A succession of 150 m thick sediments, belonging to the Canoa Formation, was studied. Some specifications on past contradictory descriptions of the formation are provided. These sediments consist of a cycle of the first order and outcrop along the coast, south of Manta (Ecuador), between Punta Canoa and Quebrada El Mangle and have been attributed to a Late Pliocene age (Globigerinoides fistulosus Zone). The fossil assemblages are very rich and well differentiated: foraminifers, molluscs and otoliths (the latter being observed for the first time in this formation). On the basis of lithology and of sedimentologic and paleontologic characteristics, offshore/shoreface environments with foreshore episodes were recognized and a hypothesis for a possible geological evolution of the area was suggested.