www.ecuadors.org

[Carlyle]

Any suggestions for a nice, relaxing place to spend a week near the ocean in Ecuador? I have heard that Puerto Lopez and Canoa are both quite nice, but see quite a few visitors. What about other towns near these locations? I´m in need of some serious down time on the beach. Cheers.

[Abhijit]

I lived in Bahia which is across the river from Canoa. I now live in Quito and love to take trips to the coast as often as possible.
Here is my opinion of several beaches I am familiar with:

Canoa is a wonderful beach for surfing, swimming, paragliding, and some "beach-hangout" time. At night the clubs start bumping reggaeton and most people just hang out along the street. I have been in Canoa several times when the music goes until early morning...so find a place to stay far away from the main strip. Canoa has amazing happy hours at all the restaurants.

Ayampe (close to Montanita) is by far the most tranquilo beach I have been to in Ecuador. There are a handful of places to stay and nothing to do but relax. The beach is really nice and when I was there I only saw half a dozen other people on the beach (I did not see any other tourists). You can swim, collect beautiful rocks from the beach, and hike. I highly recommend staying at Finca Ayampe at the end of the road; they have amazing food and the owners and staff are very friendly (Aldo and Santiago). Montanita is a short bus ride away. When I went I stayed a few night in both places.

Chao