Ballestas Islands & Sand-Boarding Adventure 2D/1N

Transfer across to the city of Ica and visit the beautiful Huacachina lagoon. In the afternoon, you'll head out to try some exhilarating sandboarding and explore the most beautiful dune formations.

Huacachina Tour and Sandboarding

Today, you’ll take the regular bus towards the city of Ica (5 hours bus ride approx.). Ica is a beautiful city located in the southern part of Peru, in the middle of a green valley surrounded by the desert. This wonderful city stands out thanks to its warm climate, gorgeous white sand dunes and to a beautiful lagoon, known by the locals as Huacachina. Once in Ica, our local representative will meet you at the local bus station and will transfer you to the hotel located in this beautiful oasis. In the afternoon, you’ll take a ride with buggies machines out in the desert and practice one of the ultimate sports in our country “Sandboarding”. Our tour starts at the Oasis La Huacachina, from this point you will drive up towards the west, where the most beautiful dune formations are found. You will drive across Ica’s desert in a 4x4 buggy vehicle and will make various stops along the way for pictures. The desert of Ica is the most beautiful in our country and offers stunning landscapes, not only of sand dunes, but also of the Huacachina lagoon, from above. There will be some points where you will have the opportunity to experience the exhilaration of one of most popular sports in Ica “Sandboarding. The whole tour will take about 1 hour, and at the end you'll be are dropped off at the Huacachina Oasis.

Transfer across to Paracas and head off to explore the Ballestas Islands, visiting highlights along the way. Spot wildlife along the way and explore the spectacular Paracas National Reserve. In the afternoon, you’ll take a bus back to Lima.

Ballestas Islands (B)

In the morning, you will be transferred to Paracas (1-hour approx). At the dock you will board a speed boat equipped with life vests and comfortable seats. At this point, it is advisable to wear a good jacket or wind breakers as it gets very windy once the boat gets in motion. You will leave then towards the Ballestas Islands. Along the way you will see the famous figure known as The Candelabro, an enigmatic design etched on the desert floor hundreds of years ago. Afterwards you will continue to The Ballestas Islands. These islands are inhabited by an amazing marine life, with over 200 types of migratory and resident birds, including Peruvian Pelicans, Belcher’s gulls, Humboldt penguins, guanay cormorants, red-legged cormorants, Inca terns, Peruvian boobies, turkey vultures, among others. In addition, you will also see around the Islands hundreds of sea lions resting at the beaches, sleeping on the rocks or swimming nearby. The Islands also provide shelter to the shy Humboldt penguins which are usually seen at the entrances of small caves near the cliffs. After touring around the islands for about 1 hour you will return to the harbor. Then, you’ll visit the Paracas Reserve. The name of this beautiful place is derived from a Quechua word. meaning “sand rain” probably due to the strong winds that hit the evenings here. The Paracas National Reserve is also very important since in their inhabit waters abundant quantities of zooplankton and phytoplankton, which allows a variety of fish that allow industrial and artisanal fisheries. This is a very important activity in the town. The Paracas National Reserve is located in an area of 335,000 hectares and is considered one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. During our visit we will see the beautiful cliffs and beaches along this tour (red beach beach Yumaque, lagunilla). In the afternoon, you’ll take the regular bus back to the city of Lima.