We made our way from Salento, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador which took over 24 hours of traveling by bus and taxi. As soon as we walked across the Colombia/Ecuador border and caught our bus to Quito, I noticed a drastic difference in the landscape. The Andean mountains were just as spectacular as Colombia but more desert like and barren, and even though we spent over 24 hours on buses, the views were beautiful. When we traveled from the city of Baños to Montañita, it was also a long ride (about 11 hours) but the landscapes were totally worth it and the best I’ve seen yet. I thought the countryside of Colombia was something to see but the vast mountains of Ecuador looked like they were draped in velvet and went on for miles. Our bus made intermittent stops en route to our final destination in Montañita to pick up many local Quechua people, natives of the Andean region. Women donned the traditional dress of fedoras decorated with a feather, bright colored cloaks, and knee length skirts, while the men wore patterned ponchos. The bus made stops along the countryside to drop them at their desired stops, usually their homes, as we continued to the coast. Riding up the mountains into the clouds and then back down to where they towered over us was worth the journey. If you’re going to travel through a country, try to do some of it by bus or train if available! It’s obviously a longer, less comfortable ride, but you’ll be able to see what nature has to offer.

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When I first did research on Montañita, a tiny surf town on the coast of Ecuador made popular by surfers and hippies in the 60’s, people mentioned how they ended up staying much longer than planned while others mentioned that it was too much of a party town. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about it because I didn’t want it to be some overrated beach party destination that had lost all its charm to sloppy tourists. 

Montañita was a real life utopia and we ended up getting sucked into the vortex of awesomeness that we read about. We arrived late at night by bus and were worried that there wouldn’t be any restaurants open to get food….the whole town was still up and open on a Tuesday at 1 in the morning so it didn’t take us long to find a spot where a super friendly Venezuelan surfer waited on us and made us feel right at home. Montañita is a very small town and our hostel was located right off the beach, a 7 minute walk to the vibrant “downtown.” The perfect location if you’re not looking to be surrounded by 24 hour parties and where you can fall asleep to the sounds of the waves. The weather was perfect. Mid 70s-80s, and even though it’s winter in this hemisphere we still got lucky with some sunny days, although there were a few gloomy ones upon arrival. 

Since we couldn’t immediately go to the beach, we explored the laid back town with dirt roads and bungalows, surrounded by surf stores, restaurants, fruit stands, and tiendas (mini marts). We also stumbled upon a Panaderia or bakery where we bought a freshly baked, flakey loaf of bread filled with cheese for $1. We frequented our Pan Lady, which we named the woman who owns the bakery, every few days for more bread along with little sweet treats for only $.50. When it was finally sunny and we were able to visit the beach, we took surf lessons from the local surf pros who hung out on the beach stands, and also relaxed taking in the tranquil beach atmosphere. In my opinion, I don’t know what could be better than watching surfers catching waves in the sunset, drinking a 40 oz local beer (the standard size), while someone casually walks by selling happy brownies…..ummmm where has this place been all my life??? By mid first day we were thinking of how we could go into business for ourselves if we wanted to stay here. It had everything we needed, including the best Italian restaurant in all of Ecuador which we ate at way too many times. And what made the town perfect was how friendly and chill everyone was, and I mean everyone. The locals were great from the surfers to the shop owners, and the tourists were just as friendly as well. Everyone seemed to be seeking refuge from their daily lives in Montañita, or in our case, taking a “vacation” from our long term traveling lifestyle. The town was so small that we saw the same people practically everyday, if not more than that, and I didn’t even care. Usually I’m not a fan of small towns, but this place was the exception. We honestly didn’t want to leave Montañita and we kept extending our stay day by day until we realized we had to leave in order to make our Machu Picchu trek that was pre-booked. 

Montañita also has a great social and party vibe to add to the mix. You could go out any night of the week and have a good time whether you want to go hard or just have a few drinks and people watch. The first Friday night our surf teacher from earlier that day took us out in true local style. We hit up Cocktail Alley or The Street of Cocktails first, which is a whole street with little bar stands where you sit down at a plastic table and order a freshly made mojito or daiquiri. The drinks were completely fresh using all local fruits and took about 5-10 minutes to make each drink. Definitely worth the wait. People were hanging out at the bar stands or on the streets listening to the live band or DJ from the surrounding bars. From there, you had a handful of bars and clubs to choose from to dance into the night. For breakfast, or any time of day really, you could visit Breakfast Alley at the opposite end of the road from Cocktail Alley. Same set up of stands that made pancakes, crepes, waffles, eggs, sandwiches, milkshakes, fresh juices and more. My favorite was the Oreo, Nutella, and banana crepes. There were so many ridiculous combos to choose from. Or, if you want to do as the locals do, you can visit the ceviche carts and get a bowl of fresh fish prepared with lime, cilantro, onions, salt, corn and sweet potatoes. Was excellente.

Out of everywhere we have traveled so far, Montañita is the place where we met (and liked) the most people- again, because everyone was super friendly….and probably super “happy.” We had such a great time and were genuinely sad to leave, but had to head to Peru for our next major quest- Machu Picchu! 

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