Booked a private tour with Vista Adventures. About 3 1/2-hour ride from our hotel to Paracas and a little more returning. Guide slept 1/2 of the way down and probably 2/3 of the return. Guide was supposed to have some knowledge of local birds - he was totally clueless. Boat ride to the islands was supposed to last 2 hours - lasted a little over half that. Most of the lectures were in Spanish with snippets of English. If you have never seen a sea lion, you'd probably be interested. Otherwise, riding in a boat jockeying for position qround a small buoy with 3 other tour boats to see a few sleeping sea lions was underwhelming. There were a few more sea lions in a couple spots on the islands and quite a few sea birds - all of which you can see on the beach without wasting your time on the boat. Tour advertises penguins and they didn't bother to stop for people to see the single random penguin that swam by. Again, you could see twice as many swimming around the bay from the dock. We finished by going back by the buoy - sea l;ions were still sleeping and no more exciting. When they advertise that you will be taking the first boat, they mean the first one for their company. Three other boats let before ours and they were the ones that first started circling the buoy. The Paracas Reserve and museum were no more exciting. The museum was a joke for contents but we were able to walk towards the water to get a distant view of the flamingos and a few other birds I was able to show the guide. We were supposed to visit the Naldo Navarro winery but the guide decided to skip that so we could return back to Lima in time to beat some of the rush hour traffic. I recommend not wasting your money for this "private tour" and instead arranging your own transportation to Paracas. You can get boat tickets when you get there for way less money. Then go on your own to the winery if you want to see that. There is a nice restaurant just up the street from the boat dock for lunch. In our case, the guide just dumped us off and left for a while. I think the restaurant manager felt sorry for us because he brought us complimentary piscos so we could taste their local drink. (it was good) Everything is a long way south of Lima so plan to take a full day. To end this on a positive note, we had an excellent driver who smoothly maneuvered through amazing traffic and gave us a completely comfortable ride.

Both the boat tour and the park were wonderful. I would fully recommend the sites. But tour operator did a poor job. After the boat tour we were told to return to the travel agency by 10:50 for the 11:00 park tour. We were then walked back to the port to meet the tour guide. He said, small delay, be back in 10 minutes. We returned and waited another 30 minutes. We thought the tour may have left without us. We get in a van that is ???? old with a cracked windshield. I am in the jump seat next to the driver, seat belt broken. No air conditioning. The tour begins by going to an overlook site of the city. Then back to paracas. Tour guide gets out???? Ten minutes later he returns with more people. Not enough seats so the guide does not have a seat. Although the time was much shorter we enjoyed the park. On the way home the driver runs over a large rock. The driver was concerned about the condition of the vehicle ,drove about 10 miles per hour and stopped 4 times to look under the hood. We were on a cruise and had a time considerations. Very stressful. In the end everything was fine but I would find a tour operator with better communication and equipment.

Boat tour is fine lots of wild birds and some sealions and a couple of penguins. Reserve tour at 11 organised through Paracas travel really disappointing. 2 stops to see the playa roja a full hour at playa Mina - wasn’t told that should bring swimming gear and a full hour and half for lunch before returning to Paracas. This tour would be better done in a taxi if you are not on your own.

The tour guides were enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and the tour itself was organised efficiently. Worth mentioning that there is a 45min gap between the Ballestas Islands tour and that of the national park, where you come back to Paracas and can get a coffee or early lunch.

Great views. Up close to marine life I wanted to see. Fantastic price. Arrive 15- 20 minutes early. We cut it a little to close but still made it. If you sit in back of the boat, its easier to get great picts but you will get wet. We went in October so didn't get to see babies but still worth going this time of year.

I've travelled for many months and made the mistake to book a voucher via tripadvisor. I would like to go to the Ballestas Islands and to be sure of this I made a reservation. Don't make the same mistake. There are plenty of tourist offices in Paracas. Thereby we didn't went to Ballestas but to Isla Blanco (because of the weather). I didn't went with this tour and made the tour at 11. Didn't got any refund and went by myself on the bike to the desert (much better than in a touristbus). So don't book in forehand and see the morning itself. Normally my qay of travelling and you see it's much better. Ballestas is beautiful the tourist trap of Paracas isn't. 1 day is enough;)

Guides were super friendly and knowledgeable! The ballestas island guide pointed out a ton of different wildlife for us and was able to answer a bunch of questions. The paracas reserve guide was super funny and made sure we all had an enjoyable time. He also recommended a good lunch spot for after the tour.

The tour of both the islands and the national reserve were just wonderful. We saw Peruvian penguins and thousands of birds/sea lions on the islands. The boat would stop and get close enough to take photos. The national reserve was quite interesting. The lunch stop was on the expensive side but it was good. I would recommend taking this tour while in Paracas.

Loved this trip the boats were modern and the guide was really educational. I would do this again all the birds and animals are as advertised.

The 2 hour Ballestas Island tour was a highlight of our trip to Peru. We saw hundreds of penguins, seals and birds. The journey took us passed the candelabra lines in the mountainside. We also saw dolphins on the way to the islands. The boat trip is definitely worth doing. We had low expectations when we entered the National Park as it was just a lot of sand. However very quickly we came across amazing viewpoints - red sand and cliffs meeting the ocean.

The day was beautiful and the water was not very rough at all. You stop halfway to view a very old candlebra built into the sand! Island was very pretty w/ the rock formations and sea lions!