Excursion d'une journée dans les Îles Ballestas et à la Réserve nationale de Paracas au départ de Paracas

Please book directly with Paracas Explorer since they operate the tour. Guide Ricardo and Barbara were very knowledgeable

Unmissable for all ages .excellent explanations by our guide Juan Pipa of www.expeditionBallesta. Highly recommended

The Ballestas Islands were teeming with different forms of life, The day I went, we even got lucky and saw a whale surface. Of particular interest were the penguins and sea lions. There is also a huge glyph of unknown purpose or origin on a hillside that is quite striking. The tour of the nation reserve was led by a charming and intelligent guide named Barbara. The views are spectacular and well worth seeing.

The boat ride was good, however due to the weather we were unable to see Ballestas Island, however we were taken to White Island and saw lots of wild life. The second part of the tour was ok, however we never went to the flamingo viewpoint, and for me this was the most important part of the tour. So I was truly disappointed.

It was pretty smooth, the tour guides were nice and knowledgeable and we really enjoyed our experience.

This is a 2 part tour that seems to be operated by different vendors. The 8-10am boat trip to the island was good. Just the right amount of time. A little chilly, so bring an extra layer of clothes. Then one hour down time. The 11-3 driving tour to the national reserve was only mildly interesting. There were two hours of somewhat spectacular coastal panoramas. and 2 hours of lunch and swimming. We didn't eat, but those who did seemed happy. Very few in our group swam...very cold water. If I were to do it again, I'd just do the boat trip to the island and and skip the driving trip to the reserve. I'm very certain that the limited journey is possible to book...there were many boats all leaving at the same time.

Booked a private tour with Vista Adventures. About 3 1/2-hour ride from our hotel to Paracas and a little more returning. Guide slept 1/2 of the way down and probably 2/3 of the return. Guide was supposed to have some knowledge of local birds - he was totally clueless. Boat ride to the islands was supposed to last 2 hours - lasted a little over half that. Most of the lectures were in Spanish with snippets of English. If you have never seen a sea lion, you'd probably be interested. Otherwise, riding in a boat jockeying for position qround a small buoy with 3 other tour boats to see a few sleeping sea lions was underwhelming. There were a few more sea lions in a couple spots on the islands and quite a few sea birds - all of which you can see on the beach without wasting your time on the boat. Tour advertises penguins and they didn't bother to stop for people to see the single random penguin that swam by. Again, you could see twice as many swimming around the bay from the dock. We finished by going back by the buoy - sea l;ions were still sleeping and no more exciting. When they advertise that you will be taking the first boat, they mean the first one for their company. Three other boats let before ours and they were the ones that first started circling the buoy. The Paracas Reserve and museum were no more exciting. The museum was a joke for contents but we were able to walk towards the water to get a distant view of the flamingos and a few other birds I was able to show the guide. We were supposed to visit the Naldo Navarro winery but the guide decided to skip that so we could return back to Lima in time to beat some of the rush hour traffic. I recommend not wasting your money for this "private tour" and instead arranging your own transportation to Paracas. You can get boat tickets when you get there for way less money. Then go on your own to the winery if you want to see that. There is a nice restaurant just up the street from the boat dock for lunch. In our case, the guide just dumped us off and left for a while. I think the restaurant manager felt sorry for us because he brought us complimentary piscos so we could taste their local drink. (it was good) Everything is a long way south of Lima so plan to take a full day. To end this on a positive note, we had an excellent driver who smoothly maneuvered through amazing traffic and gave us a completely comfortable ride.

Both the boat tour and the park were wonderful. I would fully recommend the sites. But tour operator did a poor job. After the boat tour we were told to return to the travel agency by 10:50 for the 11:00 park tour. We were then walked back to the port to meet the tour guide. He said, small delay, be back in 10 minutes. We returned and waited another 30 minutes. We thought the tour may have left without us. We get in a van that is ???? old with a cracked windshield. I am in the jump seat next to the driver, seat belt broken. No air conditioning. The tour begins by going to an overlook site of the city. Then back to paracas. Tour guide gets out???? Ten minutes later he returns with more people. Not enough seats so the guide does not have a seat. Although the time was much shorter we enjoyed the park. On the way home the driver runs over a large rock. The driver was concerned about the condition of the vehicle ,drove about 10 miles per hour and stopped 4 times to look under the hood. We were on a cruise and had a time considerations. Very stressful. In the end everything was fine but I would find a tour operator with better communication and equipment.

Boat tour is fine lots of wild birds and some sealions and a couple of penguins. Reserve tour at 11 organised through Paracas travel really disappointing. 2 stops to see the playa roja a full hour at playa Mina - wasn’t told that should bring swimming gear and a full hour and half for lunch before returning to Paracas. This tour would be better done in a taxi if you are not on your own.

The tour guides were enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and the tour itself was organised efficiently. Worth mentioning that there is a 45min gap between the Ballestas Islands tour and that of the national park, where you come back to Paracas and can get a coffee or early lunch.