale-of-the-ages/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6774/salvadoran-man-returns-home-with-fish-tale-of-the-ages/"},"headline":"Salvadoran Man Returns Home With Fish Tale of the Ages","datePublished":"2014-02-12T09:43:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:23:05.475Z","description":"Family greets man who spent a year adrift in the Pacific Ocean","url":"https://time.com/6774/salvadoran-man-returns-home-with-fish-tale-of-the-ages/","keywords":["El Salvador","pacific ocean"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc67aab4c6b1109a1/6986828d3bc99945361a203a/jose-salvador-alvarenga.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Per Liljas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/per-liljas/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc67aab4c6b1109a1/6986828d3bc99945361a203a/jose-salvador-alvarenga.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pacific castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga's family watch the broadcast of his arrival at their house in Garita Palmera 118 km. west from San Salvador, El Salvador, on February 11, 2014.","caption":"Pacific castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga's family watch the broadcast of his arrival at their house in Garita Palmera 118 km. west from San Salvador, El Salvador, on February 11, 2014.","creditText":"Jose Cabezas—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/el-salvador/","name":"El Salvador"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6774/salvadoran-man-returns-home-with-fish-tale-of-the-ages/","name":"Salvadoran Man Returns Home With Fish Tale of the Ages"}}]}] ```