The complete guide to visiting Canoa, Ecuador

Ecuador is a varied country, with each region having their own climate, temperament and culture. There’s the Amazon, the Andes, the cloud forest and the coast… What more could you expect from one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth?

On my trip to Ecuador, I wanted to get a taste of all the different regions and biomes. That’s why I headed to Canoa, a surf town on its Pacific coast.

In this guide, I’ll tell you more about my time in Canoa. It includes information on what the town is like, as well as practical info such as how to get there and what to do. A word of warning: I didn’t warm to the town. But even so, I hope it helps you to plan your travels!

A quick note on safety in Canoa

Before I begin, it’s important to note that the UK Foreign Office currently advises against all but essential travel to most of the coast of Ecuador. This advisory covers Canoa.

Why? These regions have recently experienced a surge in internal disturbance and armed violence.

I haven’t been to Ecuador since this warning was put in place, so I don’t know about the sentiment on the ground. However, travelling to a region with an advisory in place can invalidate your insurance (in the case of British nationals). If the British government has a warning in place, I don’t doubt other countries will too!

For the time being, I’d consider carefully whether it’s worth visiting Canoa.

An introduction to Canoa

Canoa is a little town in the Manabí region of Ecuador, halfway between Bahia and Pedernales. It has 3000 residents, many of whom are fishermen whose lives revolve around the sea.

It’s an impressive sight to see the fishermen dragging their boats onto the beach and into the sea. There’s no port, so they just head straight into the waves – and, with this being a surf town, this is no small feat!

Canoa was probably the most rustic town I visited in Ecuador, with all but the main road consisting of dirt tracks. However, it still has a strong tourism industry, with a lot of hotels and restaurants catering to domestic and international visitors. It’s certainly a relaxed place to spend a few days.

Why did I add Canoa to my itinerary through Ecuador?

Being such a small town, you might be thinking, why did I add Canoa to my itinerary?

After spending the previous month exploring Bolivia, a landlocked country, I was keen to get to the coast. I was recommended Canoa by several travellers earlier on in my trip as a chiller alternative to Montañita (a party town to the south of Canoa).

I was really excited to see what the town would be like, relax for a few days and maybe even learn how to surf. My sister, Lou, and I booked in for five days at a hostel on the beachfront, ready to explore.

Canoa as a beach destination

The beating heart of Canoa has to be its beach. As well as being the departure point for boats heading out to fish, this is the main attraction for visitors.

The beach, I have to admit, wasn’t quite as nice as I had hoped for. Before reaching Ecuador, I was told its beaches weren’t the best – and, to me, Canoa confirmed this statement.

The beach itself is dominated by the restaurants along the road, which are entirely located on the sand. There’s then a flat stretch of sand with frames set up for hammocks – although, over the five days I spent there, most of the frames were never used.

There’s a thin stretch of sand between the hammocks and high tide mark, which has enough space for a few people and their towels, but not much more. At low tide, it’s a bit more spacious.

A crabby beach

When relaxing on the beach in Canoa, I would head to the stretch of sand by the shoreline, where it felt clean (unlike the space between the restaurants and hammocks). The shore has a lot of shells shells, and I liked watching the waves go in and out. Whenever a wave receded, little organisms would pop their legs out before heading back underneath. I still don’t know what they were, but I loved to watch them.

Canoa’s beach is also home to lots of red crabs, which scuttle along the shore and dig holes to sit in. They were particularly abundant to the north of the main part of town, which made for some interesting strolls.

Time to surf!

The Ecuadorian coast has a reputation for its surfing, and Canoa is no exception. During my visit, the waves seemed to be exactly what you’d look for in a surfing hotspot: they were tall and coherent, with a good range. I have no idea if they would be too small for experienced surfers, but to me, as a beginner, these were perfect.

My biggest complaint was that the sea was an opaque murky brown during my visit. I wasn’t keen on swimming in this water, which just looked like mud.

However, the good thing is that I don’t think it’s this colour all the time – certainly, it isn’t in other photos I’ve seen of Canoa. The first night we arrived, there was intense rainfall. As there’s a river discharging into the sea right next to the town, it seems that the rainfall caused more river water to enter the sea, causing it to get its muddy colour. Over the next few days, the water appeared to gradually become less brown. I have hope for future visitors that the sea will be more appealing!

My honest thoughts on Canoa

At this point along the guide, I thought I’d be honest with you on my thoughts on Canoa.

The truth is, I didn’t like my visit to the town. Some of this is chance – I first arrived in Canoa whilst having a colitis flare up, so I felt ill; and during surfing, I got intense sunburn, so I didn’t leave feeling well either. But other parts of it are to do with the town itself, such as catcalling.

I felt uncomfortable in Canoa. That’s not something I’ve said for most places I’ve visited in South America, because in general I felt welcome and the locals were accepting in most of the towns and cities. Unfortunately, I just didn’t feel secure in the town.

Also, it doesn’t help that the beach is fairly average.

Is this the best town to visit on the Ecuadorian coast?

After my visit, I wondered, is this really the best that the Pacific coast of Ecuador has to offer?

I didn’t visit any other beaches in Ecuador, so I’m not sure if the standards are higher elsewhere. Beaches such as those at Montañita and Puerto Lopez are regularly visited by backpackers, although I’m not sure if that has any correlation to the quality of the beach, but more to the level of amenities and nightlife available.

Unfortunately, the impression I get is that the beaches of Ecuador just aren’t that great. I’m not convinced you’re going to find any beautiful coves or treasured oases – not unless you have insider recommendations. Whilst hidden gems most likely exist, I haven’t found them; and I never heard about any of these whilst in Canoa.

But let’s be real – who actually visits Ecuador for its coast? Not me! If you’re looking for a beach-oriented trip, you may as well visit Colombia or Central America.

If you’re anything like me, you’re in Ecuador for its diversity: for the snow-capped volcanoes in the Andes and endless rainforest in the Amazon, for bird-spotting in the Choco-Andes, or diving in the Galapagos. The Pacific coast is just a bonus.

Catcalling in Canoa

For me and my sister, catcalling was a massive problem in Canoa, and it’s something I wanted to talk about in more detail in this guide.

Catcalling happened everywhere on the beach – and with the tourist side of Canoa being right next to the beach, it basically meant whenever we left the hostel. In particular, guys whistled at us a lot, sometimes with shouting.

Now, I don’t mean to say this would be the experience of everyone who visits Canoa. As two female travellers, when visiting South America, we got used to being catcalled and whistled at. When we talk to girls travelling with another guy, their experiences often seem much more subdued in this regard; the presence of a male – archaic as it may seem to us – does provide some security.

I also know it’s not a Canoa-specific problem, or a South America-specific problem. We also got a lot of catcalling in Bolivia and Colombia, whilst wearing more modest city-style attire. In Canoa, we got whistled at by a group of European tourists as well, so it’s not restricted to locals.

Sceptics of this criticism would say I shouldn’t have walked around in a bikini. Ecuadorian women at the beach were much more modest than international tourists, mostly wearing a full bathing suit, a cover up or clothes in and out of the water; I probably should’ve taken their lead in this regard.

Still, I felt uncomfortable whenever I wore a bikini walking between the hostel and sea – which, considering the hostel was next to the beach, was only a one minute walk. I avoided doing it as much as possible, but this was difficult when we’d met a girl in the hostel who had her shoes stolen from the beach, and I wasn’t convinced our stuff would be safe left alone.

Our worst experience in Canoa

The worst experience we had in Canoa happened to my sister, in a similar vein to catcalling. One evening, she was on the balcony of our hostel, which overlooked the street. She looked out and saw a guy on a bicycle smiling at her. When she looked out again, he was watching her, playing with himself, if you know what I mean…

Anyway, Lou understandably wasn’t impressed. It made her uncomfortable and nervous to go out, especially when we passed him (or moved to avoid passing him) several times in the subsequent days.

The hostel staff told us he was a Jamaican amputee with drug problems – he’s pretty distinctive, so you won’t have a problem spotting him if you visit Canoa. I know there are creeps in every town, but still, as this the creepiest incident we had whilst in Ecuador, it hardly brought me any warm feelings towards Canoa!

Ratings

As part of this blog, I give every place I visit a rating so that I can easily compare destinations and decide whether they’re worth a visit. Those are the scores you see at the top of the page!

This is how Canoa rated:

• Accessibility: 3/5 – Canoa isn’t the easiest town to get to in Ecuador, and most of its activities are beach-related: not exactly ideal if you have accessibility issues.
• Safety: 3/5 – I was really torn on where to place Canoa, as it isn’t a dangerous place. However, I felt unsettled in the town due to the level of catcalling so have marked it down based on my experience.
• Enjoyment: 2/5 – I did not like visiting Canoa at all, although I can see how it might appeal to some (male) visitors. I have gone with my experience in this instance.
• Value: 3/5 – Canoa is probably about average cost for Ecuador, which is a bit higher than its Colombian neighbour.

Overall: 2.75/5

If you’ve already visited, let me know if you agree with these ratings! Just to note, the ratings are my personal opinion based on my visit, so you might have a completely different experience.

How to get to Canoa

Still interested in going to Canoa? Well, first you’ve got to get there.

The only option to get to Canoa via public transport is to get the bus. I despised getting around Ecuador using the bus; it seems intentionally confusing and there are no schedules online, so it’s hard to figure out where you need to go and when.

It’s possible in theory to travel on a direct bus between Quito and Canoa, which departs twice a day and takes 7 to 8 hours. When I was there, this wasn’t running, so I had to travel via Pedernales.

As getting to Canoa isn’t the easiest, I wrote a much longer guide to getting to Canoa, which is a good place to start for planning the logistics.

Where to eat in Canoa

The majority of restaurants and bars in Canoa are along the beachfront. There is a row of shack-like restaurants on the beach which, for me, felt like the best place to eat.

All the shacks pretty much offer the same menu, but prices can vary a fair bit with minimal change in quality. Expect to pay $6 to $10 (£5 to £8) for fish, or higher for seafood.

Our favourite meal, offered by almost all the restaurants, was encocado – fish cooked in coconut milk with lime and herbs. Almost all the meals are served with white rice and patacones, twice-fried plantain. My favourite encocado was from Saboreame #2, which, at $6.50 (£5), was also the cheapest one we ate!

Something to bear in mind is that, when I was visiting Canoa in March, a lot of the restaurants were closed. Canoa felt dead the whole time I was there; on Monday, Saboreame #2 was the only restaurant open on the beach! Fortunately it seemed to get busier and more open towards the weekend.

As with many restaurants in Ecuador, there’s a lot of servers calling you over, which gets pretty tiring.

We got our breakfast every day from a bakery in Canoa, which I can’t find on maps for the life of me! It’s a couple of blocks away from the beach and doesn’t have a formal front, but it sold really good, reasonably priced bread and pastries (think $0.30-0.40 cinnamon rolls).

Where to drink in Canoa

Canoa doesn’t have much nightlife catering to backpackers. However, as with the rest of Ecuador, it has amazing juice!

Lou had a batido de coco (coconut shake) from the juice vendor on the opposite side of the street to the restaurants (you can’t miss it!). It was creamy and icy, with sprinkles on the top – the perfect treat!

On the other side of the road from the beach, the Surf Shak has a first floor balcony with views over the beach and a backpacker atmosphere. The drinks are reasonably priced, with 2 for $5 (£4) cocktails at happy hour and juices for $1.50 (£1.20); the juices here were also pretty good. We didn’t eat here but heard good things.

Where to buy food in Canoa

If you want to cook, be warned: the options for buying groceries in Canoa are limited.

Your best bet is the mini market on the main street, within a block of the bus stop, which sells the most common food items. There are also a couple of other fruit and veg vendors near the main street.

Expect prices to be high – we were surprised how expensive common foods were. If you have a particular item you want to eat, it might be a good idea to bring it with you!

If you’re staying for a longer amount of time, there’s a larger, more affordable supermarket in San Vicente, which you can take a taxi or bus to. It’s also where the ATM is if you need to go there.

What to do in Canoa

Surfing

Canoa is known for surfing, so naturally this has to be my top recommendation for activities in Canoa. Here, you can have decent waves with a long reach, which makes it a good option for both beginners and experienced surfers.

There are a number of surf rentals across town with daily board rental prices varying from $10 to $15 (£8 to £12).  As an amateur, I can’t pretend to understand whether the surf shops are any good or if they offer good value for money. If you know your surf, definitely have an ask around when you arrive to work out what’s best.

Learning to surf

If you want to learn how to surf, Canoa would be a good choice. I didn’t find the waves too strong or choppy, so they seem well-suited to beginners.

For surfing lessons, I have to recommend Kiki, of the Happy Happy Kiki Surf School. After being recommended to him by a couple of backpackers we’d met in Chile, I spent a day surfing with him. He gave me a new perspective of the town and was so kind and helpful, encouraging me when I was ready to quit, and giving me all of his time and energy.

Kiki would push me out and send me off on the waves – so if you’re not sure whether surfing is for you, his lessons are a good taste of the thrill of the surf, without having to worry about technique or ability. Afterwards, he showed me and Lou his workshop and talked us through how surfboards are made. My day of surfing cost $40 (£32); a bargain in my opinion.

The only thing is that Kiki’s English is as good as my Spanish (i.e., fairly rudimentary). We got through by communicating in Spanglish, and it seemed to work well.

If you can’t speak any Spanish or want a more structured lesson, another option is Canoa Surf Academy. This is what my sister chose. Her 2 hour lesson cost $30 (£23).

The lessons at Canoa Surf Academy are more structured than Kiki’s. Lou enjoyed the lesson and learned enough to go out surfing on her own during the remainder of our trip, which I’d say is a good sign!

Other things to do in Canoa

Don’t want to surf? There are a few other things to do:

1. Cycle to San Vicente, the nearest town. Other guests at our hostel reported there was a good brewery en-route, although I couldn’t find it when researching the area.
2. Organise a boat ride with the fishermen. The fishing boats look very interesting, and I have no doubt this would make for a thrilling trip!
3. Walk along the beach. Canoa’s beach is very long and gets much nicer once you’re out of the town. I walked along it in both directions and enjoyed watching the crabs scuttling around, further away from human interference.

Where to stay in Canoa

There are plenty of options for accommodation in Canoa, with hostels and guesthouses in the town, and more luxurious options along the coast.

We stayed at Coco Loco, a hostel next to the beach. It was comfortable, but I wish we had looked into hostels or hotels with a pool; the sea is a bit too rough for casual swimming, which didn’t make it an appealing prospect.

Tips for visiting Canoa

If you’re also thinking of visiting Canoa, here are my top tips:

1. Beware: there are a lot of mosquitos. Bring plenty of bug repellent, and also make sure your accommodation includes a mosquito net!
2. Also beware: the tap water is salty. It isn’t potable even when filtered or boiled, so you’ll need to use bottled water when cooking. On the plus side, it’s easy to tell if your dinner has been cooked in tap water!
3. Walk down the beach away from the town. It’s so much prettier and quieter in either direction, and who knows? You’ll be able to see a lot more crabs!
4. Wear a top and shorts when surfing. I got the worst sunburn I have ever had in my life in Canoa, after not topping up my sun cream whilst surfing. Don’t be like me – cover up in the water!
5. Bring cash. There’s no ATM in the town, so bring some cash in from Quito or your last destination! If you run out of cash, it costs $10 (£8) to take a taxi to the ATM in San Vicente, and there’s also a regular bus that you can take.

Conclusion

I didn’t enjoy my time in Canoa. From the catcalling to the beach being a bit meh, I never warmed up to the town. If I were visiting Ecuador again, it would not be on my itinerary.

However, other backpackers that I met loved their time in Canoa, so don’t let my experience put you off if this town is on your list.

If you decide to visit Canoa, I hope you have a great time. If you have any questions about visiting, stick them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer.