Fishing/Surfing the coast

I threw surfing in there as an after thought. One goggle and I see surfing there IS outstanding. I shy away from guides but I wonder about board rentals still and friendly breaks.

Montañita
... Right break
Board rentals...

Named  Ciudad de Surf in 2016
Check out the Video

As for fishing, yeah... We got that too

Great video thx. Looks like a good place to start.

Lots of waves up and down the coast, even right there in Manta to the south side of the relatively new atunera has a great left handed wave which works kinda like Pavones in Costa Rica altho not nearly as long now since Correa and Co. built the marina and the atunera.........but at least the wave still works altho somewhat abreviated.........Montanita is probably the most famous and sought after wave on the coast but is very crowded and territorial.......the local vibe in the water is not real good, outside the water its fine........Mompiche has a hot fast left and is in a very scenic and tranquilo laid back village on the bay but be careful of the sharp rocks out there......the young dudes got it wired......watch them for awhile.......plenty of waves in Ecuador of all types, grades and directions.....Canoa was a pristine friendly and fun little tourist/surf town before the big quake, but Im not really sure whats goin on there right now.......hopefully a lot of reconstruction and a bit of tourism.........

I must respectfully disagree with your assessment of Montañita. In fact to use the term territorial regarding this location, a designated Ciudad de Surf is downright defamatory.

Might I ask, sir, are you personally familiar with the communa and if so, when was your last visit here?

As an associada of the communa Montañita, having resided here for over a year and as the founder of the Montañita Animal Rescue Society, I take umbrage with your remarks.

To be considered "territorial" is a grave condemnation and a serious inaccuracy to spread in an area who's economy survives on surfing.

Hello everyone,

Please note that some posts have been put aside. No personal attacks will be tolerated on the forum. So, could we move on and get back to the topic please ?

Thanks in advance,
Bhavna

Well, everyone can just relax. All surf communities around the world have 'locals' who feel territorial and worse yet, express their feelings on new strangers to their breaks. Some more overt than others. At 63 and after a lifetime of surfing I've seen this behaviour countless times. I've even been guilty of it myOWNself when newcomers are being disrespectful. This problem has been exacerbated by the organic growth of the sport and as our global population steadily grows, I don't see our beaches getting any LESS ethnocentric.
All bickering aside, we have decided not to visit Ecuadore this winter. We are retired airline employees now and no longer want to deal with the many downsides in many of places we have long wanted to see. Tourism has forever changed everthing in many of these places. Having watched the gaming industry change my beautiful Gulf Coast has made me much more sympathetic to the feelings of the locals but no more tollerant, I'm affraid. This site and information gleaned from friends who have been long time visitors to Ecuadore have convinced us that the time to travel to that country has long past for people like us. The flood of tourist has soured Ecuador to strangers and that can't be more evident in the discrimination toward non-native speaking visitors, not to mention the two teared system of exchange.
The way we look at it, we only have time and money enough for just a few more big trips before our age takes the fun out of it for us. With that in mind, we have no desire to return to many places or explore new places when going in we know that we will not like what we are sure to encounter there. NOTHING pisses me off more than to reach into my wallet to pay one price for an item only to watch a 'local' in line behind me pay half the price. It's obvious to me now that Ecuador 'tollerates' tourists and expats but they are none to keen on embracing us as anything more than an unavoidable nusance.
I have long wanted to explore Indonesia and a good, multilingual friend with family ties there is expected to have recovered from a recent illness enough to be our guide.
Maybe the future will still have room for us to get down to Ecuador someday but until then it sure looks to us as though we won't be missed by anyone there. To the contrary, it sure seems like this news will come as some relief to the many tourist weary locals who miss the sleepy little country they were born into.
Happy trails to you...,
Chet catman Travirca
Kiln, Ms.

Sorry that you feel that way.  But if you look at it from an Ecuadorian's point of view it can become a bit more understandable:  Rich people come barging in, people who earn 10x, 20x more than they do, they don't try to speak the language, they are abrupt, they don't greet you, they don't respect the customs or know anything about them, their very manner is often disrespectful and rude...and these people stay around only others of their own kind and make many demands for special treatment...

I've found if you make an effort to speak the language, no matter what your skill level, and make an effort to be pleasant, so many problems never arise.  Probably a few times I've paid "gringo" prices but very few since I've spoken Spanish now for almost 60 years.  But even when I have paid "too much" I don't begrudge a few centavos here, a few sucres or now in Ecuador, a few dollars there, that in the grand scheme of things are only petty annoyances.  The experience of Ecuador or any foreign country is not centered about money, at least it shouldn't be.

I don't guess I was clear. I wasn't judging the attitude or situation of the Ecuadorian people. I've felt that same way about my beloved Gulf Coast and the influx of rich gamblers who came in with the cassinos here. Rude, pushy people with no concern for local culture and who's excess cash for investing have driven the prices of everything up, have left an indullable mark on my hometown and it's people.
Change.  It happens everywhere, I reckon.
One of my biggest regrets in life was not learning to speak Spanish as a child, especially when I had so much opportunity. Now, at 63, I have absolutely no intention or desire to learn another language.  I have no room for new knowledge in my head.  I'm finding its hard enough accessing the information that's already in there.
(insert smiley wink face here)
Ecuador's sounds like a lovely place.  I only wish I had found it much sooner in life.  I'm sorry for the people there that the world has become the way it is but it is what it is. As an American, at this point in time, I have to be much more carefull than ever before as to where I travel.  In place of gaining knowledge I'll be happy enough to end up with a few good experiences.  With so little time and money left in life I'm finding I have a much shorter list of experiences I'm willing to tollerate. Ecuador is still on my list, only now, it's much further down.  I hope I still make it there...someday, but for now I'm going to try to spend what little time I have left traveling to places that are more accomidating to Americans...as harder and harder as that seems to get with each passing day. 
Who knows, maybe having a leader who is out burning bridges that haven't even been crossed yet may turn out to be a good thing?
I honestly don't know how that is possible but it doesn't really matter much...as the song goes, "it's all illusion anyway."
So many bridges, so little time.
After 911, I gave my Canadian passport cover to a Canadian friend of mine determine to never attempt hiding my citizenship again. Now, more asshamed of where I'm from than at any point in my life (didn't think it was possible to sink below Nixon) I'm beginning to wonder just how many bridges are left to cross?
Thanks for your feed back though. I appreciate your reply and envy the obvious pride you have for your country.
I wish you and it, all the best, now and in the future.
With that said, the future, I've found, is much easier to deal with if you spend as little time as possible being burried in the past.
Maybe once your people...forget about remembering. Things will improve for them and the way they feel about all the unwanted changes everyone one feels...everywhere.

I appreciate your explanation.  As someone who is also getting up in age (and who is older than you), I also understand much of what you say about new knowledge.

But I always like what Henry Ford said:  "Think you can, think you can't - either way, you're right!"

"My problems may be meaningless, but that doesn't make them go away." Neil Young

Susan_in_Ecuador wrote:

I must respectfully disagree with your assessment of Montañita. In fact to use the term territorial regarding this location, a designated Ciudad de Surf is downright defamatory.

Might I ask, sir, are you personally familiar with the communa and if so, when was your last visit here?

As an associada of the communa Montañita, having resided here for over a year and as the founder of the Montañita Animal Rescue Society, I take umbrage with your remarks.

To be considered "territorial" is a grave condemnation and a serious inaccuracy to spread in an area who's economy survives on surfing.

Susan,

Never having been to Montanita, and hearing mixed reviews, really only based on personal preferences, not really the area.  I would like to contact you in a few months about visitation advice.  I do have two dogs that I would like to bring with me, or I probably won'tncome.  However, I do have some dog "apparel" that my girls no longer wear.  Some still have the tags on it, and it's actually Tommy Bahama that I could donate.  Let me know if interested.  I have given away almost everything else they no longer use, so all I have left.