Money, water, SIM cards and the rest of the small stuff
None of this is complicated and all of it is easier to sort out before you need it. Ecuador uses the US dollar, which surprises people; the tap water does not agree with visitors, which surprises them more; and your plug will probably fit, which is the one piece of good news Europeans do not get.
The short version
- The currency is the US dollar. Since 2000. Bring clean, small bills.
- Cash machines dispense $20 notes, which half the city cannot change. Break them early.
- Restaurant bills add 10% service and 15% IVA — about a quarter on top of the menu price.
- Ecuador is not a tipping culture. Guides are the exception.
- Do not drink the tap water. Bottled or filtered, and refill rather than buying small bottles.
- Plugs are the same as the United States: 120 V, flat pins.
Money
Yes, it really is dollars
Ecuador adopted the US dollar as its official currency in 2000 and has used it ever since. American bills, American coins, and Ecuadorian centavo coins minted locally in the same sizes and values as their US counterparts. If you are coming from the States you need to do nothing at all; if you are not, you will want dollars rather than your own currency.
The small-bills problem
This is the single most practical thing on this page. Cash machines dispense twenties, and a great deal of Ecuador cannot break a twenty. Taxis, market stalls, small restaurants, the man selling you a coffee — all of them will look at a twenty with dismay.
Break large notes at supermarkets, pharmacies and petrol stations, where they have floats. Keep a working stock of ones, fives and coins. Ask us and we will change notes for you at reception; we do it several times a day.
The same logic applies with more force to the Galápagos, where the $200 park fee is cash only and the notes need to be clean, unfolded and untorn — damaged bills get refused and there is no cash machine at Baltra airport.
Cards, and where they stop working
Hotels, established restaurants, tour operators and supermarkets take cards. Markets, taxis, small comedores, buses and almost everything in a rural town do not. Some smaller businesses add a surcharge for card payment, and they will tell you before you pay.
Tell your bank you are travelling, because a first transaction in Ecuador is a classic fraud flag. Withdraw from machines inside a bank or a shopping centre rather than on the street, and prefer daylight.
What gets added to your bill
Sit-down restaurants generally add a 10% service charge and 15% IVA, Ecuador's value-added tax, which went up from 12% in 2024. Together that is roughly a quarter more than the menu price, so a bill that looks like $20 arrives at about $25. Check the receipt: if you see servicio 10%, the service charge is already there.
Tipping, honestly
Ecuador is not a tipping culture and nobody is offended by a modest tip. Overtipping is well-intentioned and creates awkwardness rather than gratitude.
- Restaurants — if the 10% service is on the bill, nothing more is expected. For genuinely good service, a few dollars in cash directly to the waiter is a kind gesture.
- Set-lunch places — round up by fifty cents or a dollar.
- Taxis — no tip. Round up if you like.
- Housekeeping — a dollar or two a night, left in the room.
- Day-tour guides — this is where tipping matters. Ten to twenty dollars per person per day is normal on the mainland.
- Galápagos cruise guides — considerably more, and the crew is tipped separately. Your operator will brief you; budget for it in cash before you fly.
Tip in cash, in small bills. Tips added to a card payment do not reliably reach the person who earned them.
Water
Quito's tap water is treated and locals drink it. Visitors generally should not — not because it is dirty, but because the microbial profile is different from what your system knows, and a stopover is a bad time to find out. The usual outcome is a lost day, which on a 48-hour stay is half your trip.
- Drink bottled or filtered water. We have filtered water available so you are not buying bottles all day.
- Ice in established restaurants and hotels is made with purified water and is fine. In a street stall, skip it.
- Salads and peeled fruit are fine where the kitchen is careful. Use the same judgement you would anywhere.
- Brushing your teeth with tap water is fine for most people.
- Bring a refillable bottle. You will need one in the Galápagos anyway, where single-use plastics are restricted.
Bring rehydration sachets. They weigh nothing, and at altitude a stomach upset dehydrates you faster than it would at sea level.
Staying connected
An eSIM is the easy answer. Buy one before you fly, activate it on landing, and skip the queue entirely. Coverage in Quito and the main highland towns is good.
A physical local SIM from Claro or Movistar is cheaper for longer stays but requires your passport and a shop visit, which is an hour you probably would rather spend elsewhere on a two-night trip.
Where the signal goes:
- Old Town — fine everywhere, and wifi in most cafés.
- Cotopaxi and the high páramo — patchy to none.
- Cuyabeno — nothing at all, for four days. Download everything before the bus.
- Galápagos — available in the towns, slow, and often absent on boats.
Tell someone at home that you will be offline before you disappear into the Amazon. It saves a lot of worry.
Plugs, power and the grid
Ecuador uses 120 volts at 60 Hz with flat two-pin and three-pin sockets — identical to the United States and Canada. American and Canadian devices work with no adapter. European, British and Australian visitors need both an adapter and, for anything without a dual-voltage supply, a converter. Phone and laptop chargers are almost always dual-voltage; hairdryers usually are not.
One honest note about the grid. Ecuador generates most of its electricity from hydropower, and a severe drought in 2024 caused long scheduled blackouts nationwide. That crisis has passed, but the system remains under strain and planned maintenance outages still happen in parts of the country. Bring a power bank, keep your phone charged rather than nearly empty, and if a dry El Niño year is forecast, check the current situation before you travel. Hotels of any size, including ours, have backup power.
Getting around town
Use app-based rides or ask reception to call a taxi rather than flagging one on the street — the reasoning is in our honest guide to safety in Quito. Official taxis are yellow with orange plates and a visible registration number.
Quito also has a modern metro line running north to south with a stop in the Old Town. It is clean, cheap and quick, and it is a perfectly good way to move around in daylight. At rush hour it is also where pickpockets work, so bag in front.
A few small things
- Language. Outside hotels and tour agencies, very little English. A translation app downloaded for offline use is worth more than a phrasebook.
- Emergencies. ECU 911 covers police, fire and ambulance nationwide.
- Pharmacies are everywhere, well stocked and cheap, and pharmacists give practical advice. There is one two minutes from our door.
- The sun. You are on the equator at 2,850 m. It burns faster than you expect, including through cloud.
- Sundays are quiet. Many shops close and the Old Town changes character, for the better.
- Altitude and alcohol. Drinks hit harder here. See your first 24 hours.
What we do here
We change large notes into the small bills you will actually need, keep filtered water available so you are not buying plastic all day, point you to the nearest pharmacy and cash machine, and call taxis whenever you are going out. If your card gets blocked or your phone stops working, come and ask — these are problems that take five minutes with someone who speaks the language and an afternoon without.
The small things are the ones that ruin short trips
Nine rooms in a restored 1914 house in San Blas. Book direct for our lowest rate, and arrive with your questions — the front desk would rather answer them before you go out than after.
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Worth having offline, particularly the parts about cash.
