We have a short visit to Ecuador - just 10 days - in January. We want to spend some time in Quito (and the surrounding area) and Cuenca. Ideally, we would also like to get to a nice beach town or two. Is this possible in 10 days? If so, which beach towns does anyone recommend and what is the best way to travel between these locations? Thanks very much for any advice.
Possible in 10 Days? Quito-Cuenca-Beach Town?
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Hi DC Jay,
You can do it in ten days but it's gonna be alittle costly.
Quito to Cuenca by bus is about 12 hours.
Cuenca to Guayaquil by bus is about 5 hours but you will need to transfer there to get to the coast.
In other words, if you don't fly. You're probably not going to have enough time to hang out in the places you want to see. Catching a plane in Ecuador is really easy. Just show up at the airport, buy your ticket and go. Check out TAME (http://www.tame.com.ec/) and Avianca (http://www.avianca.com) for flight info.
As for beach towns. From Guayaquil the eaisest to get to is Salinas. It's not my favorite beach but it's not terrile either. If you can, try to make it to Montinita you won't regret it. You might also consider going to Puerto Lopez to take a tour of Isla de la Plata. The beach in Puerto Lopez is a bit dirty, but the Isla de la Plata tour is cool ($35-$50 per person) and the snorkeling on the tour is really good.
To get to the cost from Guayaquil you need to go to the bus station. From there you need to take a bus to Salinas/Libertad if your going to Salinas that's easy just take a bus to Salinas (abt 2 hours). Buses leave for Salinas/Libertad about every 40 minutes during the day and I think 1 an hour or so at night depending on the day.
If your going to Montanita it's a touch more complicated. There is a direct bus that goes to Montanita but it only leaves twice a day. If you can't make that bus can get on any bus going to salinas/libertad and then get off in Santa Elena. Just tell the bus driver that you are going to montanita and ask him to drop you off in Santa Elena. From there you will have to walk a few blocks to catch a bus North on Ruta del Sol aka Ruta de los Spondylus. Ask someone on the street and they will direct you. Once you get to the corner/bus stop, there is a blue and white Citup bus heading north to Montanita and beyond about every 1/2 hour.
Good Luck
Greg
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Rent a car - $35 a day. Gas is super cheap - $1.48 gallon. The drive from Quito to Cuenca is beautiful. Both cities are well worth visiting.
Banos is amazing but the place I am thinking about is not a beach town. What an amazing little town!
For beaches - go to Montanita. Stay in surf camps just down the road from the town. The town has a cool fun vibe for night. The beach is a great place to try surfing and enjoy the scenery.
We drove from Quito - Banos - Cuenca- Salinas - Malta - St Clemente back to Quito.
I rode a mountain bike all around Quito, Cuenca and Banos. What an amazing experience. You can see a bunch of street images here -
http://kaartdata.blogspot.com/2012/12/ecuador-points-of-interest-mapping.html
Send me a message if you have any further question. Enjoy!
Oh and if your going to take the bus then yes, I agree with marceladiaz -
http://kaartdata.blogspot.com/2012/12/andes-transit-ecuador.html
Wanderlust: How long was your trip? Do you mean Manta or Malta?
When we were in Ecuador we visited Salinas, is just an 90 minutes drive from Guayaquil, we loved, Guayaquil has a domestic & International airport as well, the place itself is pretty nice we stayed at the Barcelo for a day and enjoy the fresh seafood buffet, had a blast! Pacific ocean beaches are so nice and calm, water always warm is worth to pay a visit, if U can complement the visit with the Guayaquil's historic Park and take the sailboat across the Guayas river, awesome trip, or walk on the malecon there is always a new art exhibition or something going on there.