The Pacific coast

The coast is a different country from the sierra: lower, hotter, and organized around fish. Guayaquil is the gateway, Ecuador’s largest city, with the Malecón 2000 along the river. It is not a beach town. The Pacific is an hour or more west.

Whales and a national park

Puerto López is the working harbor for humpback whales, which pass offshore roughly from June through September. Boats go out in the morning. The same town is the door to Machalilla National Park.

Isla de la Plata, in the park, is nicknamed the poor man’s Galápagos. That sells it short and oversells it. You can see boobies and frigates. You should not expect the Galápagos. Los Frailes, a crescent of pale sand inside the park, is the beach people mean when they say the coast is beautiful. Go early. The park controls entry.

Towns, loud and quiet

Montañita is the surf town: lessons, a loud season, and a reputation that is accurate. North and south of it, Olón and Ayampe are smaller. Farther north, Canoa and Mompiche draw people who want a longer stay and fewer speakers. Salinas, on the Santa Elena peninsula, is the developed beach resort, closer to Guayaquil.

The rainy months on the coast run roughly from December into April. Midyear is drier and, around Puerto López, it is whale season. Neither is empty.

Eating, briefly

This is the coast of ceviche and encebollado. Eat the lunch. The Galápagos are a flight from Guayaquil if the islands are the second half of the trip. Do not try to do the coast and the islands in a single rushed weekend. The country is small. It is not that small.