Ecuador
Regional risks
This section has safety advice for regions of Ecuador. It only covers regions where FCDO has specific advice.
You should also read FCDO’s overall travel advice and safety and security advice.
Coastal regions
FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the Coastal Region provinces of:
- Esmeraldas
- Manabi
- Santa Elena
- El Oro
- Los Ríos
- Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas
This is due to a high level of gang-related violence linked to the presence of organised crime relating to the production and trafficking of illegal drugs.
Tourists are not usually targeted, however, you could be a victim of violence due to mistaken identity or caught up in a security incident involving others.
Guayas
FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the Coastal Region province of Guayas, except:
- airside transit within Guayaquil Airport in Guayas province, including onward or return travel to the Galapagos Islands
This is due to a high level of gang-related violence linked to the presence of organised crime relating to the production and trafficking of illegal drugs.
There have been several security incidents in and around the city of Guayaquil in Guayas province in 2023, including an increase in murders and small explosions. There have also been fatal armed attacks against the police and prosecutors.
There are Instances of express kidnapping, where individuals have been kidnapped for a short period of time, and are often driven to an ATM to withdraw money and then abandoned.
Tourists are not usually targeted, however, you could be a victim of violence due to mistaken identity or caught up in a security incident involving others.
Within 20km of the Ecuador-Colombia border
FCDO advises against all but essential travel to areas within 20km of the Ecuador-Colombia border, except for these areas in Carchi province:
- El Ángel Ecological Reserve
- Rumichaca border crossing
- the town of Tulcán
- the Pan-American Highway
This is due to the presence of organised crime linked to the production and trafficking of drugs.
The security situation can change quickly in areas outside the 20km border zone, including Esmeraldas, Carchi and Sucumbíos provinces. There are illegal armed groups and criminal gangs in these areas. If you are travelling to these areas, including Cuyabeno, the Napo River, and the El Ángel Ecological Reserve, where there are ecolodges, you should:
- stay alert and take local advice
- pay close attention to warnings issued by the Ecuadorean authorities
- travel during daylight hours with a reputable, official guide
- have an emergency plan and good communication systems in place
- be aware some lodges are far from a major hospital
If you cross the northern border at Tulcán (Rumichaca official land border point), enter and exit the town on the Pan-American Highway.
Lago Agrio (also known as Nueva Loja) the main town in Sucumbíos province, and San Lorenzo, in Esmeraldas province, are both within the 20km border zone where FCDO advises against all but essential travel.