- Location: Between Puerto Cayo and Puerto Lopez, near the town of Machalilla from Manta south 100 km.
- Registration: free of charge.
The beach of Los Frailes is located in the nature reserve of Machallina , near Puerto Lopes, a small resort town in the west of Ecuador .
Climate
In the area of Puerto Lopes two climatic periods - summer and winter. In summer it is dry and hot here. The terrain suffers from drought and as a result - around the dry skeletons of trees, through which it is easy to find an approach to the beach. In winter precipitation falls a lot, the temperature is quite tolerant and the entire reserve is covered with a flower carpet. A lot of birds appear, filling the air with their chirping. At this time, walks to the beach are most picturesque.
In the sky and on the branches of the trees you can see a lot of wavy parrots, pelicans, herons, seagulls and various predators.
Infrastructure of the beach
Arriving at Los Frailes, you will not see anything unusual. A set of amenities is minimal:
- small cafe;
- rental of umbrellas;
- shower;
- restroom.
To get to the beach, you need to register. Further, as in a fairy tale, there are two ways - to go on foot to the left and cover with dust before you reach the water. On this route the road takes up to 40 minutes on foot and is rather tedious, besides there are no beautiful species nearby, it will not be possible to make some memorable pictures. The second way is to hire for 1 dollar tuk-tuk directly at the entrance of the reserve and fly with a breeze to the beach. There is also a third option, pedestrian, through numerous observation platforms with amazing views. We will have to wade through the thickets and make for ourselves an amazing discovery - the beaches in Machallina, except for Los Frailes, a few, and each of them is good in its own way:
- A small one with black volcanic sand is quite wild. There are almost no tourists, but the pelicans feel at ease. There is no infrastructure, there are a lot of algae thrown out on the sand, but the water is transparent.
- The beach is medium in size with white sand. Pelicans do not fly here, but large sea turtles have organized an incubator - lay eggs here. To touch them and hatched turtles, if you are lucky enough to see them, is forbidden - a protected area! On the shore there are many different in size coral fragments - you can spend several hours gathering them.
The territory of Los Frailes is very clean and well-groomed. Rest on it can be up to 16 hours, inclusive. Here there is warm water, pure white sand and there are never waves. There are a lot of people, but there is enough space to rest in comfort.
On the beach of all the beaches, without fear of people, runs a lot of crabs. Another entertainment for holidaymakers is to catch them and let them out into the ocean.
How to get here?
In the reserve you can come in several ways: by the bus company CLP to Santa Elena , and from there by a green bus to the side of Puerto Lopez to the beach of Los Frailes (drivers know). Another way to Montana on a direct bus (the same car company CLP), from there the same green bus. The third option, go by direct bus to Hipihapu (bus company Jipijapu) and then ask the driver to land on the beach of Los Frailes.
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