Think twice.
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Guayaquil at 25/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Ecuador's national picture overall (49/100 vs 53/100).
City page · part of Ecuador
The one number a country page can't give you
What people who actually live in Guayaquil report
Numbeo aggregates thousands of resident-submitted perception surveys into a per-city Crime Index (higher = worse) and its inverse, a Safety Index — the only real city-granularity crime signal feeding this page, alongside Ecuador's national advisory, political, health, and police-trust data.
Crime Index
74.7
Safety Index
25.3
Sub-scores
Same real inputs as Ecuador's national page, with crime swapped for Guayaquil's own Numbeo number above.
Local know-how
Staying safe in Guayaquil, specifically
- • Guayaquil is considered to be a dangerous place as of 2018.
- • The U.S. Department of State warned in 2018 that: "Visitors should exercise extreme caution in the downtown area and the southern part of Guayaquil. Tourist sites -- the Christ statue (Sagra…
- • Always remain aware of your surroundings.
- • Attacks have been reported where someone will distract the target so that the attacker can put a choke hold on the victim from behind and make the victim pass out in order to easily rob the person.
- • Use only official taxis, and radio taxis instead of hailing one off the street, as there have been many cases of robberies involving taxi cabs.
- • The only drinkable water is bottled water.
Legal status (national law)
Legal since 1997+ UN decl. sign.
Source: Wikipedia — LGBTQ rights by country →Pack this, know this
The little things that trip people up
Plug & voltage
A / B · 120V
Driving side
right
Emergency
police: 911 / ambulance: 911 / fire: 911
Tipping
Bars, restaurants and hotels include a 10% service charge in the bill, so tipping is not required. In the case of restaurants, it is customary to leave some spare change in reward for good service. Some restaurants that don't include the service charge will include a small piece of paper along with the bill, in which the client can specify a tip (approx. 5-10%) if they are paying with credit card.
Cash vs. Card
Ecuador adopted the United States dollar ("$", ISO currency code: USD) as its currency in 1999. Other types of currency are not readily accepted.
How this compares to Ecuador
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Guayaquil at 25/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Ecuador's national picture overall (49/100 vs 53/100).
See the full Ecuador page and all receipts →