Why this ride
A shore-hugging corridor with open water, cliffs, bays or maritime landscapes. It links naturally to Pacific beaches and Machalilla National Park.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ruta del Spondylus
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 217 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 24
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Editorial context
Coordinates are curated start-via-end route seeds. They are not a surveyed centreline or navigation geometry. Run road snapping, topology checks, access checks and a live-status review before publication.
Access context
Do not auto-publish. Snap to a routable road network, verify current closures, legal motorcycle access, surface, permits, border controls and local safety information.
Seasonal context
Jun-Nov
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Guayaquil
Guayaquil is the biggest city in Ecuador, a hot, noisy and energetic port on the Guayas river, a few degrees south of the equator, and the place where a rider's journey up the coast begins. It is a commercial city, and proud of it. In the nineteenth century, cocoa made fortunes here, and the grand houses and the old customs building along the river recall that boom. The waterfront walk, the Malecón, runs for more than two kilometres along the river with gardens, fountains and a lighthouse, and on a warm evening it is full of families.
Read the complete Guayaquil write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Guayaquil sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Montanita.
2. Montañita
Montañita is the surf village of Ecuador's Pacific coast, a small place of sand streets, bamboo bars and beach shacks where the main sounds are waves and music. It lies on the Ruta del Spondylus, the coastal highway that runs from the south of Ecuador's coast to its northern shores, named for the spiny oyster shell that pre-Columbian peoples valued above gold. Traders carried Spondylus shells from here all the way to the Andes and Mexico, where they were used in rituals and offerings, and the shell has given the road its name.
Read the complete Montanita write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Montañita comes up 65 km in. Next is Puerto Lopez.
3. Puerto López
Puerto López is a fishing town on a wide bay, with a long beach, a pier and brightly painted boats pulled up on the sand, and the sort of slow, cheerful atmosphere that settles over a place whose business is the sea. The town sits on the Ruta del Spondylus and is the main base for visiting the Machalilla National Park, which protects a stretch of dry coastal forest, beaches and the offshore Isla de la Plata. From here, small boats take visitors out to the island, which is sometimes called the poor man's Galápagos for its blue-footed boobies, frigatebirds and nesting albatrosses.
Read the complete Puerto Lopez write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
217 km in you reach Puerto Lopez.
Recorded source links
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Ruta del Spondylus · 354 km
- Ruta del Spondylus: Salinas to Puerto Lopez · 113 km
- Ruta del Spondylus: Salinas to Manta · 211 km