Ecuador · EC

Reserva Ecológica Manglar Churute

The Churute Mangrove Ecological Reserve is a sprawling protected area on Ecuador's Pacific coast, just south of Guayaquil, where mangrove forests, freshwater lagoons, tropical dry woodland, and misty hillside cloud forest converge within a single landscape. At nearly 50,000 hectares, it is one of the largest marine-coastal reserves in continental Ecuador and the first protected mangrove area on the country's mainland coast. Declared a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 1990 and currently nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status, the reserve shelters over 300 bird species, howler monkeys, American crocodiles, and rare endemic plants found nowhere else on Earth. For visitors, the reserve offers a rare combination of easy access from Guayaquil and genuine wilderness. You can ride a motorized canoe through narrow mangrove canals flanked by serpentine red-mangrove roots, hike a hillside trail from dry scrub into cloud forest while listening to howler monkeys, or walk an easy path past crab burrows and heron nesting sites. With a 4.5-star rating from over 2,000 reviews, it has become one of Ecuador's most beloved day-trip nature destinations — yet it remains wild, community-run, and refreshingly free of tourist crowds.