Ecuador - Montanita, Puerto Lopez and Whale watching

Originally we wanted to go first to cuenca in ecuador but the bus timetable and connection meant we needed to change our plan. We crossed the border through the night, was fast and easy. We heard of other stories and were glad we had no issues.
We headed to guyaguil, Ecuador's largest city where we changed bus and caught a second to the little beach town of montanita.
It was a good choice to go here first anyway as cuenca is back up in the andean.
We arrived in montanita very early in the morning, checked some hostels and found one out of the town center near the beach ( gets very loud there in the night as there are lots of bars).
At 11am it was then football time. Germany against USA.
The beach was very nice. Lots going on, people surfing, dogs strolling around, people playing volleyball,people selling souvenirs, sunglases ....
there are also many people/ travellers  that make and sell armbands, empanadas or happy brownies.
From June to September it is possible to see the enormous humpback whales in  the region.
We booked a tour to hopefully see them and also visit the isla de la plata at the same time. Isla de la plata is also called the poor mans galapagos. Boat leaves from puerto lopez, the nearest port to the island. The blue footed boobies and frigate birds among some others can be seen here.
On the way to the island we already saw whales far away but was hoping to see more and closer ones on the way back.
After the little walk on the island it was possible to go snorkling. We spotted a large green turtle next to the boat and some colourful fishes.
The sea was even more rough going back to Puerto Lopez. Must have been some 7-8m waves. The boat was bouncing up and down on the waves with such force, surprised the boat didnt smash. Saw more whales, but far away. Overall we were a bit dissapointed in the tour. back at puerto lopez we saw a nice sunset and enjoyed a fresh pineapple juice on the beach before going back to montanita.
We relaxed in montanita for a few more days, watching the football, lazing on the beach and mingling with the locals and travellers. It was hard to leave.

We expected to get photos like this !!!

But we could only manage these...