Esmeraldas River


The Esmeraldas River is a river in northwestern Ecuador that flows into the Pacific Ocean at the city of Esmeraldas. Among its tributaries is the Guayllabamba River which drains Quito. Charles Marie de la Condamine sailed up it and then climbed the Andes Mountains when on the Ecuadorian Expedition that left France in May 1735.
The mouth of the river has extensive stands of mangroves, part of the Esmeraldas–Pacific Colombia mangroves ecoregion.

Fauna

Fish

Environmental issues

In March 2025, an environmental emergency was declared in the river after a landslide ruptured a segment of the Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline System, spilling crude oil into a section of the river near Cube.