{"id":2953,"date":"2015-11-01T11:45:35","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T11:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/?p=2953"},"modified":"2025-04-28T20:52:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T20:52:51","slug":"living-in-puerto-cayo-ecuador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/living-in-puerto-cayo-ecuador\/","title":{"rendered":"What it’s like to live in Puerto Cayo, Ecuador"},"content":{"rendered":"

Life in Puerto Cayo: Our Slow, Serene Chapter in Ecuador<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve probably never heard of Puerto Cayo<\/strong>.
Don’t worry \u00e2\u20ac\u201d most people haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n

Puerto Cayo is a sleepy fishing village on Ecuador\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Pacific coast, offering little more than long stretches of sandy beach sprinkled with seashells and colorful pebbles.
Yet, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where we chose to settle for the largest chunk of our four-month stay in Ecuador earlier this year.<\/p>\n

We loved our calm beach life.
And even though there was absolutely nothing going on<\/em>, we were sad to leave.
Living in Puerto Cayo was life at its simplest \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and it was wonderful<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it like living in a remote Ecuadorian beach village as a digital nomad?<\/h4>\n

As usual, we rented a furnished house \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Pasatiempo del Sur<\/a>.
This time, it was a beautiful apartment right by the beach, with a pool, a garden, and a killer view of the sun melting into the ocean each evening.<\/p>\n

\"our<\/a>
on the bottom floor, our beautiful apartment\/house with shared pool, garden and pets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A typical day looked something like this:<\/p>\n

WAKE UP SLOW – coffee and breakfast on the terrace<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the things I love \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and miss \u00e2\u20ac\u201d most about tropical life is how naturally early the days start.
Your biorhythm syncs with the sun, which rises and sets at roughly the same time every day. At least on the equator.<\/p>\n

There was no need for an alarm clock.
We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d wake up naturally around 7 AM as the sky brightened, feeling refreshed and energized enough to make fruit salad and coffee for breakfast on the terrace.<\/p>\n

WORK-WORK-WORK<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mornings were the coolest part of the day, so we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d dive straight into work to make the most of the bearable temperatures.<\/p>\n

\"Douglas<\/a>
Douglas ‘slaving away’ in the morning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LUNCH BREAK + SIESTA<\/b><\/p>\n

By 11 AM, the sun would burn so fiercely that it became impossible to function outside.
The entire village would shut down \u00e2\u20ac\u201d not just for lunch, but to escape the full fury of the equatorial sun.<\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d either whip up a simple lunch at home or catch a moto-taxi to one of the handful of beach restaurants (if you could even call them that).
But honestly, only a mad dog would willingly roam Puerto Cayo around noon.<\/p>\n

\"Puerto-Cayo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After lunch, it was siesta time<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201d not necessarily to sleep (though sometimes we did!) but simply to unwind, digest, and hide from the midday heat.<\/p>\n

\"reading<\/a>
reading in the hammock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BACK TO WORK + BEACH BREAK<\/strong><\/p>\n

By 3 PM, it was still steaming hot but slowly becoming tolerable.
We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d squeeze in a few more hours of work indoors.<\/p>\n

Then, around 4 or 5 PM, when the worst of the heat had passed, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d grab our swimsuits and head for the ocean \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a beach entirely to ourselves<\/strong>.
We’d splash in the waves, swim, and paddle around for about 30 minutes before returning to our work.<\/p>\n

\"BEACHTIME\"<\/a>
Splashing around, jumping and screaming like kids. As far as the eye can see, not a soul in sight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Afterward, Douglas would work on his laptop outside, while I tended to the pool, watered the plants, or tackled some housework.<\/p>\n

\"crab<\/a>
while cleaning the pool I would find these crabs, drifted off from the ocean<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

APERO WHILE WATCHING THE SUNSET<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d close our workday with an apero<\/strong> (a pre-dinner drink) while watching the sunset.
With nothing else pulling at our attention, we could simply sit back, sip, and admire nature\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nightly spectacle.<\/p>\n

Whether at home or in a beach shack with a cold beer in hand, we never missed the show!
\nSunsets in Puerto Cayo were pure magic.<\/p>\n

\"SUNSET\"<\/a>
The sunset in Puerto Cayo was different every evening. I was amazed at how beautiful and -in a way- exciting life can be without entertainment, bars, friends… Just peace and quiet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DINNER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some evenings, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d cook at home.
Other times, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d head into town, where the menus offered a simple choice: fish, fish, seafood, or… fish<\/strong>.
Meat was a rare commodity in Puerto Cayo.<\/p>\n

\"Fish,<\/a>
The food shacks on the beach during the day offering fish, fish or fish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On weekends, we took it even easier \u00e2\u20ac\u201d lounging by the pool, taking long barefoot strolls on the beach, playing with the dogs, brunching in neighbouring towns.<\/p>\n

We learned to be content with uneventful weekends, letting the days drift by without hurry.<\/p>\n

\"fancy<\/a>
Fancy and delicious brunch in restaurant ‘El Alebrije’ on a sunday morning. Eggs Benedict and Bloody Mary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"puerto<\/a>
Since our lifestyle doesn’t allow us to have pets, we were thrilled to have our landlord’s dogs running around the grounds. Temporary pets to play with!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
We learned all about the “no-alcohol-on-sundays” policy… On a sunday…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Living in Puerto Cayo was the perfect setting to get work done<\/strong> and save money<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201d as there were no distractions.
\nBut it was also\u00c2\u00a0 a profound lesson in being<\/em>.<\/p>\n

We lived in the moment.
We laughed and played like children.
We created our own joy and excitment.
We let go of worries we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even realize we were carrying.<\/p>\n

In a way, living in Puerto Cayo felt like being on one of those “find yourself” retreats \u00e2\u20ac\u201d but better, because it happened naturally, without trying.<\/p>\n

Another beautiful enrichment in our lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Could you see yourself living in a tiny town where there is nothing to do? Do you think you could find happiness in a place like Puerto Cayo?\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The post “what it’s like to live in Puerto Cayo, Ecuador<\/a>” first appeared on Travel Cake<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Life in Puerto Cayo: Our Slow, Serene Chapter in Ecuador You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve probably never heard of Puerto Cayo.Don’t worry \u00e2\u20ac\u201d most people haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Puerto Cayo is a sleepy fishing village on Ecuador\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Pacific coast, offering little more than long stretches of sandy beach sprinkled with seashells and colorful pebbles.Yet, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where we chose to settle for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[100,75],"tags":[105,12,20,98],"country":[190],"class_list":["post-2953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecuador","category-latin-america","tag-digital-nomads","tag-experiences","tag-off-the-beaten-track","tag-south-america","post_format-post-format-image","country-ecuador"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phrKJj-LD","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.travelcake.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/FEAT1.jpg?fit=1140%2C855&quality=89&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2953"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4615,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953\/revisions\/4615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2953"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=2953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}