The Ballestas Islands are one of those Peruvian destinations that you’ve never heard of until you start planning your trip to Peru. With the Galapagos Islands one country north in Ecuador, I never even thought of the islands in Peru being hotbeds of animal activity. However, the Ballestas Islands are lovingly referred to as “the little Galapagos” and have a variety of wildlife you’re almost guaranteed to see on a visit. You’ll see heaps of pelicans, boobies, cormorants and sea lions. And if you’re lucky, which most boats are, you’ll also see dolphins and penguins! If this wildlife encounter sounds like sounds like a great addition to your Peruvian vacation, it gets better when you hear that you can do it all on a day trip from Lima. Continue reading to plan your own visit.
What Are The Ballestas Islands?
The Ballestas are a small group of rocky islands off the coast of Peru. They are popular islands for a variety of wildlife due to the cold water currents attracting fish, and therefore more animals that eat fish, like aquatic birds, seals and dolphins. Besides the amazing wildlife, the geologic makeup of the islands is interesting as they are products of volcanic activity, shifting tectonic plates and marine erosion.
The Ballestas Islands are off the coast of the town of Paracas, a seaside resort town. Boat tours leave from town throughout the morning. The islands are approximately 40 minutes from town. Paracas is located in a bay surrounded by the Paracas National Reserve. This reserve creates a peninsula of sandy desert that plunges straight into the Pacific Ocean. In this reserve, there also is a large geoglyph, El Candelabro, that most tours take visitors to. Offshore of this Peninsula reserve, are the uninhabited rocky Ballestas Islands.
While the Ballestas Islands are a great place for tourists to visit, they also are an important part of the international poop market. What? Yup, you read that right. The guano, or seabird poop, is and has been a prized fertilizer around the world. The Ballestas Islands can have feet of guano in areas. Since over-farming of this poop in the 1900s, the Peruvian government has regulated and protected these islands – ensuring that the poop is farmed and sold in a responsible way. Why is this poop important to the traveler? Because you’ll want to prepare yourself for the smell 😉
Are the Ballestas Islands Worth Visiting?
Yes and no. It depends.
I would not go out of your way to visit the Ballestas Islands if you are short on time in Peru – the rainforests and the mountain regions were so much more impressive in our opinion. However, we also weren’t huge Lima fans. So we do think a visit to the Ballestas Islands is a great way to spend a day if you are based in Lima – and yet you don’t want to spend a day in Lima.
Additionally, we enjoyed bird and nature watching here. Besides the rainforests, this was the area in Peru that we saw the greatest diversity of wildlife in the shortest span of time. Plus we really wanted to see boobies. We are amateur ornithological enthusiasts (aka bird watchers), and one of the greatest joys of bird watching is spotting dirty sounding birds. So we came here for the boobies and we saw boobies within minutes of leaving the dock. So for this reason alone, we think a visit to the Ballestas Islands was worth it to us. We just wish the souvenir shops would have sold more booby related merchandise.
How Long Should You Spend In Paracas?
Most people visit Paracas as part of a day trip. Day trips from Lima include either a full day in Paracas or a half day in Paracas and a half day visiting another destination.
However, some people also spend the night in Paracas before going on to another destination the next day. While Paracas was a great place to spend a relaxing few hours, unless you plan on visiting for a relaxing beach vacation, there wasn’t much to do in town.
What Is the Best Time To Visit The Ballestas Islands?
The best time to visit the Ballestas Islands is in the morning when the waves aren’t as rough. The last boat typically departs at 10:30 AM. On windier days, this may be even earlier if the sea conditions get too rough.
Sea lions raise their pups from January to March. This is generally considered the best time of year to visit the islands as sunny days are more common during this season as well.
How Do I Get To Ballestas Islands From Lima?
Paracas, the starting point for any Ballestas Islands tour, is approximately 3 hours from Lima, along the Pan-American Highway. You could easily drive yourself, though driving in Lima can never be considered easy, or you could take a day trip.
We would recommend a day trip. While self-driving is generally our preferred method of transportation, we’d prefer a day trip or a driver for a Ballestas Islands trip. This is because tours only run in the morning so you’ll need to get an early morning start from Lima. Additionally, self-driving doesn’t save you much money by the time you add up a car rental and gas. The only exception we would make to this recommendation is if you plan on making the Ballestas Island a day trip stop on your Peru road trip to Cusco or Colca Canyon (which we would not recommend overall as that includes a lot of driving).
Once you are in Paracas, the Ballestas Islands are only accessible by boat tour. Most tours last between 2-4 hours. Don’t spend too much time looking for differences in the boat tours – from what we could see, they just put you on the next departing boat when you show up at the dock in Paracas, regardless of which ticket you purchased.
What Can I do in Paracas?
Boat Tours
The main attraction in Paracas is the Ballestas Islands boat tours. These tours last around 2 hours, longer if you choose a private tour.
Wildlife spotting is the main activity that the boat tours focus on. On a tour, you are practically guaranteed to see heaps of cormorants, boobies and sea lions. Additionally, you are likely to, but in smaller numbers, Humboldt penguins, pelicans, seals and dolphins. Occasionally, you may see a migrating whale – but those are rare. When we visited in October we saw:
- Dolphins
- Sea lions
- Fur seals
- Humboldt Penguin
- Peruvian Booby
- American Oystercatcher
- Guanay Cormorant
- Andean Gull
- Royal Tern
- Black Skimmer
- Peruvian Tern
- Inca Tern
- Peruvian Pelicans
- And more gulls than we could identify!
The bird life is something you will see from afar, as the birds are perched on cliff tops and flying high above. However, the sea lions, seals and dolphins often approach the tourist boats in curiosity or just because they don’t give a F. So you’re likely to get great photos and even some entertaining shows from these larger aquatic animals – we even saw the dolphins doing jumps and flips.
The boat tours do not land on any of the islands. The Islands are heavily regulated and landing on the islands is prohibited.
Paracas National Reserve
Additionally, you can also view Paracas National reserve. Most Ballestas Islands boat tours will take you around the coastline of the Paracas National reserve. The cliffs here are topped with sandy looking deserts – in reality it’s mostly hard sandstone. But they look really neat and barren. One of our favorite stops here was at The Candelabra geoglyph. You may have heard of the Nazca lines, El Cadelabro is a similar phenomenon. It is a geoglyph carved feet into the rock – and no one knows why. If you’ve decided to skip the Nazca lines like we did, this is a great way to include a visit to a geoglyph into your Peru tour.
Paracas National Reserve is also home to lots of archaeological sites. While you can’t visit the sites, you can stop at the museum in Paracas with artifacts found in the reserve.
Paracas Town
Paracas town is very much a seaside resort destination. There are a small number of shopping areas, a large number of restaurants and an even larger number of places to get quick drinks. It was a very relaxing place to have lunch and a few drinks. Try the seafood, it’s great! Additionally, there are lots of water activities that you can partake in like jet ski rentals, paddling boarding and a giant floating bouncy thingy. If you are going to stay the full day, bring your swimsuit.
Combo Tours
If you are visiting the Ballestas Islands, it typically fills your morning. So what to do in the afternoon? There are three common combos with a visit to the Ballestas Islands.
First, many day tours combine a visit to the Ballestas Islands with a visting to one or two Pisco producers. Pisco is a distilled wine very famous and common in Peru.
Next, you could also combine a visit with a Nazca Lines flyover. There is an airport in the nearby town of Pisco where you can take a flyover tour. The Nazca Lines are geoglyphs carved into the ground that you can only see from the air. They are such a mystery because no one knows why they were carved.
Lastly, you can spend the afternoon in Huacachina. We highly recommend this! It was one of our favorite stops in Peru. Huacachina is a beautiful desert oasis with ATV tours in the massive sand dunes.
What To Pack For a Ballestas Islands Day Trip
The sun in Paracas is so strong. Between the whole being close the equator thing and the whole sun reflecting off the ocean thing – ya gonna need some sun protection. Slather up in some reef safe sunscreen before heading out on the ocean and make sure to reapply regularly. You’ll also need sunglasses – even when it’s cloudy – and a hat. We had this hat and we used it a TON in Peru – even though it’s a little corny and old people like 😉
You also may get wet on the boats from the ocean spray. It’s a good idea to bring a rain jacket or a poncho. Additionally, make sure you have water protection for your belongings as well, such as a dry bag or a waterproof phone case. Plus, the wind here is brutal so dress in layers, including warm layers.
Lastly, if you’re interested in taking photos of the birds, you’ll need a camera with a decent zoom lens. A phone will not give you the detail of a Humbolt penguin. And if you really want to bird spot, don’t forget your binoculars!
The Ballestas Islands were a great place to visit for people who love nature and are interested in seeing some geoglyphs without having to take a plane ride. We enjoyed our time spent in laid-back Paracas and we hope you will too. If you have any questions about visiting Paracas or the Ballestas Islands, please leave them below and we’d be happy to get back to you.
