Ecuador's Beaches

By Karen

(30/06/2012)The quiet beaches backing onto rich forests of Ecuador´s coast make it a great destination for a multi-day bike ride. Karen from Into Latin America recently took advantage of a few days off to cycle what known as the Route of the Sun. Here, Karen tells us about some of the highlights of the trip.

Machalilla National Park

Ecuador´s only coastal park encompasses offshore islands, beaches, cliffs and extensive tropical dry and cloud forests. This is a beautiful stretch of coast with dense forests above empty beaches and dramatic cliffs. A big draw in Machalilla is Isla de la Plata - known as The Poor Man´s Galapagos. On this tiny island you can see many typical Galapagos wildlife such as albatross, boobies and, in season humpback whales. Just south of the tiny town of Machalilla, Los Frailes is a protected beach which has been declared the most beautiful in Ecuador.

For a more in depth visit, Aguas Blancas has a community tourism project where local guides show visitors short nature trails including visits to the archaeological ruins– once an important center for the pre-colonial Manteño culure. Longer hikes and horseback rides explore the pristine cloud forest of San Sebastian.

Puerto Lopez

This port town is the largest along this stretch of coast and is the center for whale watching trips. The importance of whale watching tours here is highlighted along the main road where Mandala Lodge has painted notices in multiple languages with fun whale facts.

Despite being a local tourism center, Puerto Lopez is still on the sleepier side of things. The harbor is full of small fishing boats and hundreds of frigate birds, and - on The Day of the Child – numerous little superheroes and butterflies come to the town for the parade.

Salango

A short trip from Puerto Lopez, Salango is a pleasant surprise. A neat little village with a couple of well-known seafood restaurants, Salango is also home to an interesting little museum. Different civilizations have been living on this stretch of the coast since around 5000 BC and the museum houses hundreds of pieces of pots and jewelry from the different eras. The relevance of the community museum in Salango is the Spondylus or spiny oyster. Salango fishermen have been diving for Spondylus here for centuries; in Pre-Colombian times these shells were highly valued all along the coast as far as Chile.

Ayampe to Olon

Ayampe and Las Tunas make up a string of beachside hostels and holiday homes, ideal for a quiet retreat with a wide pebbly beach and good surfing. At the end of the beach, the road winds up above the cliffs as the Changon Coloncha Mountain Range meets the coast. This is a beautiful bike ride through lush cloud forest. It is a long ride downhill the other side with fabulous views to the beaches of Olon and San Jose.

Montanita is famous as the party town of Ecuador but Olon, just a few kilometers away has a few quiet hotels and a nice mix of family beach and typical fishing. Above Olon, the local church has the best views from its location high above the cliffs.

Ayanque

After Montanita, the coastal towns revert again to low key and sleepy, and the beaches become a narrow stretch of sand alongside the road. A short detour on the long ride to Salinas takes you to the pretty bay of Ayanque. Unusually for this stretch of the coast, the beach is in an enclosed bay - not for surfers but great for safe bathing. Although Ayanque attracts day trippers from Guayaquil it is quiet and friendly with pretty rocks on either side and a handful of fishing boats bobbing in the bay. Beyond Ayanque, the industrial side of the Route of the Sun comes into evidence with gas pipelines and salt extraction leading up to the terrible traffic of Libertedad.

Salinas

Ecuador doing Miami is the best description for Salinas. Volleyball on the beach, apartment blocks and speedboats in the marina. Salinas´ location at the end of a peninsular though does make for some incredibly beautiful sunsets. In a journey of contrasts – from forest to fishing village to party central - Salinas is really the biggest contrast of all.