Pacific Coast Day Trips from Guayaquil: Playas Villamil, Puerto El Morro & Salinas

While Guayaquil sits fifty kilometres inland up the tidal estuary of the Río Guayas, the open surf, sea-lion cliffs, and fishing villages of the Pacific Ocean (La Ruta del Spondylus) begin just over an hour west along the modern four-lane Autopista Guayaquil-Salinas (E40). Here is how to plan an easy coastal day trip or weekend extension.

1. General Villamil Playas & Puerto El Morro Dolphins (93 km South-West, 1 Hour 15 Minutes)

• General Villamil Playas & Pre-Columbian Balsa Sailing Rafts: The closest ocean beach to Guayaquil, General Villamil Playas stretches along fourteen kilometres of wide, gently shelving sand backed by seafood cevicherías serving freshly shucked Pacific oysters and clam ceviche. Along the northern beach, look for the colourful cotton sails of traditional balsas manteñas, artisanal fishing rafts lashed together from buoyant balsa logs using techniques passed down directly from the pre-Inca Manteño-Huancavilca navigators who traded thorny oyster shells (Spondylus) along the Pacific coast; the tradition is inscribed as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ecuador.
• Wild Bottle-Nosed Dolphins at Puerto El Morro & Isla de los Pájaros: Twenty minutes east of Playas at the edge of the Gulf of Guayaquil sits the quiet mangrove port of Puerto El Morro. From the municipal pier, community eco-boats glide out into the El Morro Mangrove Wildlife Refuge, where pods of resident coastal bottle-nosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) swim alongside the bow and thousands of magnificent frigatebirds with inflatable scarlet throat pouches nest on Isla Manglecito (Isla de los Pájaros).

2. Salinas, La Chocolatera Sea Lions & Montañita (140 to 180 km West, 2 to 2.5 Hours)

• Salinas & La Chocolatera (Ecuador's Westernmost Mainland Point): Two hours west of Guayaquil's Terminal Terrestre, the crescent bay of Salinas is Ecuador's classic beach resort. At the tip of the peninsula inside the Puntilla de Santa Elena Marine Fauna Production Reserve, wooden clifftop walkways lead to La Chocolatera (where colliding Pacific currents churn the surf over shallow reefs) and La Lobería, where colonies of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) bask on the volcanic rocks. Between June and September, excursion boats depart Salinas pier daily to watch Antarctic humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) breaching in the warm breeding waters.
• North Up the Ruta del Spondylus to Montañita: Forty-five minutes north of Santa Elena along the coastal highway sits the bohemian surf village of Montañita, famed for its consistent right-hand point break and bamboo beachfront cafés.