Looking to spend some time in Ecuador’s party capital? This hidden gem on the pacific coast benefits from Ecuador using the US dollar, making prices easy to navigate, and offers both plenty of cheap and more luxury options for all budgets.
In this post, we’ll break down costs for the following main categories:
Lodging | Food | Services | Transportation | Entertainment | Totals
Lodging
An ongoing theme in this article will be that Ecuador is cheap. Everything costs less here, and using US dollars without requiring any exchanges makes life convenient. Most debit and credit cards work in the country, so you should be fine with most major North American or Europen bank cards.
In terms of areas, Montanita is small and thus, there aren’t any “good” or “bad” areas to navigate here.
During my time in Montanita, I paid about $700 per month on lodging through AirBNB – you can see a full breakdown of my lodging situation and costs in my Lodging in Montanita guide.
Because this is a party town that caters to South American tourism, you’ll also find luxury accommodations, with incredible villas going for about $1500-$2000 per month.
Hotels also have a wide range here – with shared dorm hostels offering monthly bed rentals for just a couple hundred dollars, to high end hotel suites for hundreds of dollars a night.
Lodging costs (2021)
Low end: $250
Comfortable: $850
Baller: $1800
Food
Continuing on the theme of affordability, food in Montanita is also on the cheaper side.
Thanks to its nature as a tourist town, Montanita boasts lots of options food wise. There’s also a fair amount of variety, with the occasional Italian and Sushi restaurants.
In most cases, I ate for less than $10. On breakfast specifically, I recommend hitting up Breakfast Alley (Calle de los desayunos) for fresh fruits and great breakfast options, usually coming in sub-$5. I did not cook for myself once in Montanita, as I could just walk to one of dozens of eateries.
Another thing of note is that thanks to it’s location on the coast, Montanita has access to fresh seafood, providing for some great ceviches and fish.
Food costs (2021)
Low end: $250
Comfortable: $400
Baller: $800
Services
Cellphone coverage in Montanita is good, although not great. Your cellphone should have data coverage everywhere, but don’t expect 5/5 signal. Typical South American carriers Claro and Movistar are available here, as well as local carrier Tuenti, which I personally used. A 20GB plan ran me about $25 USD.
Internet can be hit and miss here – I was lucky enough to find an AirBNB with solid fiber connection which gave me 100mbps+ speeds, but keep in mind that this is a beach town far from the centers of Guayaquil and Quito, and not everyone has chosen to upgrade to fiber. As always, I recommend asking for a speedtest from the person you rent from before choosing a unit!
As far as co-working, I did not see any such spaces here besides a Selina hostel.
For health insurance, I use SafetyWing which runs me about $45 per month.
Visa fees: Ecuador has no fees for Canadian or American tourists and offers a 90-day visa on entry.
Monthly service costs
Services: $70
Transportation
Montanita is tiny, and as such, transportation within the city is mostly done by foot.
Where you will need transportation, however, is to and from Montanita. As a small town on the coast, the nearest international airport is Guayaquil, meaning you’ll need to find a way to make the 3 hour trek to the coast to get to Montanita.
There are two ways to transit from Guayaquil to Montanita:
First, you can do so cheaply ($5) by bus. However, those buses make multiple stops and detours, and the 3 hour ride will often turn into a 5 to 6 hour ride.
The second option is to book a taxi or shuttle service. I went with Montanisol and paid about $100 for a one way ride. They picked me up outside my hotel and drove me directly to where I was staying in Montanita. Their staff spoke decent enough English as well, in case your Spanish isn’t so good!
Another potential cost to factor in is excursions outside of town. You can take a 5 minute taxi ride North to Olon, a more laid back and chill coastal town, or book a spot on a boat going to the surrounding islands and watch the protected wild life. You can find tourist offices offering these excursions all around town.
Monthly transportation costs
Transport: $0!
Entertainment
This is the big one – you come to Montanita to party, surf and enjoy yourself, so entertainment might be your biggest cost here.
I’ve covered some of these activities in more details in my Living in Montanita guide, but here is the short version.
Between restaurants, beers on the beach and nightclubs and bars at night, you can easily spend $100-200 a day in Montanita. However, you can also party on the cheap. The beach has activity well into the early hours of the morning, with many bars offering cheap ($2-$5) cocktails and beers, along with loud music and dancing partygoers.
You can also drink your own alcohol on the beach, meaning you could even grab $1 beers at a local shop and get your party on for only a few bucks!
Entertainment costs (2021)
Low end: $150
Comfortable: $450
Baller: $1500
Totals
I will split the typical budget into 3 categories based on lifestyle and spending. I tend to add a little bit of extra just to be safe to these as well.
Low end – hostel living near the main road. Grocery shopping and cooking for yourself. Little to no entertainment spending, doing mostly free activities and little drinking.
Mid end – nice apartment or AirBNB unit near the party area. Eating at local restaurants daily and having drinks every weekend.
High end – baller status. Nice penthouse or high end condo with a view. Eating at the more luxurious restaurants and never cooking. Going out multiple times a week, to nightclubs and bars, overall spending lots of tourism dollars.
Low end
$750
Mid end
$1600
High end
$5000
Overall, Montanita is a great spot if you’re looking to party and live a laid back life of entertainment. You can definitely ball out on a budget here, and I will certainly return at some point.
Keep in mind that your mileage may vary based on other lifestyle factors. Additionally, what I consider low end might be great for someone who likes shopping small local markets, go run by the beach and doesn’t spend, nor wants to spend all their time working.
Recommendations are prices are based on when I was in Montanita, near the end of 2021. Things may have changed since. If any info is incorrect, leave a comment and I’ll amend the article!
Want to find out more about Montanita, Ecuador? Check out our Montanita article collection!
