Best place to live in Ecuador

Cuenca is a very good place to start.  Small, friendly, safe and very lovely.  Kumbaya is also a good place but more expensive.  Cindy

I would like to hear from anyone living on the coast, Canoa area maybe?

DanteNXS wrote:

Hello,


I am looking for a place to retire that is not in a big city, but not totally isolated either.
A place where the people are friendly, the community is clean, and the crime is low.  I need quality water, food, air, and weather.  I need a place with good internet service, healthcare, and semi-modern affordable accommodations.

Dante

SIZE: Everybody has an opinion on what city is big, to them. Ecuador's two biggest cities, from my point of view, are medium sized cities -- much smaller compared to true megacities like Mexico City, Tokyo,  Shanghai, New York, etc. (well over of 10 million)

Ecuador's 10 biggest (wikipedia)
Guayaquil    2,278,691   
Quito    1,607,734   
Cuenca    329,928   
Santo Domingo    270,875   
Machala    231,260   
Durán    230,839   
Manta    217,553   
Portoviejo    206,682
Loja        170,280
Ambato    165,185   


CLEAN: The wealthier the neighborhood you stay in, the cleaner it is. You get what you pay for here. That's  generally true rule around the globe, isn't it? Not only in Ecuador.  On the other hand, you'll find large parts of Ecuador's population don't have access to biologically safe drinking water and some small towns and outer suburbs still have open sewers. Yet: I find Cuenca's El Centro to be one of the cleanest downtowns I've visited on Earth.

CRIME is part statistic, part personal perception. Statistically, Ecuador has some of the lowest crime rates in South America, comparable to average US cities. But it isn't Disney World. And personally, I feel fairly safe living in Guayaquil's working class neighborhoods. This doesn't mean I walk around flaunting gaudy jewelry. Having said that, I've lived in New Orleans and spent a lot of time in Detroit.

AIR & FOOD. Ecuador has super high quality food, air. Especially food!! So fresh! The air is clean on the breezy coast and in the highlands outside of congested cities.

WATER isn't biologically safe in most of the country, although Cuenca might be an exception.  You'll need to boil or distill, or else buy bottled.

WEATHER, you'll have to find what works for you. Lots to choose from. Some places are mild and cool. Others are warm and breezy. A few are swampy, hot and humid.

INTERNET If you need a place with good internet service, Ecuador is great. I have my own internet  business and meet with clients via video conferencing like Skype. Even when travelling in small coastal towns, my connection was fine 99% of the time. If you live here, bring your own router to get the newest technology at a low price.

HEALTHCARE -- you have public and private options in the major cities. I have first hand experience ranging from a small public clinic in Puerto Lopez (a small town)  to a non-profit clinic in Guayaquil to an 'exclusive' private hospital (Kennedy) in Guayaquil. My experiences were good, but they weren't equal. Puerto Lopez's clinic reminds me of the old tv series MASH. Because  Ecuadorians are very warm and friendly people with big hearts, you'll get great personal attention . However, just expect your health care providers only to  know Spanish! English is a rarity.

ACCOMODATIONS
That is a totally personal decision and like all real estate around the world, price depends on location. If you demand luxury, you'll pay for it.  You can search on websites like OLX and MercadoLibre to get realistic, non-gringo prices. Search for "Propiedades - Inmuebles".
To budget, You might want to search for the range you pay now in rent/mortgage and see pictures of what you'll find.

Be aware that prices are quite negotiable. Be aware that much of the real estate market still is old school and offline. Many people, like my Ecuadorian girlfriend's mom, still rent out their units by word-of-mouth and signs in the windows.

Mountains or Beach?

Visit first and see if it's to your liking as that is the only way to make sure it's a right fit for you. Online research is one thing but then there's reality. Developing a social life is not easy with locals whom are genuinely interested in seeing you beyond a foreigner, and it will take time, effort, and decent command of Spanish to develop such relationships.

The reality is that the overwhelming majority of expats in Ecuador live in a bubble, an expat bubble, and there is nothing wrong with that, but that is the reality as one study conducted in Cuenca indicated as much as 70% of expats (in Cuenca) more or less stick to socializing with other expats. This study (in Spanish) is posted somewhere on this forum.

Good luck.

Hi,

I like your posts.  They seems to very accurate based on what I know and the time  my husband and I have spent in EC.

We have a nice home on a mountain outside of Vicabamba. Great neighbors that have become our family.  We plan to move there permanently in about a year.

My real question is about internet and phone.  My husband may continue to work from our home though his home office is in Overland, Park, Kansas USA.  But in order to do so he must have a high speed internet connection and an international phone plan!  Our friends tell us that Google fiber is coming to Vilca but we may have to get them to bring a cable to our home and our neighbors.  We also need to get a phone line installed.  What do you think about getting Google to our home and a reliable phone line?  Any informaiton or advice?  All is apprecieated!

Thanks,
Robin and Joel

Regardless of the provider a cable connected to your home is necessary for high-speed fiber optic internet service. Apparently CNT provides fiber optic internet service in Vilcabamba, which is great news for you. The only issue may be logistics as you say you live “on a mountain”, so you have to contact CNT directly and they will give you more information about your options.

From personal experience the further away one is away from the distribution hub (or the point where your cable start point is) the more likely problems to occur. My cable was “roto”, twice and the second time they wanted me to pay. I told them that problems within my home I will take responsibility for but something that is completely out of my hands like the cable tearing in the streets is something I will not pay for.

Now, thankfully there are more subscribers in my neighborhood so they installed a hub closer, and actually a lot of the cable is now underground due to municipality rules. BTW the cost is about $0.50 per meter, so if one lives a kilometer away (1000 meters) it's easy to see why an ISP might want the customer to pay for the new cable.

RobinJoel wrote:

My real question is about internet and phone.  My husband may continue to work from our home though his home office is in Overland, Park, Kansas USA.  But in order to do so he must have a high speed internet connection and an international phone plan!  Our friends tell us that Google fiber...

You might consider asking the IT services at your husband's company what minimum bandwidth they require for him to do his work.  Then you could contact the local ISP to see if they can handle his employer's needs.

I can do my job on a 5 to 10 MBPS connection, which is a pretty cheap connection. It doesn't require fiber, but It's good enough for Skype and standard definition Netflix. Combined with a newer 1200AC router, this is sufficient for me.

But 50 or 100MBPS is so much faster and more fun, with a high-end router you can also stream UltraHigh Def so if the ISP offers it, and cost isn't an issue, why not?

HI,
Thanks for the information.  This is one thing we have to get right! My husband wants to work another year from "home" and we need that high speed internet line and a good phone line.  If we have that we can move sooner!
Thanks,
Robin

Robinjoel,

Use this app by CNT (internet provider for homes in Vilcambaba) to help you know if there is fast internet service for your home.

Step 1: find your home on the map, zoom in as close as possible. If you are currently in Vilcabamba then let the app access your location.

Step 2: Click on the icon resembling a man, and then drag a blue man icon that will appear on the map to where your house is located. Then a list of services that are available will display for you. For fast internet service you should see a lightening symbol.

If there is no service for your home then try the nearest street as they can run a cable from that point.

If there is no service from that point then don't despair as the Fiber optic internet network is increasing by the day.

Dante, I am a realist. If I take into account ALL your desired qualifications, I would have to say no place in Ecuador meets your criteria, unless you are comfortable with cities of approximately 2 million people, as not being "too big". Then Quito and Guayaquil do meet your criteria. To lesser extent, Cuenca in the Sierras and Manta, as well as Salinas on the coast meet most of your criteria. As someone that literally had a 1:1 personal fiber optic line run from the main internet access point to my then home, I know about the fast internet service that can be had in Ecuador. At least LEGAL internet service. It worked perfect. No different than even the USA ... but the cost!!!! Insane!!!!  Both pricing and service have gotten a LITTLE better ... but only Quito and Guayaquil offer CONSISTENT high-speed Internet service options, at somewhat reasonable costs.

Also, what one person defines as lots of local activities, to another person could mean chaos or sheer boredom. If you want a BROAD cross-section of entertainment, dining and culture, only Quito and Guayaquil will do. Cuenca can make a reasonable claim for "Third City", with Manta in 4th. Rounding up the top spots you might consider Loja or Salinas ... but sharp drop-off from even 3 and 4, let alone 1 and 2.

Ecuador may be small, but the regional nuances are amazingly distinct and contrasting. You need to pare down your target location, or you could easily find yourself traversing the country, in search of "ideal".

By way of full disclosure, I am a real estate investment consultant, active in the Ecuadorian coastal markets and the greater Quito metro area.