Pedernales offers several ways to decide whether it is the right destination for your trip: palm-lined beaches with calm waters, Parque Temático Las Mercedes with a wide range of activities, and a competition featuring traditional dishes held at one edition of the Mega Festival del Malecón. This can help you first determine whether the coast, sports and leisure activities, or gastronomy is the deciding factor for you. These highlights characterize the town in different ways and can help guide your search for accommodation in Pedernales.

Beaches and nearby coastal destinations

Among Pedernales’ main attractions are broad, expansive beaches lined with palm trees and featuring calm waters. This gives you a clear coastal theme to consider: the general description is defined by open spaces, palm trees, and calm waters. Individual beaches offer other features, too. Playa La Chorrera near Pedernales is a bay with calm waters. Cojimíes Beach, in turn, is located near the destination and features a 17-kilometer-long palm corridor. When choosing, consider whether you are more drawn to La Chorrera’s bay or Cojimíes’ long palm corridor.

Calm waters are specifically mentioned both for Pedernales’ beaches in general and for La Chorrera; Cojimíes, by contrast, stands out for the length of its palm corridor. You can use this to prioritize your beach interests according to whether the character of the water or a distinctive landscape feature matters more to you.

Leisure at Parque Temático Las Mercedes

Parque Temático Las Mercedes is located in the Las Mercedes neighborhood of Pedernales and covers 5,000 square meters. It promotes leisure and sports activities, as well as civic and artistic activities; extreme sports are also part of the park’s purpose. Its concept therefore goes beyond a single sports theme and offers a different focus from the coast. If you want to include cultural, community, or sports activities in your choice of Pedernales, you can consider the park as a highlight in its own right. If a specific visit is important to your trip, check current access arrangements in advance.

Gastronomy and coastal work

Gastronomy offers another specific point of interest. At one edition of the Mega Festival del Malecón, 18 traditional dishes from tourism businesses competed for the title of best dish. First place went to the Ensumaçao from Restaurante El Piquero. For travelers who take gastronomic themes into account when choosing a destination, this is a specific reference to a dish and one business, rather than just a general mention of local cuisine. Since this was a single edition of the festival, check dates for your travel period if attending a festival is a deciding factor.

There is another perspective on the coast, too: the Salvavidas Pedernales group began its work to prevent incidents and save lives on the beaches of Pedernales in 2014. This work, which began in 2014, adds an organizational and community perspective to the picture of the coast.

Discover more destinations: Montañita, San Vicente, Boca De Briceno, Santa Ana, Honorato Vasquez, Crucita, San Isidro, Jaramijó Canton.

For the broader travel overview: Manabí.