My flouncy yoga retreat at Casa del Sol, Montañita, Ecuador
Not gonna lie, my first impression of Montanita was naatttt great. The town is not my vibe. It’s super dirty, dusty, tacky tourist shops everywhere, loud music, trash on the streets and on the beach :( at night it turns into an absolute shitshow with partygoers and club promoters dragging you into the nearest techno club (okay nothing against any of this stuff, a lot of people come here specifically because the partying and clubs are world renowned, and if that’s your thing I am happy for you but also please be safe. I had friends there who got a) roofied b) purse stolen and c) bit by a stray dog so had to get rabies shots).
Montanita town
ANYWAY just keeping it real, so that side of Montanita does exist and be careful amigos. But that being said, I had an absolutely MAGICAL time here and the place I stayed was one of my fave hostels I’ve ever stayed at (and that is a lot).
i was obSESSED with my room, wraparound balcony and could hear the waves from my window, beyond blessed.
I was able to collab with Casa del Sol, a surf/yoga hostel located on the quieter, more chill yet up-and-coming but side of the beach, which has AMAZING restaurants with delish sushi (shankha), pizza (jaja above balsa surf camp), strawberry colada (al carajo), vibes (kaza roots). Casa del Sol is owned by a Canadian, Tamara, and managed by another Canadian, Jackson, the staff is so so amazing and you immediately get a nice community vibe when you walk in. I could tell it was MUCH more my scene, and I spent 1 week here having myself a little chill yoga retreat. it was bliss and I am just feeling really recharged and present from my time here, which was definitely the goal :)
each day I’d wake up, go for a walk on the beach to voicenote my friends, come back and have one of Juanito (the national treasure of Ecuador)’s delicioso breakfasts (probably having Lauti teach me some spanish words while I’m at it), and get to work on my laptop at the many cozy seating options around the terraces nestled in the gardens. Every day I would do yoga, yin with Jackson or vinyasa with guest yoga teacher-turned-my-montanita-bestie Sarah, which is at 10:30am or 5pm every day. I was coming off of 3 weeks in Galapagos (which is many things, but not an ideal setting for digital nomads) so it was just really nice to catch up on work with speedier wifi and just be in an environment when I’m feeling inspired and motivated to write and pursue other projects, I was just in such a good headspace here and so grateful because earlier this year I was definitely struggling with that.
In my digi nomad happy place at Casa del Sol
Every day I would go to a restaurant (okay Shankha) for a yummy meal, the sushi at Shankha was unreal and so was basically all their dishes. It’s cloudy season so we didn’t really get any sunsets but it’s still so lovely to be right by the water and be able to soak in the ocean therapy.
happy hour fresa colada, made with real fruit, muy bueno
One day I went to Isla de la Plata, which is nicknamed “the poor man’s Galapagos” — it’s a chance to see species like blue-footed boobies and frigate birds if Galaps isn’t in the cards. I know this is extremely privileged to say but if there is any way to make Galapagos happen, it is so much better in so many ways, from the conservation practices to the landscapes to the remoteness to the way the animals interact (here they are irritated by humans and in Galapagos they are unphased, living harmoniously). Don’t forget I am hosting another #Galapalust tour in 2022 so come and join me to see the real thing! <3
however, it was still nice to be out in nature and spend time with my blue footed friends, andddd there was some magic happened that made it so worth it… even though everyone said whale season was over, you better believe I brought my wildlife horseshoe so we had an incredible humpback sighting on the boat ride to Isla, a gigantic mama and her playful baby jumping right beside our boat, so close we could feel the spray. I’ve never had a whale encounter like that and it was truly AMAZING!!
Hmmm what else? I treated myself to some shopping at Trapos and custom bikinis at Gitana, went out to poco loco (techno/reggaeton) and caña grill (live band/sand floor). oh I had the BEST $3 delivery pizza from Ezzios!!! To get to Montanita I flew into Guayaquil, walked 15 mins to Libertad Peninsula bus station, took the 3-hour, $6.90 bus ride to Montanita (this runs both ways all day). To get to Isla we took a local bus ($2.50, very crammed and smelly, I was given shotgun which was nice except for the bus driver trying to get my number), bus is 1.5 hours and then boat ride to the Isla de la Plata is 1 hour, we booked it through the hostel.
All in all my Montanita experience was just a super nice beach vibe, which is definitely a style of travel I resonate with hard — meeting other cool travellers, chill, yoga, beach walks. Going to miss that place, but now, I’m off to the Amazon!
Let me know if you have any questions or things I can add to this post! Alsooo if you are travelling Ecuador and want to check out my other posts, here they are:
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