Huacachina Day Trip Experience: Itinerary & Tips

If you’re thinking of doing a Huacachina day trip from Lima, let me just say — you need to do it. I wasn’t expecting it but it ended up being one of the best adventures of my whole Peru trip.

Here’s what my day was like, what to expect, and my top tips! We traveled with Peru Hop’s Full Day Tour by the way, they made everything so easy and fun which we’ll go into detail now.

Huacachina Day Trip itinerary

5:45 AM

It’s an early start to the day (but don’t worry you’ll be able to catch up on sleep on the bus). Peru Hop picked us up directly from our hostel in Miraflores. No taxi stress, no meeting points. Just rolled out of bed and hopped on the bus.

Their Travel Hosts greeted us at reception and guided us to the bus. Once we got on, we were surprised by how big and comfortable the bus was. He then briefly explained the plan while we went on to pick up the rest of the passengers.

Quick shoutout to Aldo, our host for the day. Don’t think the experience would’ve been so great without him.

Pro tip: grab a quick coffee or snack before you leave.

10:00 AM

After a few hours, we reached our first stop: Paracas. Here the Ballestas Islands boat tour was included and honestly, it was the perfect way to kick things off. It’s like a mini Galapagos filled with penguins, sea lions, and hundreds of birds.

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Around noon, we had the option to join a buffet lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We chose this option since we loved Peruvian food since our first day. You could also use the time to stroll around Paracas, but most of us were ready to sit back and enjoy the view with some good food.

2:00 PM

We finally got to Huacachina. The oasis looked like something out of a movie with the lagoon right in the middle, palm trees, and towering sand dunes all around. We had 2 hours to just chill out and explore the desert oasis. The adventure we’ve been waiting for was finally close!

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

The much-awaited dune buggy and sandboarding activity! This it Huacachina’s main attraction due to its huge sand dunes scattered across. We all piled onto the dunebuggy, put on our seatbelts, and off we went.

It’s basically like a roller coaster adventure: the driver flys over the dunes and then we make stops to sandboard down some of the dunes (don’t worry — it’s all super safe and controlled).

Peru Hop offers an exclusive 2 hour activity which is great since we were able to witness one of Peru’s most beautiful sunsets while we calmed down from all the adrenaline.

7:00 PM

After all was enjoyed, it was finally time to get back on the bus for the journey back to Lima. Most of us fell asleep as soon as we settled in. It was a peaceful drive and we got dropped off directly at our accommodations around 11:30 PM ending the day just how we started: with no stress.

My Top Tips

• A small backpack is more than enough to take a sweater, water, and any other things you might want for the day. You’ll be able to leave it on the bus when doing the activities.
• Sunscreen and sunglasses are a must! Huacachina is one of Peru’s sunniest towns.
• Wear sneakers (at least for the dune buggy activity)
• Definitely check out Peru Hop’s full day tour. We really can’t recommend it enough!

Final thoughts

If you want to make the most of a single day out of Lima, this Huacachina Day Trip is it. Smooth transport, no stress, great guides, and a packed day of activities without ever feeling rushed.

I’d 100% do it again!