Five Manabi beaches that are among the favorites of tourism seekers

Portoviejo

The province of Manabí has ​​more than 300 kilometers of beach from the resort of Ayampe, in Puerto López, to Cojimíes, in the canton of Pedernales.

Every year, travelers go to these spas to enjoy their warm waters and also their delicious cuisine. But some spas have more preference for travelers.

The Friars, Santa Marianita and Bat appear in the top of the favorites in travel portals. But also in tourism agencies and operators, others such as Crucita, Canoa and Pedernales are mentioned, which have a captive public that moves during holiday seasons.

The attractions of the aforementioned spas range from gastronomy to the possibility of practicing extreme sports.

This is a top of the favorite Manabi beaches of travelers and that for this approaching carnival holiday (February 28 to March 1) they can be an option to visit.

The Friars, Puerto Lopez

This spa, located south of Manabí, is part of the Machalilla National Park. It is considered by many to be the best natural beach in continental Ecuador, as it is a bay that makes it a very quiet resort for family enjoyment.

They attract its white sand, its cleanliness, and it is far from noise, since it is located 4 kilometers from the Machalilla-Puerto López road. Currently and due to the restrictions by COVID-19, access to this beach is given from Tuesday to Sunday from 09:00 to 15:00, and it is free. It has a capacity of approximately 300 people, according to information from the communication area of ​​the Ministry of the Environment.

It cannot be accessed with food or drinks, and at the entrance there are places to leave vehicles in an area where they also sell handicrafts. This beach is located about 10 minutes from the center of the Puerto López canton, where you can stay, since Los Frailes is not an area for camping or making bonfires, just enjoy the sea and the magical landscapes it has.

It can be reached through several interprovincial transport cooperatives that leave from Guayaquil and Quito to Puerto López. From the center of Puerto López to Los Frailes you can rent a taxi (average 5 dollars).

The Bat, Blanket

It is probably the best known and most visited beach in Manta, and the gateway to twelve other resorts that this coastal canton has, where its wide extension of kilometers of beach and accessibility to four and five star hotels stand out.

In the surroundings of this beach, new expanding real estate projects, shopping centers and national and international food sales areas are being developed.

Manta is the city in Manabí with the largest number of rooms available for rest, about 8,000. And this beach is in a canton where it can be accessed both by land (more than 40 passenger transport cooperatives leave and arrive at the land terminal of this city) and by air, since five weekly flights arrive from Quito to Manta.

The resort is one of the few in Ecuador that has rescuers in the beach area, as well as a scenic boardwalk with more than 20 stores, where you can eat the most exquisite seafood dishes.

A few kilometers from El Murciélago beach there are other spas in the rural area: Santa Marianita, where skitesurfing, or the San Lorenzo beach, called the sea turtle sanctuary. Also on the route from El Murciélago to these beaches is the Pacoche reserve.

Holiday motivates the mobilization of dozens of tourists to spas in the provinces of Esmeraldas and Manabí

Crucita, Portoviejo

The geographical location of Crucita, less than 25 minutes from Portoviejo, makes it a privileged beach, with an extensive area of ​​sea and for the enjoyment of extreme sports such as paragliding.

With about 14 kilometers of beach, this resort is attached to other towns belonging to this rural parish of Portoviejo, such as Las Gilces, an area where the estuary of the river that bears the name of the Manabi capital is located and which is also navigable for excursions. in a group.

The communities of the Crucita parish offer the possibility of mixing agricultural products with seafood, resulting in delicacies such as seafood viche, which even caused Portoviejo to be known as a creative city in gastronomy by UNESCO.

To get to this spa, you must have your own vehicle or alternatively, take the bus from the Crucita cooperative, the only public transport that offers direct service to this beach located west of Portoviejo.

Canoe, Saint Vincent

Canoa is an extreme sports resort and has fifteen cabins located near the beach for the service of tourists, while another ten are inside this resort belonging to the San Vicente canton.

It offers several alternatives for athletes, such as surfing that takes place with the excellent waves that occur in the area and is sought after by surfers from all over the country.

For those seeking extreme adventure, paragliding and hang gliding are a special alternative in Canoa. Mauricio Herrera, owner of the hang-gliding service, stated that a one-hour tourist flight costs 80 dollars and a paraglider costs 50 dollars.

Also in Canoa, Verdetur has managed to bring hundreds of people to meet and enjoy walks through dry and humid forests, tricycle tours, horse and bicycle rides, and tours of the estuary in kayaks and boats for bird watching. as for sport fishing.

Óscar Ortiz, general manager, pointed out that the local tours run from three to eight hours and cost between 20 and 25 dollars per person, depending on the activity they want and the number of passengers that arrive. Includes transportation to the tour areas, guide and snacks; if it is a group of six to eight people, the cost drops to 15 dollars.

The Guayaquil-Canoa route has a distance of 270 kilometers, the bus ticket costs 9 dollars.

flints

Pedernales is on the north coast of Manabí, 368 kilometers from Guayaquil. The ticket costs 12 dollars.

It offers more than three thousand five hundred lodging places, including its Cojimíes parish, as far as it can be reached by a road that borders 17 kilometers in a corridor of palm trees of exuberant beauty and where you can enjoy an impressive marine view in a tourist viewpoint.

The Pedernales canton is considered a paradise in the middle of the world. Its greatest attraction is its beaches, because they are wide, extensive and with ample and thick vegetation to develop adventure tourism and excursions.

It has 54 kilometers of beach, forests, freshwater waterfalls; you can rest and enjoy the sun and the sea breeze.

The hotel line in Cojimíes and Pedernales offers family lodging with rates for all segments.

The gastronomy and typical food of Pedernales is characterized by dishes based mainly on fresh fish and shellfish, said Tito Parrales, who has his Restaurant 7.8 cabin, where there are typical Pedernales dishes. Prices start at $3.