Surfing on your Peru Vacaction

The Inca and Colonial history of Peru in South America is famous worldwide. Peru is known as the home of the potato, and the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. Peru's more than 1,800 miles of western coastline along the Pacific Ocean generally do not make for many great beaches as most of it is the upper stretches of the Atacama Desert. Most visitors to this amazing Andean nation fly straight up into the Andes and Cusco or out to the Amazon Jungle via Puerto Maldonado.

Generally only Peruvians use their beaches in the summer and the best beaches in Peru start at the country's northern border and follow the coast south to Lima. January, February and March are the months when they get their greatest use and the South American summer is when these beaches are filled with locals from cities like Lima, Trujillo and Piura. The most popular water sport by far is surfing but you can also try wind surfing and sailing.

The cities of Piura, Tumbes, Lima and Trujillo have the best beaches. Peru has the longest wave in the world it is rumored and the city of Trujillo holds a huge surfing competition every March to take advantage of the swells. The beach resort and fishing village of Huanchaco is located close to the city of Trujillo and has some excellent hotels. Beach resorts and other similar accommodations are beginning to spring up along the country's coast in other locations. Asia for example is a resort around 90 minutes drive from Lima where well to do Limeñans go for the weekend.

The best beach in Peru according to many is Punta Sal, located near the border with Ecuador. Punta Sal is a huge, white sandy beach with nice hotels and a very relaxed atmosphere and is not far from the most famous Peruvian beach area, Mancora. In recent years the village of Mancora has grown as more and more hotels are built, the climate here is good all year round offering wealthy people the chance to escape the Lima weather. The Punta Sal and Mancora area is perfect for deep sea fishing and scuba diving in addition to surfing. The best time for these passtimes is from December to March when sunbathing and simply relaxing on the beach is a real pleasure. You can also enjoy horse rides on the beach organized by one of the local hotels. Punta Sal is only an hour's car ride from Tumbes and less than two hours by plane from Lima.

Mancora is located less than an hour from Punta Sal. It is extremely popular among surfers as waves can get as high as six feet and even taller from December through March. In addition, surfing lessons are available from the surf shops along the shore front. You can relax in natural swimming pools formed by the receeding tide and the clean, white sand is perfect for strolling along. There are many other nice beaches in the north of the country such as the lovely fishing village of Colan near Paita.

Lima is a city that has a dense fog covering it for about nine months a year but in the summer months, the fog rolls away, the skies clear and the sun shines brightly. The Peruvian summer runs from December to April and at this time the beaches are filled to bursting.

The beaches of Lima are very different from each other, some offering shores that are sandy while others are more rocky. Miraflores, Barranco and Chorrillos are neighborhoods of Lima and have beaches where one can cool off take a dip in the Pacific Ocean. South of the city is where the best beaches are located and are known as El Silencio, Señoritas, and Caballeros, plus Asia mentioned earlier. Not only are the waves good for surfing but there are many excellent bars and restaurants in which to dine and watch the Pacific sunsets.