You'll find condos for just $61,000 in Crucita, one of Ecuador's many Pacific beachfront towns.
When Suzan and I bought our condo in the mountain town of Cotacachi, Ecuador, we figured we were done shopping. After all, we had a modern apartment in a thriving little craft town with absolutely perfect weather year round. When we’re there, we spend less than $1,500 per month, and we have all the benefits of an active and growing expat community. Then we met Ron and Terresa Moore.
Not long ago, Ron and Terresa were having a tough time back in the U.S. They’d both lost their jobs and were watching their hefty nest egg evaporate before their eyes, thanks to a global economic downturn.So they pulled up stakes and moved to Ecuador.
Today, Ron and Terresa are our neighbors in Cotacachi. They live in a 1,100-square-foot two-bedroom/two bath condo they bought for less than $50,000. It has a balcony and big windows with views of the majestic Andes. Not only that…they’ve also just taken possession of a new two-bedroom/two-bath beachfront condo in Crucita. Their building is directly in front of the beach, and their balcony looks right out over the community swimming pool to the vast blue Pacific Ocean.
The cost for this condo? Just $61,000.
You read that right. It means Ron and Terresa now have a snug little mountain hideaway and a Pacific beachfront condo, and they paid less than $120,000—for both of them! Though we’d spent time in Crucita back in 2001, after talking with Ron and Terresa, we decided to check things out there again. Thankfully, Crucita hasn’t changed much, We found a few more homes and a couple new highrise buildings on the southernmost end of the long, sandy, crescent bay.
One of these highrises is the eight-story Sol y Mar, where Ron and Terresa bought. Only two condos remain in this building—both on the fourth floor with oceanfront balconies and that same Pacific Ocean view that Ron and Terresa are now enjoying. The asking price for the one-bedroom/two-bath, 860-square-foot unit is $66,275. The larger 1,015-square-foot, two-bedroom/two-bath apartment can be had for $78,277. You can see the ocean from every room of these units. There’s an elevator (with backup generator) and a large community area with a BBQ and swimming pool. HOA fees are expected to be about $25 a month. For more information, email Tom.
If you prefer the idea of building something larger yourself, then right next to Sol y Mar we saw a 6,456-square-foot, walled beachfront lot selling for $50,000. We’re told construction costs are $65 per square foot for high-end finishes. Labor costs, from general construction laborer to housekeepers to cooks, average $20 a day. And ocean-view land is still available high in the hills above the bay for $1 per square meter (about nine cents a square foot). Prices are reasonable on existing homes as well. We saw some on the far northern edge of town. A huge four-bedroom/four-bath house with an expansive terrace on an acre of oceanfront land lists for $175,000. To find out more, email Jorge.
From Crucita, we headed north for 30-minute to the mid-sized city of Bahía de Caraquez. At first glance, Bahía seems unremarkable. The town covers the hillside and sandy peninsula that juts out from the mainland where the Chone River meets the ocean.
It has a storied history as a former shipping and cultural center, but is now so quiet in some neighborhoods that you could safely sit in the middle of the street for 20 minutes without worrying about traffic.
But after a few great meals down along the riverfront and a stroll or two along the town’s beachfront, we began to appreciate Bahía as one of the prettiest, safest, and most progressive cities in Ecuador. In fact, we began to think of Bahía as the perfect place to have our own base from which to explore this entire section of coast, with the shopping and entertainment advantages of a good-sized town and access to miles of stunning and undeveloped Pacific-coast beach and farmland.
A new bridge now connects Bahía to the town of San Vicente, across the broad Chone River. Before it opened, the only way across was by time-consuming ferry. Now it’s a simple matter to drive across to San Vicente and the beaches beyond. Combine this with a new highway from Quito to the market town of Pedernales to the north, and it means that this entire stretch of coast is more accessible than ever…especially for folks from Quito looking for weekend and holiday homes. While it used to take them at least six hours to get here from Ecuador’s bustling capital, they can now do so in half the time.
And it’s rewarding once you get here. We drove along the coastal highway north of Bahía and San Vicente. This stretch of the Manabí province coastline is basically deserted… it looks like the most dramatic beach areas of Costa Rica and Mexico before people started settling and building resorts on them.
We went all the way north to the border between Manabí and Esmeraldas provinces and were struck by how undeveloped this entire coast is. You’ll find small boutique resorts here and there and an occasional residential project, but compared to countries with similar beaches and shoreline, there is nothing much here. It’s safe to say that in 10 years of writing about Latin American real estate, we haven’t seen such low prices or such great values for such attractive properties.
We looked at a lot of raw land priced well. You can buy beachfront in some areas for as little as $2 per square meter and ocean view property up in the hills for as little as 30 cents per square meter, or $3,000 per hectare. (A hectare is almost two-and-a-half acres.) We walked a palm plantation on a flat stretch of coast north of the bustling commercial town of Pedernales—almost eight acres with a gorgeous 300 feet of beachfront—selling for $450,000.
Of course, depending on your needs, this stretch of coast can be a challenge. Living here means being a long way from any kind of supermarket…and a long distance from anything but basic health care. Between Bahía and Pedernales, the only “largish” towns are Canoa and Jama.
Canoa is a party town, thanks to an immense white-sand beach and world-class surf breaks. (It’s on Ecuador’s Pacific surf route, which also includes Montañita to the south and Mompiche to the north.) But the only abundant “services” in Canoa are fairly rustic restaurants, bars, and hotels.
Jama, a small market center for the surrounding countryside, offers a few more services, and it also lends its name to a project with one of the best deals we saw on turnkey houses… a project called Jama Campay. You can get a lot and a four-bedroom/four bath home on the first row of beachfront for an incredible $135,000. One row back, but still with a full ocean view, you’ll pay $115,000 for your home and lot. We’ve never seen a better value for the price on new construction. These homes are large, with huge great rooms and terraces, and the construction quality is very good. For more information about Jama Campay, email here.
Also near Jama is another great value in construction… a residential community called Coco Beach Village, where a growing number of foreign expats are now building beach homes. Lot prices start from $53,870. For more information, go here.
We saw many other properties as we motored up and down the coast between Bahía and Pedernales… more than 15 acres with beachfront for $520,000… 12.5 acres with 300 feet of beachfront at less than 50 cents per square foot… 15 acres with 410 feet of white-sand beachfront at 56 cents a square foot… even 346 acres of farmland with ocean view selling for $1,214 an acre. So, did we follow Ron and Terresa’s example and pick up a piece of Ecuador’s Pacific coast to go with our own Ecuadorian mountain hideaway?
Not yet… because we’re spoiled for choice.
Make no mistake – today much of this coast will appeal to the pioneers… expats who still have some surfer or backpacker in their blood… those who don’t mind being ahead of the curve and away from the population centers.
However, if you want more amenities and don’t want to wait for the path of progress to catch up to you, Bahía de Caraquez is the natural choice for full-time living, With about 25,000 people, it already has grocery stores and medical centers, and we’ve learned that a new shopping mall is in the works there, to include a Super-Maxi, Ecuador’s largest supermarket chain.
Seeing the type of the property deals expats are snapping up around Ecuador’s Pacific coast is one thing, but you’ll need to know how to get there if you’re going to get in on the action. Here’s a quick “how to” guide on organizing your trip.
Getting There
You can fly into Manta Airport using any one of these three domestic carriers: Aerogal (aerogal.com.ec), Tame (tame.com.ec), or Icaro (icaro.com.ec). Domestic flights anywhere in the country average $50 to $100 one-way, although it’s possible to find promotional fares for less.
Getting Around
You are best off having your own transport when visiting this part of the country on the hunt for property, as you may be covering a lot of ground. You can rent a car at the airport or hire a driver. We went with Xavier Gutierrez.
Email: nxcoastal@yahoo.com.
If you’re based in Manta, both Crucita (about 45 minutes by car from Manta) and Bahia de Caraquez. (about 90 minutes from Manta) are great options for a day-trip or scouting expedition.
Where to Stay
In Manta, splurge at the ultra-modern Oro Verde Hotel (from $100) or stay at Hotel Balandra (prices start at $86, including breakfast and taxes).
In Bahia de Caraquez, there is nowhere better than Casa Grande (from $65). And in Canoa, check out Hotel Bambu (from $22).
Canoa and the nearby town of Jama are the center of activity in the area north of Bahia de Caraquez and south of the town of Pedregal. If you go, stay in Canoa at Hotel Bambu (from $22).
Puerto Lopez is a gorgeous crescent-shaped bay south of Manta. We love it there, and it has everything going for it that the coast north of Manta has. It’s what Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, must have looked like about 50 years ago, and it has one of our favorite places to stay on earth… Hosteria Mandala (from $31). Also nice is Maremonti Bed and Breakfast (from $18, breakfast included).
Real Estate Guide
To check out local real estate, contact Mike Sager or Tom Saunders.
Editor’s Note: This article was taken from a past issue of International Living’s monthly magazine. To get full access to all past and future articles and to receive the magazine in the mail or online each month, you can subscribe here.
Read more articles from our sample issue here.
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