Guide · Paracas

Paracas sandboarding: boards and buggies in the reserve desert

In Paracas the desert runs straight into the Pacific. A board session here is short, windy and close to the sea, and it pairs easily with a morning on the water.

Check availabilityfrom $50 · free cancellation

Editorial team, perusandboarding.comUpdated October 26, 2026about 6 min to read30 sources

The matching tour Buggy & Sandboarding in Paracas 4.7 (17 reviews) 1 hour from$50per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer

01Short and simple: A 1-hour buggy ride with a board, groups of up to 5.
02Longer option: 3-hour mini buggy trips with sandboarding at an oasis.
03Reserve entry: Adults PEN 11.00 a day, open 09:00 to 16:00.¹ ²
04Official list: MINCETUR lists quad rides in the reserve, not sandboarding.³
05Next door: Ica's main square is 74 km from the reserve gate, about 1 h 5 min by car.⁴

Where the desert meets the sea

Paracas sandboarding is a different animal from the big-dune evenings near Ica. The town sits on the edge of the Paracas National Reserve, a protected area of 335,000 hectares whose land, islands and sea are all part of the same reserve.⁵ ⁶ The sand here is part of the coast, with the ocean in view from many of the slopes. The colors change fast along this shore: pale dunes, ochre cliffs and dark water, all within a short drive of the town's piers and hotels.

The reserve was established on 25 September 1975 and lies 250 km from Lima, off the Pan-American South.⁷ ⁸ PromPeru gives about 3 h 10 min overland from the capital to Paracas.⁹ It is an easy place to break the drive south.

Board sessions here are sold as part of buggy outings in the desert around the town rather than as lessons on a single famous dune. That suits travelers who want a taste of the sand between a boat trip and a seafood lunch, and the outings are short to match.

A day on the coast

From Lima to the sand at Paracas

3 h 10 min

Lima to Paracas

PromPeru's overland time to the town.⁹
Morning

Cool by the sea

A windbreaker helps before the sun warms up.¹⁰
09:00

The reserve opens

Entry is PEN 11.00 for adults, valid for the day.² ¹
1 hour

Buggy and board

Meet at the office next to a hotel in town.
16:00

The reserve closes

Plan your ride inside the opening hours.²

The 1-hour buggy and board outing

The Paracas sandboarding outing with the most reviews among those we compared, on Viator, is a 1-hour buggy ride with sandboarding, rated 4.65 from 17 reviews and starting from $50. A live guide speaks English and Spanish, and the group is small, up to 5 people.

The listing includes private transportation, a sandboard and the buggy ride itself; snacks are not included. The meeting point is the operator's main office next to the Gran Palma Hotel in Paracas, and pickup is offered. Plans change? The full price is refunded if you cancel 24 hours or more ahead.

The health notes are short: not recommended in pregnancy or with poor cardiovascular health. Buggy rides on dunes are rough on the body; take that seriously. An hour is enough to try a few runs and see the coast from the top of the sand, not enough to learn to ride standing up. Think of it as a sampler: if you love it, plan a longer session at Huacachina further along the road.

How long you are out

Hours per Paracas outing

hours

The total length each listing gives, pickup and driving included; none states the minutes spent on the board.

Side by side

Buggy and board outings in Paracas

Outing	Length	Board	Reviews	Price
Buggy & sandboarding	1 h	Included	17	from $50
Mini buggy & oasis	3 h	Included	7	from $83
Hidden oasis buggy	3 h	Included	6	from $75
Mini buggy (drive)	2 h	Not listed	139	from $55

Every figure is the listing's own; a board counts as included only where the title or inclusions say so.

Three ways onto the sand

Short ride, oasis trip or a drive

Smallest group

Buggy & sandboarding

An hour near town

Duration: 1 hour
Group: Up to 5
Price: from $50

See the outing

From Paracas: Mini Buggy Tour & Sandboarding at Oasis

Longer outing

Mini buggy & oasis

Board at a desert oasis

Duration: 3 hours
Rating: 4.84
Price: from $83

See the outing

Mini Buggy GO KART in Paracas National Reserve

Most reviewed

Mini buggy (drive)

You drive in the reserve

Duration: 2 hours
Reviews: 139
Price: from $55

See the outing

Decision helper

Which Paracas outing fits you?

Choose by time, by the board and by who drives

I have an hour after the boat trip I want more time in the desert I would rather drive than ride I want the biggest dunes I am pregnant or have a heart condition

Buggy & sandboarding

A 1-hour outing that meets at an office in town.

Mini buggy & oasis

3 hours of mini buggy with sandboarding at an oasis.

Mini buggy (drive)

2 hours at the wheel; drivers must be 18 or older.

Go on to Huacachina

PromPeru describes dunes there up to 100 m high.¹¹

Skip the buggy

The Viator outing is not recommended in either case.

the Paracas National Reserve takes its name from the "paracas," the powerful sandstorms native to the area.

PromPeru (peru.travel)Source 12

Longer trips to the desert oases

Two GetYourGuide listings go further into the sand. A 3-hour mini buggy tour from Paracas includes sandboarding at an oasis, with an instructor in English and Spanish and pickup included; it is rated 4.84 from 7 reviews and starts from $83.

The second visits a hidden oasis in Paracas with a buggy and sandboarding, also for 3 hours, with a live guide in Spanish and pickup included; it is rated 5.0 from 6 reviews and starts from $75. Both have few reviews so far. Read the details and send the operator your questions before you book, above all about the board, the pickup point and how long you actually spend on the sand.

If you only want to drive, a 2-hour mini buggy outing in the reserve is the most reviewed of the Paracas buggy listings, rated 4.61 from 139 reviews and starting from $55. It does not mention a board. Drivers must be 18 or older with an ID or passport, and the reserve fee is paid at the office or at the gate.

Map

Where Peru's sandboarding dunes sit along the coast

The northern dunes from Sechura to Casma, the road south from Lima past Punta Hermosa and Paracas to Huacachina and Nasca, and the big dunes of the far south.

Map of the north coast of Peru from Sechura in Piura south past Coishco and Casma to Lima — North coast

Map of the coast south of Lima past Punta Hermosa, Paracas and Huacachina to the town of Nasca — Lima to Nasca

Map of southern Peru with Huacachina, Cerro Blanco near Nasca, Toro Mata near Acari and the dunes near Ilo — South coast

1
Medano Blanco
A dune 300 m long and 20 m high in the Sechura Desert, Piura.¹³
In Google Maps ↗
2
Huamanchacate
Dunes near Coishco with easy access from the highway; riders start at the foot.¹⁴
In Google Maps ↗
3
Manchan
A dune field about 5 km from Casma, best visited with a guide.¹⁵ ¹⁶
In Google Maps ↗
4
Lima
The capital; its beach towns lie 40 km south and Ica is about 275 km away.¹⁷ ¹⁸
In Google Maps ↗
5
Punta Hermosa
Beach town south of Lima where the Lima sandboarding days hand out the gear.
In Google Maps ↗
6
Paracas
Gateway to a reserve of 335,000 hectares, about 3 h 10 min from Lima by road.⁵ ⁹
In Google Maps ↗
7
Huacachina
The lagoon 5 km west of Ica, ringed by dunes up to 100 m high.¹⁹ ¹¹
In Google Maps ↗
8
Nasca
The town of the lines, about 2 h by road from Ica.²⁰
In Google Maps ↗
9
Cerro Blanco
A dune about 24 km east of Nasca with a summit at 2078 m.²¹ ²²
In Google Maps ↗
10
Toro Mata
A dune by the Acari river with a descent of 1,800 m, for experts only.²³
In Google Maps ↗
11
Pampa Salinas
Dunes near Ilo where you bring your own board.²⁴
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Before a board session in Paracas

Ask the operator

Where exactly the session takes place
Whether the reserve fee is included
Lying down or standing on the board
Pickup or the meeting point in town

Pack

Sunglasses or goggles against blowing sand
A windbreaker for the cool coast
Water, as snacks are not included
Closed shoes

Cost calculator

Price a Paracas outing for your group

Enter your group size to compare four outings.

Buggy & sandboarding1 hourfrom $50 Mini buggy & oasis3 hoursfrom $83 Hidden oasis buggy3 hoursfrom $75 Mini buggy (drive)2 hoursfrom $55

People 2

Total from$100

per head from $50

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Totals are each outing's from-price times the number of people you enter, turned into your currency with that day's ECB rate; checkout shows what you actually pay.

Video

Riding dune buggies and sandboards at Paracas

The player stays empty until you press play.

Reserve rules, fees and hours

Entry to the Paracas National Reserve is charged per day. MINCETUR's record lists PEN 11.00 for adults and PEN 3.00 for minors, the same for Peruvian and foreign visitors, and opening hours of 09:00 to 16:00 all year.¹ ² Check whether your listing includes it; the 2-hour mini buggy trip does not.

Know what the reserve officially offers. Its record lists photography, diving, wildlife and birdwatching, trekking, cycling, camping, boat trips and quad rides, but not sandboarding.³ A board session may take place on sand outside the protected area; ask the operator where you will ride and whether the reserve fee applies. Inside the reserve, keep to the tracks your driver uses and take every scrap of litter back with you; the desert looks empty but it is a protected landscape.

PromPeru's advice for Paracas is to hire tour operators authorized by DIRCETUR, the regional tourism office, and to ask for a receipt.²⁵ That matters more for buggy outings than for most activities: PromPeru also warns that no one regulates or officially supervises dune buggy services.²⁶

Wind, light and the best months

Paracas is named after the fierce local sandstorms, which are themselves called paracas.¹² SERNANP describes hot summers and long winters that are cool, dry, windy and mostly clear.²⁷ On a windy afternoon the sand stings. Goggles or sunglasses and a scarf over the mouth are worth packing.

For Paracas, PromPeru quotes temperatures of 18 to 23 C and suggests coming in summer, from December to April.²⁸ ²⁹ It also advises a windbreaker: by the sea it is cooler, above all in the morning.¹⁰ Combine the two and an afternoon board session in the warm months makes the easiest sense.

Keep an eye on the clock. The reserve closes at 16:00, and the Viator outing lasts only an hour; a late lunch and an afternoon ride fit together well on a free day.² If the wind is up, ask the operator whether to move the ride; a quiet slope is far more fun than a sandblasted one.

Paracas or Huacachina for the board?

Paracas is close to Huacachina. PromPeru puts the reserve 42 km from Ica, and MINCETUR gives 74 km and about 1 h 5 min by car from Ica's main square to the reserve gate.³⁰ ⁴ A trip down the coast can easily take in both.

For the board itself, look at Huacachina. PromPeru describes its dunes as up to 100 m high, and the most reviewed outing there, a 2 to 3 hour buggy tour with sledding and the sunset, starts from $23.¹¹ Paracas wins on scenery: sand that ends in cliffs and open sea.

A good plan is to ride a short session in Paracas if you stay there, and to save the long sunset session for Huacachina. Day trips from Lima combine both places; a GetYourGuide listing includes sandboarding and off-road driving at Huacachina for 2 hours after a Ballestas boat trip.

Booking a board session in Paracas

Start with the Viator outing if you want something short and simple: an hour, a small group and a meeting point in town. Choose the 3-hour oasis trips if you want more time in the desert and do not mind a listing with few reviews.

Whatever you book, confirm three things by message before the day: where the session takes place, whether the reserve fee is included, and what kind of board you get. The listings say a sandboard is included but not whether you ride it lying down or standing, and that changes the whole experience.

Pack sun protection, water, a windproof layer and closed shoes, and leave anything fragile in your room. Sand gets everywhere on a windy coast, including inside zipped pockets, so a cheap plastic bag for your phone is a good investment. Then enjoy the view from the top before the run: on the Paracas dunes you can see the ocean while you ride, and that view is the reason to come.

Your sunset