Ruta del Sol

Montañita

The inappropriately named Ruta del Sol (route of the sun) must be some sort of gimmick to draw tourists, because in a span of five days the sun appeared for about two hours. The locals say there is more sun during the rainy season, oddly enough, because the rain comes for a few hours and then the clouds part. During the dry season, however, the area is usually covered by the thick blanket of clouds those visiting Pacific Northwest beaches usually face.

Montañita again

The towns here are a bit warmer than those beaches, though nothing too terribly hot. Air conditioning is not usually needed and the humidity, while more than the central highlands, is manageable.

The beaches are nice and soft and generally free of rocks. Some have spawned development, like in the town of Montañita, a small party village, while others like in the larger Puerto Lopez up the road are more geared toward the fishing industry.

The scene every morning on the beach at Puerto Lopez

Fishermen prepare their nets for the next morning in Puerto Lopez

Puerto Lopez, larger than Montañita (15,000 residents vs. 1,000), has geared its tourism more toward whale watching and tours of the Isla de Plata, an island with a large assortment of birds. The beaches in town play host to a number of species as well.

Birds and crabs along the beach at Los Frailes

North of Puerto Lopez is a small park called "Los Frailes," which morphs from a hike through almost deserty conditions to a series of several beautiful, rocky and nearly deserted crab-covered beaches. From these beaches more so than the towns it is possible to see humpback whales and a pair were playing off the first one (playita), jumping and frolicking. Unfortunately, my camera was too slow to catch them midair.

Blow this up and there really is a humpback whale's fin out there, trust me