The Beach

The Largisimo wrote:

If you live in Quito and want a nice beach vacation for several days, what is a good city to do this in if you want easy bus ride, good choice of hotels, nice safe swimmable water, reasonable low cost?

What kind of experience do you prefer -- busy, touristed beach...raucous party town...quiet fishing village?   Who's coming -- you and a friend...a whole family?

If low cost is your benchmark, there's Salinas.  But it can be packed with low-cost-seeking tourists through high season (December-May), and seem deserted and chilly afterwards.

One possibility is to take the early afternoon Reino de Quito bus to Bahía de Caraquez (about seven hours).  Hotel rates and reviews are at booking.com

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

What kind of experience do you prefer -- busy, touristed beach...raucous party town...quiet fishing village?   Who's coming -- you and a friend...a whole family?

I would prefer a large touristy town with a wide variety of lodging options, low history of street crime (muggings) against gringo tourists, and ocean surf that is warm enough to swim in and not too dangerous (riptides), or something that come reasonably close. Something like South Beach in Miami. I would be coming alone but would like to meet new friends.

Sounds like Salinas during high season is your kind of place.

Just be prepared for a large turnout on the beach itself.

cccmedia in Quito