Lima: Ballestas Islands, Paracas Reserve & Nazca Lines Tour

Huacachina oasis, winery & Nazca lines private tour: Worth it to save time & see only what you want to see

I went directly to the tour operator website because none of the offered tours excluded the islands which we didn’t not want to see. We had a 5:30am hotel pick up and met our guide, but waited until 6am for the driver to arrive. The sequence of stops seems like it fluctuates. Initially we were told we’d be doing Huacachina first but ended up going to the airport for the Nazca lines – maybe due to our arrival and lunch timing. A boxed breakfast was provided. Accommodations were made for being vegetarian for all meals. Breakfast was an avocado sandwich, juice, sports drink and corn cake. Lunch was arranged before our arrival at the restaurant (at the winery) and was spaghetti with tomato sauce + vegetables. Enroute to the airport, we stopped about 1.5 hours outside of Cuzco for restrooms and it took about 3 hours to get to the airport after (total 3 hours). There are not many restrooms on the way so just make sure to time your breaks! We were dropped off at the airport and the tour guide arranged our tickets & paid our taxes then we went thru security to wait for our flight at the gate w/about 10 other people. As others have said, it’s a great tour and be ready for the plane to bank to each side regularly so everyone can see. Try not to sit in seats 3 & 4 as they are right under the wing so it’s more difficult to see the Nazca lines & to take photos. You most likely won’t have a choice though! The tour breaks out to about 40 minutes to fly to the lines, 40 min tour and 40 min flying back to the airport for total of 2 hours. We went to the winery/distillery for lunch next. After eating we had a short instructional tour before our tasting. The tasting consisted of several pisco wines and other liquors/liqueurs and then a drinking game before having the option to try anything else we hadn’t already had. It was fun and engaging. We left for our next stop full of food and a little buzzed from the shots & headed to Huacachina, which was about a hour away. We started the dune buggy ride on a very bumpy roadway but then it smoothed out once we get into the sand it was much better. We stopped a few times but not many on our tour took part in sandboarding so I would have enjoyed driving more. The drive was more fun than we expected. After the ride we took a quick walk around the town in the oasis, used the bathroom & took some photos. There wasn’t a lot to see – mostly shops with tourist trinkets that can be purchased anywhere so we didn’t stay long but it will still cool to see. After we were done, we headed back to Lima. We stopped at the same gas station/rest stop as on the way out which was about 3 hours into the return trip. The tour guide is happy to stop as needed, but there just aren’t many “nice” restrooms enroute. Overall we’d recommend this tour as an easy and effortless way to see these sites without going on public transportation and on your own time schedule. We got back to our hotel right around 8pm which was MUCH earlier than the group tour options we saw. We also liked that this tour that replaced a stop at the Ballestas for the Nazca lines.

Response from the operator: We are glad you enjoyed the experience. Thanks!

via Tripadvisor

They showed up on time. ...

They showed up on time. The vehicle used for all day had outstanding room for us to stretch out in. You get a driver and a tour guide all day. They took care of everything. They made excellent recommendations on where to sit on the boat, food, drink and more. An outstanding tour/experienced was delivered.

Response from the operator: We are so glad you enjoyed this experience. Thank you!

via Viator

What an Informative and Amazing day!

Alexandra and driver Admir were awesome! Alexandria kept us entertained during the drive and between events with so much history about the Peruvian People and their great country, she really shows a passion for her culture. The tour felt well paced, they provided a bag snack, water, and lunch. The van was clean and comfortable and both of them were so accommodating to anything we wanted. Great top notch service! The Ballestas Island was amazing and so up close to all the thousands of birds and wildlife, the Nazca Lines was visually stunning, but take their advice, eat after the plane ride. ;) The winery... well more like a wine shop, still nice, but not what we were expecting. Overall, 5 out of 5 stars!

via Tripadvisor

Is the Juice worth the Squeeze?

This review is more about the event than the vendor. That said: we took this tour during the Time of Covid and the vendor had to do some gymnastics to get the tour to work and it did, sort of. For this they are commended. The guide and the driver were great. The guide was informative and informed. He was also flexible and when we came across a small flock of flamingos he was willing to stop so we could take pictures. But as for the event and my title: the juice was about an hour of seeing sights. The squeeze, however, was a very long day that started at 5 AM and ended at 9 PM. This included about 10 hours of driving about 600 km (~350 miles) over tedious road, mostly the Pan-American highway. The two sights: the Ballestas island with its marine and avian fauna and the Nazca lines are wonderful sights to see (the "winery" was a tourist trap -- although the lunch was good -- and it could have been skipped in its entirety, hence the "sort of" above). This event is a whole day for a very short time for seeing interesting stuff. The vendor's description is accurate but maybe not as informative as it could be on this point. As for the Nazca lines flight: If you are of a delicate constitution (which I am not) you might find yourself revisiting your last meal. The pilots do some aerial acrobatics so that each side of the plane can see about 13 of the more famous of the 100s of terraglyphs in the area but it was, umm, stressful. Eat light or not at all before is my recommendation. I took dramamine and was glad of it. The guide was also the pilot and his English was rough...so be prepared to find the glyphs with your eyes then in camera and shoot quickly as they go by fast. Again, the flight from Pisco Airport took longer than the overflight of the lines. However, unlike the Pan-American highway, there was some interesting scenery on the way and to that end I will recommend the flight later in the day because, on the way back, the sun casts interesting shadows on the landscape that were photo worthy...this was in early September... and can help take your mind off your queasy stomach...kinda. I am not at all sorry we did this excursion but it was a lot more downtime than I had expected.

via Viator

Wonderful experience to Ballestas Islands and Nazca Lines

This was a full day of fun with our guide (Lucas) and driver (Victor). The boat ride to the Ballestas Islands was really nice on a high speed boat. It only took about 20 minutes to get to the islands, and we had more than an hour to spot and photograph the wildlife once we arrived. Our captain navigated the boat expertly to get us within 20 feet of sun-bathing sea lions several times. Our flight over the Nazca Lines was also excellent. We saw all the famous images, and the pilot made sure both the left and right side passengers had a great view. In addition, we had a nice traditional Peruvian lunch and a really nice wine and Pisco tasting experience. Our guide was excellent, and had many stories of Peruvian culture and history, and he was able to answer all of our questions. Our driver expertly navigated the aggressive and sometimes crazy traffic, getting us quickly and safely to all our destinations.

via Tripadvisor