Montañita

For now, let’s drive away from my home for a while and I’ll take to one of the most famous places in Ecuador. One of the few places on earth where you can go and meet people from, quite literally, everywhere. This place I’m going to tell you about is a backpacker’s dream.

Whether you love to surf, party, relax or simply create new experiences, Montañita is the place for you. If you’ve ever considered travelling to Ecuador and done some research, you’ve probably already read about it. Montañita is a small town in the province of Santa Elena, and it’s two hours away from Guayaquil, home to one of the two major airports in Ecuador.

Montañita has a very special place in my heart, it’s even tattooed on my skin. Many years ago my dad had a hotel there, and so, Montañita became a second home to me. I spent my days trying to learn how to surf, making friends with people from around the world, helping out my dad or simply just relaxing on the beach. Let me tell you, this is a special place with special people. I’m sorry for the over use of the word special, I just don’t really know how else to describe this.

Surfing in Montañita

Montañita main selling point is surfing. It has one of the best waves of the country, and even though I don’t surf and you might not want to trust me on that, it takes little research to find out I’m not lying. It’s home to a lot of international surfing competitions, such as Reef Classic, Reef Classic Conquer, Alas Classic and many others. What some have called “Surf City”, this town lives with an always present surf lifestyle vibe. Even if you don’t actually know how to surf yet, you will find all sorts of teachers that are ready to get you there. You can even get a quality surfboard made just for you in town.

Now, Montañita is not only for surfers. I’ve found out Surfing is more of a lifestyle than it is a sport. If you like hanging out at the beach all day with your friends – or meeting new people -, drinking beer while watching the most breathtaking sunsets, going out at night to eat cheap but great food and partying as much as you can, Montañita is the town for you. The lifestyle is so intoxicating, once you try it you don’t want to give it up. Don’t believe me? Ask the foreigners that are still, to this day, living it up at Montañita.

Partying in Montañita

Now hear me out, I don’t really party that much, don’t get me wrong, one of my favorite things in this world is going dancing and drinking with my friends. Never the less, I don’t do it often, maybe because my friends are scattered around the country and the world and I am shy beyond your imagination or maybe it’s because I’m pretty lazy and most of the time I’m just not up for the effort. The point is, there is no other place in the world you can party as hard as you can in Montañita.

Picture this for a second: you wake up at midday, eat some breakfast and you either grab your surfing board or your beer or tanning lotion and head out to the beach, you spend the day in the sun laughing it up with your new made friends from around the world. The sun starts to set, you sit on the warm sand to soak in the amazingness, you can’t believe this is your life. You might think the day is over, but far from it, it’s barely beginning. You go to your hotel or house and take a shower, you chill for a while, prepping yourself for all that’s waiting for you. You get yourself ready, and head out to town with your friends. You have so many places to choose from, you can either go to Lost Beach to dance electronic music all night long, or you can go to Caña Grill and listen to some live music for a while before they break out some Latin music and pass around some tequila.

This place is IT for partying, if you catch my drift. Whatever you want, you can find here. If you live for parties and new people, this is the place for you. Did I mention it’s cheap as hell there? You can find hostels for under $10, beers are $1 each, and if you like stronger stuff may I suggest Caña Manabita? It’s $6 a bottle and you can’t get more Ecuadorian than that. Be careful though, it is very strong and most foreigners are not used to it. Drink responsibly. Disclaimer: Drink at your own risk.

Relaxing

Surfing and parties are not the only things you can do here, Montañita is ideal if you want to relax as well. It’s true that getting a hotel in town might not be the best idea if this is your goal, but there are many cheap hotels at “La Punta” as well, which is the zone where surfers, well, surf. It’s much more quiet but still has access to the beach. The partying tends to stay in town, so if you keep yourself away from it at night, you have nothing to worry about.

Also, Montañita is a great spot to stay in while exploring the surroundings, thanks to it’s cheap hotels and hostels. Near Montañita you will find less transited beaches like Olon (2min), Ayampe (30min) or Rio Chico (40min), all buses heading north can take you there for under $3. In these beaches you will find a lot less people, so they will be quieter and better suited for families. Also, you will find all sorts of activities, like whale watching in Puerto Lopez (1h), Machalilla Natural Park (1h), Los Frailes hike (1h) and all sorts of tours and activities on the way there. I will get into these activities and beaches in other posts.

Another important thing to note about Montañita is that it’s one of the few towns in Ecuador where food has more of an American vibe. While in other towns you might struggle a bit if you’re a picky eater, in Montañita you can find smoothies, burgers, pizza, waffles, you get the point. Because of how much foreign travelers they have year round, they have evolved to have very neutral food to fit all sorts of palates. Ecuadorian traditional food, while delicious, it’s not for everyone, but more on that later. While we’re talking about food, I have to recommend RastaPan Pizza, their pizza is pretty much the main reason I go to Montañita. I could eat their dough alone forever, and I would be happy. You can find them in Instagram as @rastapan_ec, check them out. It’s a small place, and you might have to eat it standing up and wait a good fifteen minutes for your pizza, but believe me when I say it’s 100% worth it. I would wait in line for a solid hour for this pizza.

I hope you enjoyed reading my post, please contact me with questions, comments or suggestions. Stay safe!