Mindo Ecuador: A complete guide for your visit

Mindo Ecuador is one of my favorite places in the entire country. After living in Ecuador for four years, and exploring many areas, Mindo remains in my top five places to visit. It’s beautiful, easy to access, safe, and has a ton of activities. Truly, it could not get any better! Read on for more information about Mindo Ecuador and how I’d spend a weekend here (after 9 visits!).

 

 

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Where is Mindo?

The town of Mindo is in the cloud forest, approximately 2 hours northwest of the capital city, Quito.

Why should you visit the Mindo cloud forest?

Mindo is a gorgeous and peaceful place to enjoy the nature of the cloud forest. You can see an awe-inspiring variety of birds and butterflies, learn about how chocolate is made, and swim in waterfalls all in the same day. With only about 3,000 residents, Mindo has a charming small town vibe, with dirt roads and plenty of quiet places.

How to get to Mindo, Ecuador

The easiest way to get to Mindo from Quito is via the Flor del Valle bus. You can take a taxi to the Ofelia terminal in the north of Quito (about $5) and from there take the bus directly to Mindo. You can see the time for the schedules for the route to and from Mindo here: Mindo bus schedule.

However, the bus schedule is limited, especially on weekdays. We realized on one last minute weekend trip that we wouldn’t be able to make the last morning route (9 am on a week day) and found a different way to get to Mindo. The alternative is to take a bus from the Carcelen terminal to the “Y de Mindo”, and from there a few dollar taxi ride into town. These buses run more regularly and are a great option if the Flor del Valle schedule doesn’t work for you. We simply showed up at the terminal, and got on a bus nearly immediately.

The bus fare is between $3-$4 each way, regardless of which company you travel with.

If you want to take private transit, it’s about $50-$70 to get a taxi to Mindo from Quito. However, the buses are totally comfortable and I wouldn’t bother.

One other note: the Flor del Valle buses are requiring you to submit at minimum a copy of identification for every passenger. We almost missed our chance to take the bus on the return because we didn’t bring our son’s passport (it was with family in Quito). Thankfully I found a photo of it on my phone (tip: on iPhones 13 pro and later, you can search your images for “passport” and it will find any photos containing passports. Super helpful). But be sure you have a copy of your passport for the bus ride!

What is the weather in Mindo, Ecuador?

The weather in Mindo is temperate and warm, and it rains a lot. In the rainy season (November – April), you can expect daily afternoon rain showers. Don’t let that scare you away from visiting, though. You can often get in your day’s activities in the morning and then relax at your hotel or a coffee shop in the afternoon while it rains! It’s pleasant year-round, with temperatures ranging from the mid-60s to the mid-80s all year.

How long to stay in Mindo

If you’re short on time, you will definitely enjoy a weekend trip to Mindo. However, I’d plan for 3-4 days in the Mindo cloudforest for the ideal experience.

Where to stay in Mindo, Ecuador 

There are many great options for hotels in Mindo, and I’ve stayed in several of them. I’d recommend these ones!

• Zafiro Boutique Hotel: it has the most amazing beds. Seriously, I slept so well here. The shower are also glorious. It’s located right by the river in the center of town and I fell asleep to the sound of the water every night. The breakfast each day was fantastic. Could not recommend more. It’s reasonably priced too!
• Coffee Lodge Mindo: We stayed here as a honeymoon treat right after our wedding (gifted to us by my friend!) and loved it. It’s a bit outside of town but not far, and it has a pool. It also has luxurious bathrooms and a great breakfast.
• Biohostal: I’ve stayed here countless times, more than anywhere else in Mindo. It’s a great location, offers good breakfast, comfortable rooms, and budget friendly. They also have some nice hammocks you can enjoy.

Another view of the room at Hotel Zafiro. Could not recommend more!

Getting around in Mindo

You’ll pretty much exclusively be taking taxis to get to different areas (or walking). There are plenty of taxis clustered along the main plaza in town, or you can always ask your hotel staff to help you call one.

 

One tip is to get a local SIM card so you can take some taxi drivers’ phone numbers. Why? You will likely be going up into the Mindo cloudforest for activities and you might not know how long you’ll want to stay. Having the ability to call for a taxi back gives you the most flexibility and you won’t worry about timing.

You can often find SIM cards at small convenience stores. To ask to get credit added, you ask for a “recarga” of a certain amount (like $10) and then you will have minutes and/or data. The main carriers are Movistar and Claro and in Mindo, Claro coverage is better.

In terms of pricing, you can expect the minimum fare to be $1.50 if you need to go somewhere pretty local, up to $10+ for farther trips up the main road into the forest. You should check with your hotel staff as to how much a given trip should cost to ensure you’re getting a fair price.

Activities in Mindo Ecuador

Ziplining in the Mindo cloud forest

Ziplining is a must-do in Mindo, Ecuador! I’ve gone ziplining three times here and would go again. It’s an awesome way to enjoy the cloudforest from above. At Mindo Canopy Adventures there are 10 lines, which takes about two hours to complete, with a bit of walking between the lines. They also have an epic Tarzan swing you can try if you dare! I like this company because they have double lines, so you have a safety line. Cost is $20 per person.

Bird watching in the Mindo cloud forest

There are many different bird watching tours you can take in Mindo, with varying levels of intensity. Around town you can walk up to a tour agency or ask your hotel for a basic birdwatching tour that will leave around 5:30 or so in the morning. The guides will take you up the main (dirt) road into the forest and you will basically walk down the road with them and binoculars. I have done this and the highlight was seeing toucans. The cost was about $16 per person for this tour, which was not a private tour and lasted a couple of hours.

 

There are also far more expensive bird watching tours and experiences you can take, but I haven’t personally done them. Our taxi driver on our most recent trip recommended visiting Paz de las Aves, where you can watch the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock birds chatter and move around in the early morning, but the entrance fee was $20 for no tour, just to enter, and the taxi was $40 round trip so we passed on this. There are guided tours available as well that may be worth considering if you are a bird fan!

Chocolate tour

The Mindo chocolate tour is a fun way to spend an hour. You’ll get to see a cacao tree, view where the cacao beans are dried, learn about cacao cultivation, and taste several types of chocolate at the end. We have done the chocolate tour from El Quetzal and enjoyed our time. Note that cacao is generally produced in warmer climates in Ecuador, and they only have a demo tree or two so you can see what they look like.

As a side note, I highly recommend getting some Pacari chocolate while you are in Ecuador, it is my absolute favorite chocolate in the world.

Coffee tour

You can also take a coffee tour in Mindo. It’s pretty similar to the chocolate tour in terms of set up, with a demo coffee plant, viewing of the beans and how they are processed, and sampling at the end accompanied by a pastry/treat. As a bonus you also get to grind your own coffee which is always fun!

Tubing in Mindo Ecuador

Depending on the water flow, the tubing can last 10-20 minutes. It’s a quick journey in a series of tubes that are tied together with a guide to help you over any bumpy or drier areas and ensure you stay safe! My husband and I enjoyed this one afternoon on a Mindo weekend trip. We did the Mindo River (class I) which is right outside of town.

There’s also a longer option on the Cinto River that is class II or even a class III on the Rio Blanco. Prices range from $6-$35 per person with a four person minimum; however, when my husband and I went it was just us and we paid $20 total. So you can probably do this with a smaller group, but expect to pay more.

Butterfly garden

There’s a beautiful butterfly garden you can visit in Mindo. The garden has over 1,000 butterflies and displays with chrysalises where you can see butterflies in different life phases. It’s $8.50 per adult and open daily, and located just outside of town.

ATV tour

This is one item on this list we haven’t personally done but would like to do! It wasn’t offered when we were living in Ecuador but on our most recent visit there were many ads for it. Be sure to ask the local operators for more information about these tours!

Waterfall hikes through the Mindo cloudforest

There are many options for waterfall hikes in the Mindo area.

The most popular is probably the Sanctuario de las Cascadas, where you can take a yellow cable car across the canyon to hike to a series of waterfalls. They aren’t massive but they are lovely and in a gorgeous area. The terabita (cable car) costs $5 per person for a round trip ticket, and you can expect to hike and swim easily for half a day here.

 

The Nambillo waterfall is in the same area but a bit separate from the 7 waterfalls trail hike in the Sanctuario de las Cascadas. It has a bigger waterfall and even a spot to jump into the falls, 10 meters above the white water below (I did this in my early 20’s, hit the water wrong, and had a very large and painful bruise afterwards on my leg…would not recommend). We also love coming here. Taxis cost about $6 each way to these areas.

 

At Las Montañas, there are private trails down to waterfalls as well. You can hike through the forest, down to the river, and then back up a different way to the gondola to ride back to the property entrance. This is NOT very publicized online and we had a great time here! It cost $5 per person to access the trails and bird watch. The taxi is $10 each way to get here as it’s a bit beyond the other areas (along the same road). You can see more on their TikTok here.

Bird encounters in Mindo Ecuador

You can feed hummingbirds in a couple different places in Mindo. Now, I’m not certain how ethical it is to feed them. But I do know that it is a common practice to put out bird feeders and I decided I was okay with this experience (in general I am very leery of animal experiences and their ethics, for example we did not do anything elephant related in Thailand for this reason). It was really cool to see hummingbirds right up close. They are beautiful and vibrant and will perch right on your hand. You can do this at Las Montañas or at the Punto Ornitológico Mindo. They both have a nice variety of hummingbirds and plenty of sugar water for you to use.

Suyana Eco Park

Suyana is relatively new in Mindo (built within the last 5 years or so) and offers short trails to small waterfalls and viewpoints, as well as lovely photo spots and swings, including an extreme swing for the adventure lovers. The cost to walk on the trails and enjoy the photo spots is $5 per person and the taxi is $3 from town. If you’re up for it, the walk is definitely doable as well, taking about 40 minutes from town.

Rio Bravo Reserve

This is a private reserve that won’t likely show up in your Mindo research. I actually learned about it the first time by walking past a sign for it on our most recent visit. It’s on the same road as the other waterfalls on this list, but further. You can hike to (you guessed it) more waterfalls here. This is at the top of my list for my next visit to Mindo.

Just chill

Particularly if you are going in rainy season, but even if you’re going in the dry season, you should plan some time for relaxing. You’ll appreciate hanging out at your hotel in a hammock or at a table by the river or in the pool. Bring a good book or podcast and enjoy the peaceful nature.

A note about activities in the Mindo cloud forest

A lot of information is either not online, or not provided by the actual service providers, or even inaccurate. For example, I was excited to ride the chairlift at Minjoy Park, which my dad had gone on a few years ago and loved, only to discover that the chairlift no longer exists! It’s still online and there are still posters for it all over town. Apparently the land it went over was sold off in chunks and the new owners won’t allow it to run overhead. Now Minjoy Park has only a bike-style cable experience. But we literally found that out by pulling off the road and asking someone who worked at their booth.

 

My point is, things can and do change in Mindo (as they do everywhere) but in general you may not find accurate or up to date information about activities in Mindo as you may in other areas or countries. I’d recommend having an open mind when visiting the Mindo cloudforest–you never know what you may stumble upon!

Other important tips for visiting Mindo Ecuador

• There are NO ATM machines in Mindo that accept foreign cards. The Banco Pichincha ATM machine that used to be in town was removed. This means you need to carry all the cash you want for your trip from your previous destination. Alternatively, you can get a taxi 30 minutes to the nearest ATM that accepts foreign cards (Banco Pichincha and Banco Guayaquil are the best options).
• Always ask if there is a fee to use a credit card. There are many more places that accept credit card than there were six years ago during our last visit, but sometimes the cost will be higher to use them. Definitely double check.
• I was a little disappointed by the food options in Mindo. There used to be better options, but the pandemic really did a number on restaurants here. I still dream about the Venezuelan arepa spot that was here last time I visited with the absolute best arepas I’ve ever eaten, which no longer exists. The best food we had was definitely the roasted chicken spot called Los Pollos del Vecino Asadero. It’s right off the park in the center of town on a corner. Simple food, basically they just have chicken dishes, but super yummy, filling, and affordable. You an get a ¼ chicken plate for $4. The Italian restaurant La Mecha is also a classic, but expensive option we have enjoyed.

What to pack for a trip to Mindo, Ecuador

Given the warmer, wetter climate, here’s what I recommend packing for a trip to Mindo.

• Activewear sandals like Chacos or Keens. I prefer the stability in the toe strap Chacos if you go that route, as it makes hiking easier. Or at the minimum, water shoes. I made the mistake of not having these on my last trip and had to buy water shoes in town so I could enjoy swimming in the waterfalls (trust me, your feet will not like the rocky bottom)
• Waterproof hiking shoes or trail runners like these highly rated ones. Your feet will be wet in regular athletic shoes.
• Waterproof rain jacket. 
• A wet bag to keep your valuables dry. Or, you could get an entire wet bag backpack. I have this one and use it for rainy excursions.
• Quality day pack backpack for your excursions and a water bottle. This backpack is the ideal size and really comfortable. I will note that I am NOT a water bottle girly (I don’t even have the Stanley quenchers everyone was obsessed with) but got gifted this waterbottle at work and will not be going back to anything else. The straw for this bottle is far superior to any others I’ve ever had.
• Quick drying towel: lightweight and functional
• Carabiners to hang wet shoes or water bottles from your back
• Rash guard to minimize need for sunscreen. I have this one and love the UPF 50 protection as well as the cute color
• Hat
• Sunscreen. If you forget it, it’s much pricier in Ecuador than in the U.S. I love this one.
• Bug spray with deet, or picaridin bug spray (picaridin for a less intense but still effective option). I got about 15 bites per leg when I didn’t use bug spray on our most recent visit. Don’t be me. I also like to treat my athletic clothes with permethrin. You would need to do this before your trip, but basically it protects your clothes for about 10 washes, which is helpful because mosquitoes can bite through clothing.

The Mindo cloud forest is a fantastic place to visit. If it’s not on your list, be sure to add it! Feel free to drop any questions or thoughts in the comments.

Psst, looking for more on Ecuador? Check out my popular post on Quito or this one about going to the Galapagos with a baby.