PLAYAS DE LOS FRAILES, PLAYITA AND TORTUGUITA

The beaches of Machalilla National Park are really beautiful. The most famous is Los Frailes, but next to it, there are also La Tortuga and Playita, unknown to many tourists; one has black sand, the other white sand. At the entrance to the park, you can choose between two routes: one (the shorter one, just follow the tarmac road) leads directly to Los Frailes, while the other is a longer trail, the Bosque del Sol trail, (allow about 1h-1h30 walking time) allows you to discover, in turn, the three superb beaches. In order, the trail leads first to Playita, then to Tortuguita beach, then to a viewpoint overlooking the ocean at 240 m height and finally to Los Frailes.

La Playita is a beautiful silver sand beach, often deserted. You can swim there, but be careful of the sea currents. La Tortuguita is a larger beach of golden sand, sheltered in a bay where you will see thousands of small orange crabs wriggling around. Between November and March, when the turtles are laying eggs, the beach is sometimes closed to the public. If you have a mask and a snorkel, it is there that you can snorkel and see small fish. Finally, the bay of Los Frailes, sheltered under high cliffs, is immense, it offers clear waters and immaculate white sand.