Atacames is a beach town and surround canton located on Ecuador's Northern Pacific coast. It is located in the province of Esmeraldas, approximately 30 kilometers south west from the capital of that province, which is also called Esmeraldas. In 2022 Atacames town had a population of 18,948, while the canton had 51,204. Atacames has one of the lowest rates of poverty in the province of Esmeraldas. During Francisco Pizarro's second conquest in 1526, he landed at Atacames.