Bahia de Caraquez

Bahia sits on a narrow peninsula where the Chone river meets the Pacific, a town of white apartment blocks along two waterfronts, one facing the ocean and one the estuary. After an earthquake and landslides in the late 1990s it declared itself an eco-city and put in recycling, organic farming and mangrove replanting programmes that were unusual for the country at the time, and the reputation stuck. A long bridge crosses the estuary to San Vicente. Boats run into the mangroves at Isla Corazon, where frigatebirds nest, and inland there are shrimp farms and archaeological sites. It is calm, low-key and popular with retirees rather than backpackers.

What you actually see

• Two waterfronts on one peninsula - ocean on one side, estuary on the other.
• The eco-city programmes - recycling and mangrove replanting since the 1990s.
• The estuary bridge to San Vicente - the long crossing over the Chone.
• Mangrove boat trips - the route out to the frigatebird colony.

When to go

December to April for sun and warmth; the rest of the year is grey. A day or two. It is quiet at any time, which is the appeal.

Honest expectations

The 2016 earthquake hit the town hard and some buildings remain damaged or demolished. The beach is narrow and unremarkable. Nightlife is essentially absent. The estuary water is silty.

Nearby

Isla Corazon is in the estuary; Canoa lies north.