Finding the Universe

Travel tales, photography and a dash of humor

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Destinations
    • Europe
    • North America
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Africa and Middle East
    • New Zealand
    • South America
  • Photography
    • Buy Photos
    • Photography Gear Guides
    • Photography Tips
    • Location Guides
  • PHOTO COURSE
  • About Us
    • Hire Us
    • Travel Resources
  • Contact
Home » Destinations » South America » ecuador » Photo Essay of Canoa: The Best Beach Town in Ecuador?
Finding the Universe contains affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Photo Essay of Canoa: The Best Beach Town in Ecuador?

Published: 4th April 2014 by Laurence Norah - Leave a Comment

You know what’s nice? Sunsets. And you know what’s even better than sunsets? Sunsets across the ocean, enjoyed from a fine beach, preferably with a cocktail or chilled beer in hand.

During our time in Ecuador, we were privy to some rather fine sunsets, but the only place where we really got our sunset-with-beach-with-cocktail-in-hand vibe on was the laid back beach town of Canoa, about two thirds of the way up the Ecuadorean coastline.

Frigate birds on beach Canoa people standing clouds

Canoa offered us sunsets the likes of which I’ve not seen since leaving New Zealand. Which is saying something, because the sunsets there were pretty darn spectacular.

It also offered a seemingly endless supply of empty beach to wander along, frigate birds that came so close we could almost touch them, and of course, those aforementioned cocktails. Naturally, we stayed as long as we could. And I took a lot of photos:

Canoa sunset 3_scaled

Which I thought you might like in the form of a photo essay. Enjoy!

Streets of Canoa

When it’s sunset time in Canoa – head to the beach. It’s where the best views are. And the bars.

Girl at sunset reflection Canoa Ecuador 2

For optimal sunset viewing, time your visit for when it’s low tide at sunset. That way you get amazing reflections to go with your sunset.

Frigate birds against clouds edit 3

Ah yeah, Canoa was the best place for Frigate bird viewing we visited after the Galapagos. The local fishermen clean their nets in the mornings, and the frigate birds behave like seagulls, diving and fighting for food. Only, three metre wide seagulls. This has to be seen to be believed.

Frigate birds looking at me 2 scaled

They get really close. Like, really really close. Best not experienced if you have a fear of bird with giant sharp beaks.

Sunset canoa children running silhouette_DxO

Yeah, those reflections were pretty epic.

Canoa cliff reflections ecuador

Ok! That was most of them. Extra photo of beach bar further down. To finish off though, I just want to bring up our accommodation in Canoa, which we found after reading a series of reviews online, and was another one of the many reasons we ended up hanging around in Canoa for as long as possible.

Unlike most, we stayed a few blocks back from the beach, at the Hotel Macondo. This meant it was a bit quieter during the party hours (although quiet is a very relative term in Ecuador!). We enjoyed our stay there especially because of the owner, Felix, who went way out of his way to make sure our stay was awesome, from cooking whatever we wanted for dinner and breakfast (the pancakes! the mango salsa coated swordfish steak!), to regaling us with fascinating stories of his life, and providing insights into the local culture.

It cost us $10 per person per night, which included WiFi and hot water, although prices vary based on the season. The hotel also features a roof terrace with the best view in town. Recommended!

Finally, to address the question raised at the start of the post. I have no idea if Canoa is really the best beach town in Ecuador. For us, it was perfect. If you want something with more of a 24 hour party vibe, you’ll probably want Montanita. If you want perfect surf, well, there are umpteen towns up and down the coast vying for that title.

But if you just want to chill out and enjoy a sunset with a cold beer in hand, on streets that are still made of sand, head to Canoa. It’s perfect for that.

canoa beach bar ecuador

Is Canoa the nicest beach town in Ecuador? Who knows. Check out this photo essay and make your own mind up ;)

Enjoyed this post? Why not share it!

Home » Destinations » South America » ecuador » Photo Essay of Canoa: The Best Beach Town in Ecuador?

Monthly Giveaway

Don't miss out on our exclusive monthly giveaways with lots of fun travel and photography related prizes! Click here to see our current giveaway and enter!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let me know when there's a reply to my comment (just replies to your comment, no other e-mails, we promise!)

Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter where we share our latest travel news and tips. This also makes you eligible to enter our monthly giveaways!

We only ask for your e-mail so we can verify you are human and if requested notify you of a reply. To do this, we store your data as outlined in our privacy policy. Your e-mail will not be published or used for any other reason other than those outlined above.

About Us

Laurence and Jessica Norah

Hi there! We're Laurence and Jessica Norah. We've been running this site since 2010 as full time professional travel bloggers. We visit all the places we write about personally, and all our content is based on our own first hand travel experiences. We also take all the photos you see on our sites. So grab a drink, dive in, and read on! You can also find out more about us here. Comic included.
Photography course
monthly giveaway
Carbon Neutral Policy

SUBSCRIBE BY E-MAIL

Want to keep up to date with us and our latest travel tips? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Being a subscriber also makes you eligible to enter our monthly travel and photography giveaways!

Thank you!

Please check your e-mail to confirm your sign up.

Affiliate Information

This website contains affiliate links to products and services that generate a small income to us if you choose to use them, at no cost to you. We only recommend products and services that we use ourselves, and will always link to relevant information, regardless of whether or not there is an affiliate program. See our Code of Ethics for more information.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Sitemap
  • About Us
  • Work with us
  • Contact us
  • Blog
  • Destinations
  • Travel Resources
  • Photography Tips
  • Monthly Giveaway
  • Web Stories

© Copyright 2010 - 2021 Finding the Universe®· All Rights Reserved ·
Part of Travel Cats Media Ltd. Registered in England and Wales. Company Number: 11524454.