Ballestas Islands Group Tour from Paracas

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. The tour starts at our office in Paracas, then we walk to the Marina Turistica where you will board our speedboat to begin our adventure to the stunning Ballestas Islands (group service). On the way you’ll stop at the Paracas Peninsula to see the enigmatic figure of the Candelabra, stunning design drawn on the side of a hill in the Peninsula. Nobody knows for sure who did it or why. There are many hypotheses regarding its origin, some believe it is related to the Nazca Lines but still found no proof or evidence that can define its creation. Afterward you will head off to Ballestas Island where you will enjoy a stunning worlds filled with birds and sea lions. You will navigate around the islands at a distance allowed and probably some caves but this will be depending on the condition of the sea. The tour will finish at the pier.

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Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 41 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Showing reviews written in English.

• 1DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR WARNING

  DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR WARNING. The office was closed, looked deserted. We had to run to pier and negotiate another tour. We want our money back.

  greglF5777JFSeptember 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Smooth and...

  Smooth and straightforward experience from start to finish. Everything matched the description, and communication was clear and efficient. The staff was professional, and the overall setup felt organized and reliable. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for something hassle-free.

  BRIAN_JApril 2026via Viator

• 4Gorgeous experience, very unclear instructions

  The experience itself was amazing! Got to see a penguin 🥹 and some beautifull sealions. The communication was quite bad tho.. I was at the pickup point all by myself at said time, 15 minutes later someone actually came to pick me up, to send me to someone else who then send me to again someone else who then to me I need to pay for a ticket to get into the harbour and tax which was just 10 soles or something, that wasn't really the problem just the lack of communication..

  Stavros_TFebruary 2026via Viator

• 4All options are the same experience, find the cheapest.

  Decent tour, their pre-trip communication was good, though your interactions with this specific company are limited. You meet at the travel agency office and they’ll escort you to the port where they’ll hand you off to a tour company which leads you to a boat of about 45 passengers. This can be a bit of a confusing process, and it feels like everyone’s trying to take their rake of the tourist’s money. This travel agency partners with a tour agency (JD Adventure travel) who facilitates the actual tour (this seems common for most companies, just find the best price or go to the port and start bartering). Additionally, you’ll pay s/11 to enter the national reserve area, s/5 as a port tax. I didn’t walk around downtown to find the best price, but this ($15/person on Viator + s/16 in admission ticket) seems good value from what I’ve heard from hotels and other travel agencies. I appreciated having Viator’s guarantee which avoids some of the sketchier vendors in downtown Paracas. The tour guide had some basic facts, but was mainly just helpful to point out animals/marine life. Journey: 10 min boat ride to a candelabra in the side of a mountain (Nazca lines-ish), 15 min more to the islands, 30 min circling around the islands, 30 min back to port.

  Mitchell_MJanuary 2026via Viator

• 2Definite pass

  I bought two tickets, yet was refused two seats on the boat, even though it was paid for. Had a kid sleeping on me the entire trip back. Then after the tour, no one was there to drive me back to my hotel as advertised, leaving me stranded miles from my hotel. I’d recommend a company that actually follows through with their obligations. The not driving customers home seems to be a pattern given reviews (apparently should have done better research), but the tour was good, however not this company. They outsource.

  Departure56317057068February 2025via Tripadvisor

• 5This is a must do in Paracas

  This was definitely a tour that you should take while in Paracas. It was absolutely fantastic, first you sail to the candelabra to take pictures from the boat. They turn the boat so that each side can see it and take pictures. Then you go to Ballestas which was absolutely fantastic. We do recommend you bring a wind breaker since you will get wet. We highly recommend this tour

  Trek775172November 2024via Tripadvisor

Know before you go

How it compares in Paracas

• Its from-price is 75% below the median of the 134 experiences we list in Paracas.
• It is shorter than most of them.
• By number of reviews it ranks 12 of 134.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Paracas

Paracas is a small Pacific bay on Peru's south coast, where desert meets the ocean and boats set out to the sea-lion islands.

Paracas lies on a bay south of Lima, in the Ica region, where bare desert hills run straight into the Pacific. Most of the peninsula is part of the Paracas National Reserve, the first marine protected area in Peru, a landscape of red sand cliffs and pelican-fringed beaches, with the Red Beach as a famous stop. The Paracas culture, known for its fine textiles, flourished here more than two thousand years ago.

Top-ranked sights in Paracas: Paracas National Reserve, Playa La Mina.

See all 134 experiences in Paracas