Current Time in Manta, Ecuador

Manta lies on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, in the province of Manabi, where a wide bay curves beneath dry hills covered in scrub and ceibo trees. It is the point where the South American mainland bulges furthest west, and the cool Humboldt current meets warmer tropical water offshore, creating fishing grounds of exceptional richness. The climate is warm and comparatively dry, with a hot rainy season from January to April and a mild, misty period for the rest of the year.

About two hundred and fifty thousand people live in the city. Manta's importance rests on the sea. Its port is one of the busiest tuna fishing and processing centres in the world, with a fleet of hundreds of vessels and canneries that supply markets across Europe and North America. The harbour also handles container traffic, cruise ships and exports of coffee, cacao and the toquilla straw used for hats, and tourism has grown steadily along the coast.

Long before Europeans arrived, this bay was the home of the Manta people, seafarers of the Manteno civilisation whose balsa rafts with cotton sails traded along the Pacific coast as far as Mexico and Peru, carrying the prized spondylus shell used in ritual across the Andes. Their town of Jocay stood where the city is now. The Spanish founded a settlement here in 1535, and it suffered raids by pirates in the following century. Manta grew steadily as a port through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and it was badly damaged by the powerful earthquake of April 2016, after which much of the centre was rebuilt.

The beaches are the main attraction, above all Playa Murcielago with its long promenade of restaurants and bars, and the quieter sands of San Lorenzo and Santa Marianita, the latter known internationally for kitesurfing. The cultural centre and museum near the waterfront displays Manteno ceramics, gold work and the distinctive stone seats carved for chiefs. A short drive inland lies Montecristi, birthplace of the reformer Eloy Alfaro and the true home of the panama hat, which is woven here from toquilla straw so finely that the best examples take months to complete and the craft has been recognised by UNESCO. Further south the forests of Pacoche shelter howler monkeys, and Machalilla National Park offers dramatic beaches, island snorkelling and whale watching, when humpbacks gather offshore between June and September.

Life in Manta revolves around the sea and the market. Ceviche made with fish, shrimp or the local raw peanut sauce, encebollado soup, green plantain and fried fish are eaten daily, and the fish market at dawn is a spectacle of frigatebirds, pelicans and traders. Music, dancing and coastal humour give the city a relaxed, sociable atmosphere.

An international airport lies just outside the city, the coastal highway links it to Guayaquil and Quito, and the port serves cruise passengers. The Eloy Alfaro Lay University of Manabi is the main centre of higher education.

Manta is worth visiting for its beaches, its extraordinary seafood and its living connection to an ancient maritime culture.