The malecon is Bahia de Caraquez's waterfront promenade, running along the northern tip of the peninsula where the Rio Chone meets the Pacific. It's the social heart of the town — the place to walk in the evening, watch the fishing boats come and go, and look across the estuary to San Vicente on the opposite bank. A pedestrian bridge connects the two towns.
The promenade is lined with palm trees, benches, and a handful of small restaurants and juice bars. The view is excellent: the wide estuary mouth, the boats at anchor, the low hills of San Vicente, and in the distance — on clear days — the forested coastal hills. Sunsets from the malecon are a fixture of life in Bahia, and the place fills up with locals in the late afternoon. It's the most pleasant part of a town that is quiet and unpretentious by Ecuadorian coastal standards.