San Andres (10.4 km) Best Direction: S Type: Shallow Flat Chop Small Wave (< 1m) Medium Wave (1-3m) Zarate (13.51 km) Best Direction: S Type: Small Wave (< 1m) Medium Wave (1-3m) Playon (18.29 km) Best Direction: No Information Type: Small Wave (< 1m) Medium Wave (1-3m)
The tide is really low and does not make any differences for riders. You can choose from perfect flat close to the shores or some chop depending on the wind speed but it is normally considered flat unless we get a Paraca (really strong winds above 30 knots) when it gets choppy if you ride far from the shores.
It is a desert beach with some houses developing around. The beach is at the border of the natural reserve, therefore we will not get houses spoiling the amazing winds. It is hard sand and some compacted dust as there is quiet often the "Paracas winds". There is enough space to launch and land kites.
Paracas is sunny almost all year long. In winter time we can get sometimes some gray days but not many. From May till October a 2-3 wetsuit would do the trick as the best "clean" winds are coming late in the afternoons and gets a bit chilling for Peruvians as for people coming from "cold" countries feel good. The good season is from August till May but if you like warmer weather come in November to April. The water is normally around 18°C, it can get a bit colder or warmer depending on the tides and currents as Paracas Bay is continuously changing.
The wind direction starts coming North in the mornings, it usually switches at 11am but during the good season sometimes 9am to South. We ride the South wind as the North wind usually is light. The morning winds are very stable and also the afternoon winds, from noon to 3pm can be a bit gusty (5 knots gust in average) which is never a problem and is rare to have a day that the gusts make it uncomfortable. The really cool thing is that the wind is coming sideoffshore so its really safe. If you loose your kite or board just walk for 5 minutes and pick it up at the other side of the bay as it is a perfect U-shaped bay and is really safe unless you decide to ride way far out of the shore. You can ride all year long, and the worst kiting weeks of the low season you can ride on an average of 3 days a week, at the good season you can ride 28 days per month (November to April).
The best way to get here is to fly to Lima, then get a bus (the very good special services cost around 15$) and 4 hours later you will be in Paracas (Ormeno and Cruz del Sur companies have that "tourist" service as Paracas is a very visited zone because of the Ballestas Islands with penguins, dolphins, zillions of birds, and thousands of sea lions, also the reserve is just breath taking).
Please do not ride inside the really protected areas of the reserve (ask the locals), not only because you will annoy someone who will be in our necks later, there are very important species who need their space and they must be respected. No registration or license needed, just common sense and good attitude, the locals are really friendly.
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