Life on the Coast of Ecuador

Hi, I live in Salinas. Here is part of the latest article on coastal Ecuador I posted in a known international expat website:
One of Ecuador's biggest atractions is the coastal area, still quite virgin in terms of potential for development yet in a steady state of growth. In the area, Salinas is considered the best tourist beach resort in Ecuador and the Pacific coastline by many visitors, the sandy crescent moon bay arcs around the resort with dozens of high rising apartment blocks which overlooks the busy main road fronted by shops, restaurants, bars, discos, an historical marine museum and major hotels. Salinas offers also exciting whale watching tours, deep fishing tours and luxurious yachts racing events.
Salinas, located in Santa Elena province is also the best location on the coast for the highest levels of Infrastructure. There is a Shopping mall with multi cinemas, two big supermarkets and shops to explore as well as sports/Yacht clubs such as Salinas and Puerto Lucia Yatch Clubs as well as a variety of water sports and beach activities. Adjacent to Salinas also lies La Libertad, a more commercial town with a scenic ocean boardwalk and a fishing port also becoming a touristic spot with an expanding hotel market.
Salinas is 2 hs drive from Guayaquil, Ecuador's biggest city where people goes for more selective shopping. In response to the demand, the Salinas airport by the Chocolatera beach is currently under construction, to be open to domestic commercial flights by March 2013 and projected to become an international airport in the long term.
The major season and hotter climates are from December to May maintaining temperatures between 80s - 90s while the quieter season excluding Weekends is from Mid May to Early December with the temperature between the 60s - 70s .The food costs out here are also excellent with weekly costs around $30-50 U.S.D however one may also take advantage of the fresh caught lobsters and crabs sold daily by local fisherman in the town ,for instance one can buy 20 medium sized Lobsters for around $20, and even less for crabs.
The bay has jet skiers, water skiers and variety of yachts anchored in the bay adjacent to the yacht club. The beach is very popular during peak season and most weekends along with golden sandy beaches and warm emerald green waters all year round due to its peninsular position receiving great weather with blue cloudless skies and long hot sunny periods for most of the year. There are several tour operators offering boat excursions and/or tours around the closest fishing villages, such as Ballenita, Ayangue and many other destinations. On the beach, you can also hire Jet Skis for about US $40,00 an hour, or US $20.00 for a 30 minute ride. Water skiing is also available for the same price.
A second major beach in Salinas is Chipipe (adjacent to the yacht club), with great waves for body boarding or Mori Boogie boarding and jet skiing. Chipipe is located in a residential area compared to the main Salinas' beach, which is the commercial side of this small city. Open markets are available in both areas during the evening selling handicrafts, coral jewelry, multi colored dyed clothing art and shell crafts. You can also take a 4 seat passenger bike tour for US $2.00 for an hour around the areas amidst the fresh evening breezes.
Salinas, is also a party town with visitors peaking in high season and holidays while filled with locals and tourist at weekends.
Ecuador not only a great country to live with friendly people, amazing biodiversity and priviledged coastal weather, a virgin paradise already experiencing a surge in new international visitors, many of whom adopt the coast to retire and set up businesses.
Feel free to PM should you have further questions or concerns.

First, I appreciate you taking the time to share your article with me.
I have heard of Salinas a lot. It sounds absolutely amazing and untouched. Hopefully it will continue like so

Yeah, the "untouched age" in this place is fading unfortunately as things are moving forward with the high season, new places opening, lots os expats and Ecuadorians moving from larger cities and other countries to this place (including me!) and the Salinas airport will be bringing more people when it opens in 2013...but hey, still lots of undiscovered Nature along the coast

My wife and I will be visiting Salinas beach area in July.
We know the weather is cooler then.  Is the ocean water still warm enough to swim then?

Hi Genman32, yes the sea water is warm enough to swim in July. Only in september and october the coldest the weather gets is 65F. I admit I am a chicken, 65F is cold for me. I cant tell you how warm the sea water is because I wont hit the beach then but we still see brave people swimming all year long so my guess is that it never realle get that cold at all.

sounds like Salinas is about to experience a boom of visitors. That can be good for the locals, earn extra money catering to tourists, be them foreigners or Ecuadorians...

Love the fact the water is warm for most of the time

Thank you your reply La Libertad.  We were also concerned that during July (Winter) months there is a lot of rainy and cloudy weather. What should we expect?

Flor_123: Yees! the high season is good for business but it gets so packed...btw I love your country! Brazil beaches have nothing to envy Ecuador's though they are more tropical, sticky humid.
Eu morei e ainda trabalhei na costa do Brasil a 12 anos. Adorei as praias da Santa Catarina, a cidade de Blumenau. Onde voce nasceu? como assim nos EUA?

Genman32: July is still warm, sunny and dry. Plenty of beach activity. It only rains on January and sometimes February.

Hi Flor;

My wife and I live on the coast and love it. We chose the coast for the weather and lifestyle. We enjoy all that Ecuador has to offer and living along the northern coast gives us the opportunity to enjoy either the city or the country as we see fit. Good luck on your eventual move and if you find yourself in the Bahia de Caraquez area up to Pedernales, let us know and we will get together. The northern beach areas are very pristine and by most accounts the nicest in Ecuador and not crowded at all..matter of fact you wont see many if any people strolling or hanging out unless its a holiday. We have traveled to many parts of Ecuador from the highlands to the coast and have seen many wonderful spots. Everyone will have their own take on what they like and what is important to them for living in an area. Visiting other areas will give you a taste for what you might like...which is one of the best things about Ecuador...its diversity.

Hello,
I am concerned about the bugs and mosquitoes along the coast of Ecuador.  Since you live there, can you please give us an idea of what to expect.

We have mosquitos during rainy season as all the coastal areas do and we have our fair share of bugs as well...again though mostly in the rainy season. Rainy season lasts from end of December through March normally, although sometimes less and sometimes longer. By rainy season I do not mean monsoon or deluge as some might think but rather...sunny in the morning or afternoon with some rains the opposite times which is why the humidity goes up then. Our temps don't fluctuate much during the year but when you have rain, not a lot of wind and sun it combines to make it more humid. My wife and I are from Florida and we don't find it too humid here for us. The only time we use our AC is during rainy season...the rest of the year only in our bedroom since we like to sleep cool.

My best suggestion is to come for an extended visit, rent a place short term and see if a particular area suits you. I would recommend you come during rainy season to see if the coastal areas work for you since that is our hottest and most humid time of year and if you like it then you will love it the rest of the year. August/September is our coolest time of year just FYI. Hope that helped some.

Hi my wife Alexandra and I have recently moved to Puerto Lopez just about 2 hrs south of Manta. Most of the coast has clouds a good amount of the time due to the marine layer. Summer is about to spring upon us for the next 4 months and it will be sunny. Manta is just outside the Marine Layer is sunny most of the time and hence hotter. My suggestion is to rent a place in Manta for 6 months and see if you like and during that same period of time do some exploring up and down the coast. Thats what we did and ended up here. For more info on whats going on behind the scenes in Puerto Lopez go to www.ecuador-r-us.com Best of Luck ,Steve

flor_123 wrote:

Hello fellow expats!

Hubby and I are excited about the possibility of living in Ecuador.
It is a common theme to hear of life in Cuenca and Quito for most people.
We are looking to move to Puerto de Manta (we have a relative living there). We know that are very few expats living there.
I would love to hear from those who have a life on the coast, please.

Diversity...one of the best things about Ecuador indeed Larry
It is great to see so many happy people living in different places and offering help to newcomers. Ecuador is a lovely country with so much to see...best wishes to all.

If your coming you should check out the northern coast.  Untouched and wild.  Heres my blog giving great info and hilarious adventures.

http://www.atruetalltale.wordpress.com

hello,

Thank you each and everyone for posting and keeping this topic going.

I will be addressing each and everyone individually for a response!

Gracias amigos de Expat

Hello there! I just got back from Manta a week ago and it was fantastic. I took my parents there. They are from Las Vegas up the 15fwy from u . They are formally from SoCal. Mom is retired from cedar Sinai . They are in their 70's. the flight was good via Delta. You arrive Quito at night and wait 5 hours for the 1st am to Manta. Tame has a 6:15 am and Aerogal has a 6:45. Aerogal is a little cheaper and there not as strict on the carry on bag. manta airport is like Burbank Airport circa 1982. Lol not much but very clean and quiet. The cafe my parents enjoyed a nice Danish and coffee while they arrived. Taxi service from airport to any hotel  is $5. Mom thought that was a insult but the driver offered her back the $2 tip. Can u believe it? Honesty in 2012? Anyway the high end apts for for rent Are $600-1100. That's a 3/2. Mom doesnt want to buy so this will work. I did see a nice 3/2 3 miles from the playa for $400 in ciudad del sol. We took a cab all the way from Salinas to Canoa. Salinas is like Santa Monica. A little too busy for them lol. They love Manta (San Clemente) and Canoa to the north (Santa Cruz). The supermarket in Manta is all u need. It's called Supermaxi and its fantastic! Brought back some organic brown sugar for $1. What's expensive there? Toothpaste and toilet paper! Everything else is cheap. We ate well at a restaurant in town for $90 US which included 4 course multiple Martinis and desert for 6 people . The average meal price is $3 . I also brought back 90 days of meds for my wife for $15 with no prescription . They also found a credit union in town that's paying 3% interest on 300! What bank in the US is paying that?. For those who want more info email me @[email protected]. FYI
I saw a lot of expats in Quito connecting to Cuenca . Why do you want to go that far and not be on the coast? Cuenca is cold at night 40's . Manta is 78 days and 68 nights almost every night. Trust me, if you have CHF, COPD, joint pain, don't go to Cuenca.

Hi everyone, getting bad reports of crime in Ecuador, all over,
petty theft, sexual assault, taxi cab theft. atm thefts, with
bank employees helping.  Now I live outside Miami fl., and I
wouldn't walk downtown Miami at nite nor would I flaunt money
jewelry etc.  So I'd like to know Just how bad is Ecuador,
especially, playas, and coastal. thank you for comments/advice
   marty knight

Hi Marty, I llve on the coast. Now its true that big cities here can be dangerous. You know I have travelled here for 3+ years and never had a problem. But then I dont go where I shouldnt and I dont go out drinking and I am not out at 1 or 2 in the morning. I wouldnt do it in Phoenix , Az so why would I do it in a big city in Ecuador. That is not to say there is no crime here. Robbery and break ins do happen. I live on the coast in Puerto Lopez and crime is almost non existant in a town of 20,000 . There are virtually no bars on houses and nobody steals things. I leave my keys in my moto all the time and have even left the keys in the front door of my house and nothing is ever stolen. Maybe its just an exception but its sure nice not having to worry.  In short I guess if you look for problems they will find you. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule. We dont use local help in our home like many gringos do, the envy factor is just too hard to resist for the locals and then months later the gringos wonder what happened.

Read your report. Sounds cute with your parents. But fyi I was getting 11% at the credit union (co-operativo ) in Otavalo up north. I live 2 hours south of Manta in Puerto Lopez. I am glad your parents like it in Manta, so many older people cant handle the change. Best wishes, Steve

stevedude: Hey thank you very much...I'm looking forward to
coming over there. and ur article sure making me feel better.
never been  to phoenix, but Miami is the pits....and I don't
live downtown...I want to look around the coast maybe for
property, but keeping all options open. Renting an apartment
in playas, but have not confirmed resrv. yet. getting scared
about everyone telling me about the crimewave so to speank.

again thanks, and lets keep in [email protected]

        marty knight