Where is the best beach town in Ecuador to hang your hat?

Well, that depends entirely on the lifestyle, climate, and environment you’re after, of course. Because not every beach town is created equally.

That’s especially true in Ecuador, where every journey along the country’s 530–mile long Ruta del Sol coast, from the border with Peru northward to Colombia, takes you through several diverse eco-systems. Also known as the Ruta Spondylus (for the spiny red mollusks found in the sea here), this highway has been improved considerably in recent years as hopes abound that coastal Ecuador will one day become a major tourist attraction.

 

You can get to to the beaches in a 30 minutes flight from Quito, with very good prices or by bus the closest beach by bus is four hours from Quito for around $10 usd