Surfing spots in Ecuador

The Ecuadorian coast has over 30 surf spots. Beachbreaks, pointbreaks or reefbreaks, you name it! You will find them! Here are descriptions and photos of some of the breaks.

NORTH COAST:

Atacames Area:

Atacames: Caribbean style tourist-orientated town w/lively beach bars, a little sketchy. Fun beachbreak outfront on NW swells only.

Estero del Platano: One of the lesser known gems of the North coast worth stopping for a look. Sand/rock break with plenty of morning barrels and power on NW or WSW swell.

Mompiche Area:

Mompiche: Ecuador's best wave. A left pointbreak that breaks over a rock-reef sand bottom with a full barreling first section, top to bottom barrels w/rides up to 400m (like a reverse Las Flores), and is located in one of Ecuador s most beautiful areas, a real paradise in earth. Very hard to get to and it is Ecuador s best kept secret. NW or WSW swells.

Suspiro: Around the corner from Mompiche. Underrated wave similar to Mompiche and mainly surfed for crowd relief due to rocks and more difficult access. Left pointbreak with long rides.

Portete: A powerful righthander on the other side of Suspiro. It will break on any swell direction but blows out easily.

In between:

Punta Ballena: Remote longboard point, sectiony and fickle. Usually best to keep going.

Perdernales: A stretch of beachbreak about midway on the 3hr drive between Mompiche and Canoa. Worth a look. NW or WSW swells only, and morning offshores or slack winds a must.

Canoa Area:

Cabo Pasado: A lefthand reefbreak with clear water barrels on NW or WSW swells. Only accessible by boat from Canoa.

Canoa Beach: Here we found Ecuador's most consistent beachbreaks. With perfect A-frames peaks breaking along a coast that is over 10 Km. long. Here is one of our resting spots in our trips up and down the coast.



CENTRAL COAST:

El Rompecoco: This great beachbreak is located in the heart of a city port called Manta. It is perfect to both sides, very intense and has tubes big enough to put your VW inside of them.



San Mateo: Only 12 Km. south of Manta is a tiny fishing village called San Mateo, here we found Ecuador's longest wave. It is a point break with a very, very long lefthander that starts with a soft take-off, then peels into a bay. When you finish your ride from point A to point B, you sure will have spaghetti legs. Normally you can ride this wave for over 800 m.

Pipelines: A world class beachbreak, again top to bottom barrels in a deserted beach with no other surfers around than the persons that you are traveling with.



Montanita Area:

Punta Mala: Lefthander accessible only by boat.

Rio Chico: Rivermouth with long, consistent uncrowded lefts.

Montanita: Ecuador s surfing mekka. A very good righthander with some heavy barrels at low tides.

SOUTH COAST:

Salinas Peninsula:

La Bahia: Powerful tubing lefthander w/takeoff behind the rocks, fickle.

Chocolatera: A good but fickle righthander.

FAE: A consistent left that needs the perfect swell and wind direction to work.

Playas Area:

Engabao: Very consistent w/ punchy, performance oriented small waves.

El Pelado: Long powerful rights on a mid to low tide.

Playas: Mostly long sectiony rights breaking over sand.