Atacames ranks among one of Ecuador's busiest beach towns. A row of round straw huts stretches along its long but narrow sands. Each has an identical framework with a palm-thatched roof, a circular bar inside, bamboo furniture and open walls to let in the warm night air. Hammocks are strung between palm trees or poles in the sand. The huts belong to municipal authorities who lease them to operators of discos, clubs, bars and restaurants. Most feature loud Latin music and exotic cocktails made from cane liqueur and umpteen different Ecuadorian fruits. Try a Green Lady, a Forbidden Lover or a Coco Loco, the latter being a mixture of coconut water, cane spirit, grenadine and lemon served in a huge coconut shell with a straw. Too many of these will indeed make you loco.

Walking out onto the wide beach on a clear night, big white waves roll up the sand, while behind you the beach bars form a necklace of colored lights. Sexy, swinging salsa mingles with the booming song of the sea. Atacames is a party town, a place to let your hair down. At busy times of year, particularly for the rainy season holidays, the town heaves with revelers going to the early hours. At other times it is still one of the Costa's busier resorts.

|Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton|||