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The living guide to the Peninsula and the Ruta del Spondylus

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Which bus goes to Chanduy? Where does your tap water come from? Where can you watch whales from the shore? Real answers from people who live on Ecuador's sunniest coast. 🌎

Planning a weekend, moving here for good, or just curious — you're in the right place. Free to read, written by locals.

🧭 Where do I start?❓ Quick answers✨ What's new

306local guides

2,145edits and counting

3portals

2languages

$0free to read

📅 Right now on the coast

January — High season: warm sea, sunny days and surf season on the Ruta del Spondylus. Beaches fill up at weekends. Find your beach →

February — Carnival — the biggest party on the coast. Book early, travel early, and bring a water pistol. How Carnival works here →

March — Warm water and quieter beaches after Carnival. Afternoon showers are normal until April. Rainy-season tips →

April — The rains are ending, the hills are green, and on 14 April La Libertad celebrates its canton day. Discover La Libertad →

May — Shoulder season: quiet beaches, lower prices and a sea that is still warm. Thinking of staying? Start here →

June — The humpback whales are back! And on the third Friday, La Libertad's fishing boats carry the Virgin across the bay. Where to see the whales →

July — Whale season in full swing, and highland school holidays bring visitors from Quito. Whale season guide →

August — Peak whale watching, breezy afternoons, and the cloud forest above the Ruta at its greenest. Explore the Ruta →

September — Last chance to see the whales. Quiet, cool and cheap. The best whale viewpoint →

October — The quietest month of the year: empty beaches, low prices — and the perfect time to get your paperwork done. Open the how-to guides →

November — A long weekend on 2–3 November, then on 7 November the province celebrates its birthday. Provincialization Day →

December — Festive season: Salinas celebrates its canton day on 22 December, the surf returns and the beaches fill up for New Year. Salinas' big week →

Where do I start?

Pick your door

Everything on EcuaWiki lives behind one of these three doors.

🌅

The Peninsula

Salinas · La Libertad · Santa Elena

Ecuador's westernmost tip: 8,000-year-old lovers, the first oil well, sea lions, whales and three towns that grew into one.

✅ With a bucket list

Explore the Peninsula →

🏄

Ruta del Spondylus

Ayangue · Montañita · Olón · Ayampe

The coast road north: turquoise bays, surf towns, 5,000-year-old villages and cloud forest — all on one bus line.

🗺️ Stop-by-stop route map

Explore the Ruta →

📋

How-to Guides

Visas · cédulas · banks · housing

The paperwork and systems nobody explains when you arrive — written by people who figured it out the hard way.

🧾 Step by step

Open the guides →

Quick answers

The questions everyone asks

Tap a question — the answer is one click away.

Do I need a visa, and how long can I stay?

How much does rent cost here?

Which bus goes where?

How do I pay water, power and rubbish?

Where is the nearest hospital?

Is it safe? What should I watch out for?

Can I open a bank account?

Which beach is right for me?

Fresh on EcuaWiki

Recently added

Brand-new guides, built from the cantons' own development plans and checked against the news.

New

How the Peninsula Works

Water, sewage, rubbish, power and oil — how it all really works.

New

Santa Elena Province in Numbers

The three cantons side by side: people, land, services.

New

Natural Hazards on the Peninsula

Rain, tsunami zones, landslides and fires — calmly explained.

New

Who runs what

Mayors, councils, parishes, comunas — and who to call for what.

New

Museo Paleontológico Megaterio

Giant ground sloths, in the middle of La Libertad.

New

Peregrinación de la Virgen del Mar

June's sea procession, when the fishing fleet escorts the Virgin.

See every new page →

Curiosity corner

Did you know…?

💞

…two people buried in an embrace 8,000 years ago are still together, in a museum in Santa Elena?

Meet the lovers →

🐚

…the coast road is named after a red shell once offered to the gods to bring the rain?

Read the story →

🧾

…rubbish collection is now paid on the water bill, not the electricity bill?

How the bills work →

Live

The coast, right now

Click an image to open the live feed. More cams in each portal.

Salinas

Ayangue

Montañita · La Punta

✅ Two bucket lists. How many have you done?

Sunset at La Chocolatera, snorkelling in Ayangue, a giant sloth in La Libertad, a humpback from the cliffs… Each portal has a list of ten. You've already ticked the first one.

The Peninsula list →   The Ruta list →

🚑 Emergency? Call 911 · All emergency numbers · Pharmacies on duty

🏗️ This guide grows because of people like you

306 guides so far, all written by people who live here. Know something we don't — a beach, a bus time, a good mechanic? Add it in five minutes. The next person to arrive will thank you.

✍️ Write a missing page📷 Add a photo

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EcuaWiki is founded and maintained by Stephan Kleeblatt. Community-written · free · always growing.