Atacames is a beach town and surround canton located on

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

's Northern Pacific coast. It is located in the province of Esmeraldas, approximately 30 kilometers south west from the capital of that province, which is also called Esmeraldas. In 2022 Atacames town had a population of 18,948, while the canton had 51,204 (in the 2022 census). Atacames has one of the lowest rates of poverty in the province of Esmeraldas (68% in 2005). During

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...

's second conquest in 1526, he landed at Atacames. There he was unable to conquer or invade the land due to the resistance that he found in the local people who were at that time under the Incas.Prescott, W. H., 2011, ''The History of the Conquest of Peru'', Digireads.com Publishing, In the centuries after Spanish conquest, some slave ships came from Africa. In 1553 a ship carrying slaves from Panama to Peru was stranded on Esmeralda, and the 25 slaves on board managed to escape from their captors

In the following years more escaped slaves, along with the descendants of the former slaves, developed some of the lands along the coast. Although there were also other people groups present in Atacames in the 16th century, today Afro-Ecuadorian people, Afro-Ecuadoreans make up a large portion of the population in Atacames.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is Atacames's primary industry. For its population, Atacames has the highest level of hotels in the whole province of Esmeraldas

It is also easily accessible by bus from Santo Domingo, Quito, and Esmeraldas.

Demographics

Ethnic groups in the canton as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010: *

Mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

55.0% * Afro-Ecuadorian 34.2% *

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

7.9% *

Montubio Montubio is the term used to describe the Mestizos in Ecuador, mestizo people of the countryside of coastal Ecuador. The Montubio make up 7.4% of the country's population and were recognized as a distinct ethnicity by the government in the sprin ...

2.1% * Indigenous 0.4% *Other 0.4%

Surfing in Atacames & Ecuador

People travel from all over the world to enjoy Surfing in Ecuador. Playas beach also offers a wonderful climate all year round for

Surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

. It is important to note that Sharks may be a hazard at this break. Salinas, Ecuador, was the site of the ISA World Junior Surfing Games Ecuador in 2009.

Cuisine

The food served in Atacames is typical for much of the coastal regions of Ecuador. Meals will often consist of shrimp, crab, lobster, and fish. Several of the citizens in Atacames fish, and thus much of the food that is served is fresh. In Atacames you can typically find delicious ceviches, encocados and all sorts of seafood and, as is typical in most of Ecuador,

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

is generally served with the meal. A wide variety of fruit juices are also served, though beer (particularly Pilsener), water, and carbonated beverages are also common. Vegetables, which are generally grown in the highlands of Ecuador, are often missing from the regular diet due to their higher price.

Transportation in Atacames

Although only a small town, Atacames has several taxi services. Only one of these actually involves vehicular transport as the rest of the taxi services rely on bikes that are either gas or manually powered.

References

Bibliography

www.inec.gov.ec
(Spanish)

External links

Surfing forecast for Atacames, Ecuador

ecuadors.org Informacion on Atacames, Ecuador

{{Canton seats in Esmeraldas Populated places in Esmeraldas Province Populated coastal places in Ecuador Surfing locations in Ecuador Tourist attractions in Esmeraldas Province