Brushed over by the Pacific winds and enclosed by some of Ecuador’s most celebrated stretches of beach, the city of Manta remains a steadfast chart-topper on the country’s line-up of coastal towns. It’s also got a reputation for hedonistic partying, and plays host to a cascade of bubbling beer bars, casino complexes and ceviche eateries, all of which erupt around the seaside Malecon and the avenue of Flavio Reyes between Friday and Saturday night.

If like so many others, you’ve come here for the beaches, then be sure to ask your Manta tour guide about the shimmering sands of El Murcielago, where the city’s residents and cruise liner tourists weave between cocktail bars, surf shacks and fishing outfitters. Santa Marianita a little further away, promises a day of calm relaxation, some of the best kite surfing and great seafood. Then there are the rolling swells of San Lorenzo, where wave riders come to conquer the Pacific in the gaze of the beach’s towering cliff bluffs, or the sprawling resorts of Barbasquillo, complete with their al fresco pools and swish cocktail bars overlooking the sea.