Now that I told you about Montañita, I think it’s fair that I tell you about a place very close by. Now this place deserves a mention on my blog not because it has anything that you can’t find anywhere else, but because it’s a special place to me. When I started this blog it was about introducing my lovely country to the world, and I still want to do that. But I feel like the best way I can express how special this country is, is through the stories I have gathered along my life. If you’re only interested in places to go to, you might not want to read all of this just to hear about one place, so I’ll be sure to put a big heading and make a section for what you need to know only at the bottom, so scroll down and check it out.
I have mentioned my father before, haven’t I? He’s a big part of why I know so many places in the Ecuadorian Coast so well. He had adventure in his soul, he was one of those people who would just grab his shoes and head out to where ever he felt like going. I always admired that about him, I became kind of a pain in the ass person, I need to have everything planned out before I go anywhere, and I won’t go if I don’t have absolutely everything I need, and when I say everything I need, I mean stuff that I would need only in the least likely scenario. I’ve always wanted to throw myself at the world, to go backpacking, travelling on my own, seeing the world without stressing over what I’m going to do the next day. Only special people have that ability, and my dad was one of them. He backpacked through the world without stressing about where he was going to stay or what he was going to eat, he knew he could always find some way to deal with those things. I remember being astonished and so proud to have such a cool dad. I would always find ways to tell my friends my dad was a world traveler, a surfer, a dreamer. That was one of my favorite things about him.
A time after he sold his hotel in Montañita, he moved to Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. Even though Guayaquil is in the Coast, you have to drive a couple of hours to get to the nearest beach, which is Playas, which means beaches. It’s called that way because thanks to many, many rock formations, over time a lot separate but close by beaches were created. Many of them are popular to surf in, so we went there a lot. My dad swore each tiny beach had its own different wave, and he had his favorites to surf in.
Stingrays: Although if you’re going to Playas to surf, be careful of stingrays, because of the bedrock at the bottom of the ocean, they tend to be pretty common. One time my dad got stung, the needle went completely through his ankle, he had a hole in his foot. The good news is, because it went completely through, he didn’t get any venom injected. Still, he had a hole in his ankle. Do you know what he did? He stuck his foot in hot sand. Crazy, huh? “How is that going to help?” you could be asking yourself. Well, hot things help with the pain from the sting, if you don’t feel it’s urgent or bad enough to go to a hospital or doctor, I recommend going home and getting a hot, wet rag on the sting. Now, if you do get stung, the best thing you can do is get to the hospital, most times you have venom inside your foot and that needs to come out for it to properly heal. Most locals also know how to deal with stings in places where stingrays are common, if someone points you in the direction of someone who can help you for free, it’s usually someone that has dealt with a lot of stings, and can help you by taking the venom out, warming the wound up so it hurts less and letting you know if you need a doctor or not. If you are fairly delicate or don’t feel comfortable with this, please trust your instincts and go to a hospital. Don’t worry too much about costs, even though doctors in Ecuador are as qualified as anywhere else in the world – yes, including the US – costs are fairly low here, so you won’t lose much money from a visit to the doctor.
Anyways, let’s go back to the main subject: Playas. Now, you could argue there’s nothing special about Playas, since it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. But for me, it’s a beautiful place. My dad used to wake up in his Guayaquil apartment, and tell us to get ready. He’d only say that “Get ready for the beach”, and we all would just do it. I guess we were used to it by then, his impulsiveness. I do have to say I never saw my father happier than when we knew we were going out to the beach, he didn’t even take his surfboard or nothing, most times he would just walk on the beach and admire the ocean, from time to time he would walk on the rocks to get a little further and see a little more.
He was at peace when he was at the beach, and that’s something I’m glad I got from him. There’s just something about the ocean, a type of power that comes from the grandness, overwhelming yet calming. I don’t know if you have ever experienced it, but it’s something else. In fact, this might sound silly to you – it sounds silly to me too – but after so many years near the ocean, I do believe it has special qualities, I’m never as happy or healthy as when I swim in the ocean every day.
He would take us to Playas for the day, we would spend the day in the beach, mostly walking around. Sometimes he would bring his surfboard and he would try to teach me how to surf, which I always tried, only to fail miserably every time. We would eat “empanadas chilenas”, which means empanadas from Chile. Now I have absolutely no idea if the empanadas really were from Chile or not, I just know they were absolutely amazing and one of my favorite things about going to Playas. If you don’t know what an empanada is, it’s a sort of flour-based-pocket that is filled with pretty much anything. They can be found all around Latin America, but we do have an Ecuadorian version which is called “empanada de verde” which replaces the flour with plantains. Anyways, Playas might not be the first place I recommend for tourists, but it certainly is a special place, filled with good food, nice waves and great people.
What you need to know
Now for the ones who came here looking for information on tourism around Ecuador and don’t really care about my stories, I didn’t forget about you guys.
Playas is, like I said before, the nearest beach to Guayaquil, and if you’re starting your tour of Ecuador from there, it might be a good place to start. Playas, like Montañita, is mainly a surf spot. Like I said, it has many different beaches and therefore, many different types of waves. It has a lot of variety for. I don’t recommend playas for people who want to learn how to surf, like I said, there are a lot of rocks and stingrays and so on, it’s really best for people who are passionate about the sport and more experienced. This is a place for you to find new waves and new experiences.
I don’t recommend staying in Playas a lot of time, although it does have nice and cheap hotels, the main beach is pretty much full most of the time, and for tourists it’s not very interesting and there isn’t much to do. The people who go to Playas are usually Guayaquileños, people from Guayaquil, that have beach houses or such and want to spend a couple of days away from the city. Oh, and surfers. If you’re someone who’s looking for exciting new experiences, there are many other places that are much more worth it.
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