Montecristi & Rain Forest Tour: Panama Hats & Monkeys

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/45

Duration5h–6h

GroupUp to 50

LanguagesEN · DE +2

PickupAt your hotel

Watch artisans weave Panama hats from palms and spot howler monkeys in the wild

This five to six hour tour from Manta covers Montecristi, Ciudad Alfaro, and Pacoche protected forest with a live guide in English, Spanish, French or German. You visit the fish market and boatyard in Tarqui, watch artisans hand-weave Montecristi hats, explore Ciudad Alfaro museum and the complex honoring ex-president Eloy Alfaro, and trek through forest habitat where howler monkeys, hummingbirds and the Machalilla frog—the world's second smallest—live. The tour includes bottled water, all fees and taxes, and air-conditioned vehicle pickup; a 500-meter forest trail in Pacoche is strenuous and requires running shoes and mosquito repellent.

5h–6h

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Montecristi and Rain Forest

Visit fish market and see seafood
Witness boatyard construction in Tarqui
Hike 500m strenuous trail in Pacoche
Explore downtown Montecristi and artisans
Visit Ciudad Alfaro museum and complex

The Experience

Five to six hours means you start early and finish by early afternoon, which is the window that holds all three ecosystems—market, craft workshop, and forest—without rushing any of them. The day begins at the fish market in Tarqui, where you watch fishermen unload the morning catch and see what the market is selling: sharks, marlin, tuna, and smaller fish still moving in the bins. From there you move to the boatyard, also in Tarqui, where you watch how wooden boats are built by hand. Both stops are short and concrete—you are standing where the work happens, not reading about it.

The Montecristi hats come next. In downtown Montecristi, artisans sit at their looms weaving the fine straw hats that carry the town's name around the world; you watch them work and can buy directly from the workshop. The church of Montecristi stands nearby if you want to step inside. Then Ciudad Alfaro, a complex built to honor ex-president Eloy Alfaro, who fought inequality in 1895 and where Ecuador signed its last constitution in 2008. The museum is there, and the complex itself is the architecture—not a small detour, but a real stop that explains why this town matters to Ecuadorians.

The forest comes last, which is why you need running shoes and mosquito repellent. Pacoche is one of Ecuador's 56 protected areas, and the 500-meter trail there is strenuous—the itinerary flags this plainly. What you see on that trail: howler monkeys in the canopy, hummingbirds, and the Machalilla frog, which at a few millimeters long is the second smallest frog in the world. The ecosystem is dense and alive. This is not a casual walk, but it is the reason the tour exists—to show you how the culture and the nature are the same place.

What’s included

Bottled water.
all entrance fees and taxes.
air-conditioned vehicle with pickup.
live guide in English, Spanish, French or German (French or German available as a separate option with possible extra charges).

Good to know

Moderate physical levelStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditions

Operated by Manta SOS

Is this one for you?Choose this if you want to walk through market, craft workshops, and forest in one morning—the forest section requires sturdy shoes and a steady pace to reach the howler monkeys and native palms up close.