Puerto Cabuyal is located in coastal mainland Ecuador and overlaps with the Puerto Cabuyal-Punta San Clemente Marine Reserve and is located in the province of Manabí. The area is situated in the Equatorial Front and is characterised as a transition zone that separates cold waters rich in nutrients from warmer waters, generating a zone of high productivity. Situated within the Pacific and Central-American Coastal Large Marine Ecosystem (LME), the area contains relatively shallow waters (< 30 m). Among the most important geographical features are the estuary of the Chone River, the peninsulas of Punta Ballena, Punta Cabuyal, Cabo Pasado, Punta Napo, Punta Bellaca, and La Gorda, Punta San Clemente. These geographical features cause a continuous sinuosity in the bathymetry of the area; likewise, there are submarine geographical faults, considered of importance for the diversity and abundance of biota (Iturralde et al. 2021a). The benthos varies between soft bottoms, and hard or mixed bottoms (rock, sand/rock). The area in front of Cabo Pasado, Punta Bellaca – Punta Bikini stands out for the presence shallow rocky reefs and coral formations.

The region’s climate has been defined as a dry to semi-humid tropical megathermal climate, characterised by annual rainfall between 500 and 1,000 mm, mainly between December and May. According to the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (INAMHI), published with data up to 2013, the average temperature at the Bahía de Caráquez -PUCE- station is 25.1°C (ranging from 23.8 and 26.6°C), while rainfall is more variable with an average of 600 mm per year (247–906 mm annually) (Iturralde et al. 2021b).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 30 m depth based on the depth ranges of Qualifying Species occurring in the area.