WHAT TO DO IN PUERTO LOPEZ?

Besides from enjoying its beaches, Puerto Lopez offers a diversity of activities in its surroundings. Some are ideal for those who like adventure (long walks), while others are just short tours.

MALECON, PIER AND MAIN BEACH

The Puerto Lopez Pier is a mandatory spot to admire the beach, the fishing boats and take photos. In addition, along the pier you will find several craft stalls and people who sell you tours to visit the nearby islands.

The new Puerto Lopez Malecon “Julio Izurieta” has given a new face to the beach town. There is a wide variety of restaurants on the boardwalk and within the city where you can enjoy the typical food of the Manabi coast, although lunch and à la carte dishes are also offered.

You can tour the city on foot, on horseback or rent a bicycle.

The beautiful beach of Puerto Lopez is clean and it’s waters are calm for bathing. If you do not have a parasol, throughout the beach you will find parasols and rental tents that cost around $5 to $10 a day. There are also bathrooms and dressing rooms that cost $0.25 and $1 respectively.

If you want to enjoy cocktails while sunbathing, you will also find small stalls or “cabañas” that offer alcoholic beverages.

MIRADOR PUERTO LOPEZ

If you travel from south to north, you can see Puerto Lopez beach from a viewpoint high above town.

From this mirador you have a spectacular view of the whole beach and the city.

LOS FRAILES BEACH

Puerto Lopez is an ideal spot for visiting Los Frailes, one of the most beautiful beaches in Ecuador located within the Machalilla National Park.

SALANGO ISLAND

Salango Island is another surface diving and snorkeling site that is part of the Machalilla National Park and which is reached by boat.

WHALE WATCHING

Whale watching is one of the major tourist attractions in Puerto Lopez from June to September, the humpback whale season.

In Puerto Lopez there is algo a thing called Humpback Whale Festival which takes place in June, the date that coincides with the Inti Raymi in the community (a tribute to the summer solstice) and where the “Whale Sponsorship” program takes place.

AGUA BLANCA COMMUNE

Agua Blanca is an archaeological commune located 12 km from Puerto Lopez. It has a museum where you can appreciate the vestiges of the Manteña Culture and the Machalilla Culture that inhabited these lands more than 5000 years ago.

There is a natural sulfur lagoon where you can bathe, and you can even put mud all over your body and then bathe in the lagoon. Both activities are considered medicinal in the area. But I must warn you that the lagoon has a bad smell because it is sulfur.

You can also go hiking, biking or even camping. All with the due care and respect that the commune deserves, as it is a place where ancestral cultures settled.

This area was the settlement of ancestral cultures of the Ecuadorian coast such as the Machalilla, Manteña, Chorrera, Guangala and Bahía cultures.

NIGHT LIFE IN PUERTO LOPEZ

Puerto Lopez’s nightlife is quiet. On the Malecon they usually open small bars near the beach where you can drink and dance.

But if you are one of those who is looking for a very active nightlife like that of Montañita, it may not be the right place. However, Puerto Lopez is almost an hour from Montañita in case you want to get a little getaway.

SNORKELING, DIVING, SUBWING, SURFING, PARAGLIDING

Throughout the beach you will find tour operators that offer you snorkeling or diving tours to Isla de la Plata or Isla Salango. Their prices range from $20 to $50.

You can also venture to do subwing or go kayaking around Islote Sucre or Los Ahorcados. Or you have the option of bodyboarding, sailing and surfing on the beach.

Also, if you are a height lover, you can do paraglaiding.