From Quito you have two options. Take the day bus from Carlos Aray that leaves from the south bus terminal, Quitumbe, at am and arrives at pm theorhetically , or take the night bus from either Carlos Aray or Reina del Camino and arrive sometime around 6am. We chose the day bus and found that while it had a toilet yay! Another caution to the day bus- ours was down to 4 passengers when we reached Manta, about 2 hours ahead of our scheduled arrival in Puerto Lopez.
It slowed us down and we ended up arriving almost an hour later than we had planned. The moto-taxis or Tuk Tuks in Puerto Lopez are great. Make sure to ask ahead of time, and you might be able to negotiate if they quote more than that.
Below are a few of our recommendations. Hosteria Mandala , at the north end of the beach is a beautiful location with ornate carved wood decor, and free breakfast. Your dorm is housed in a small bungalow. It was called Casa Mosaica or Beautiful Place Close to the Beach and was attended by a local man named Geovany who was incredibly helpful and friendly.
We had a lovely porch with a table and chairs to have our morning coffee and breakfast, which I made inside on the cooktop with all of the needed cooking equipment provided. Inside was the kitchen, a queen size bed, a twin bed, and the bathroom complete with hot water.
Los Frailes β Los Frailes is a beautiful beach, which is set apart from Puerto Lopez far enough to seem to always have the sun shining. If you wait for a bus in town you might be waiting for a while. After 35 minutes we finally gave up and took a taxi. Low key amazing things not to miss in Puerto Lopez include the morning fish market and fresh grilled comida in the evenings. Every day the birds and vendors come to come in to see what they can get off of the boats. You can buy camerones or calamari and ask one of the restaurants to cook it up for you on the spot for a small charge.
