When people think about Peru, they usually picture Machu Pichu, the Andes, and maybe the Amazon jungle. What most people don’t know is that Northern Peru is the perfect destination for a beach vacation! It is also a great getaway year-round due to its proximity to the Equator. Winter is a great time for a Northern Peru beach vacation, which is exactly what we did in July 2022.
We want to have a set time of year to travel to Peru to visit family. July works great with our kids being in summer break, and their cousins being on winter break. We didn’t want to travel during summer to experience winter, so we chose to head north, and it worked great!
What was planned as a Northern Peru beach vacation, turned into trips to see foxes (zorritos), thermal baths, a national park mangrove, an adventurous border crossing and more, including lots of beach time too! Proof that Peru is an amazing destination with A LOT to offer!
Where We Stayed
For our Northern Peru beach vacation we stayed in the town of Zorritos, located 40 minutes away from the Tumbes airport. Northern Peru beaches are amazing! They ocean is full of life, the water is warm, and it’s usually sunny. We chose Zorritos as our home base because of its beautiful beaches. We also we found the perfect Airbnb for our family there, which sealed the deal!
Getting There And Away
We flew from San Francisco to Lima with a stop in LAX. Then, we flew into the Tumbes airport from Lima 3 hours after landing in the country. The flight is about an 1.5 hours, and the airport is very small with just one arrival and departure gate. There are two small cafes inside the airport—one in departures and one in arrivals.
There are no rental car agencies at the airport in Tumbes. We setup a rental car through a friend because we wanted the most flexibility to move around during our 2 weeks there. But don’t worry, you can just grab one of the many airport taxis waiting outside the airport to take you to your destination. If you are planning on staying in a resort, you can arrange airport pick up and drop off with them as well. The ride from the airport to Zorritos takes approximately 45 minutes.
Driving in Peru is not for the faint of heart or for people who have only driven in the US. Roads are busy with mototaxis (tuk tuks), trucks, and the occasional motorized cart in addition to cars and minibuses. There is a system to the madness, but it takes a bit to figure it out.
Getting Around
No car? no problem, you can easily move around using mototaxis. Mototaxis are the peruvian counterparts of Asia’s tuk tuks. You simply stand on the side of the road (in this case, the Pan-American Highway) and flag one when you see them go by. Remember to negotiate the price before getting on one of them.
Although not very common, you can also find taxis in town. Often times, your taxi driver will give you their contact info so you can call them anytime you need transportation, and they usually inquire about whether you need a ride back to the airport. If you are staying in one of the resorts in the area, the staff at the resort will help you set up transportation depending on your needs.
Taxi drivers are also helpful when trying to setup day trip excursions to the nearby attractions.
What To Do
Beach
The beaches in this part of Peru are simply the best! We found the stretches of beach north of town to be the nicest for our kids. The beach right outside our rental was perfect, with a light sideways pull. The waves were small enough for kids to go in by themselves, but big enough they could boogie board on them! There are some bigger rocks on some areas of the shore, so always ask the locals where is a good place to swim in. The person who greeted us upon arrival pointed out what small stretch of beach to avoid because of the peñas (rocks), and we had no issues.
We were there in the dead of winter (late July), and the water was warm and perfect for swimming! Most beaches are sandy, but sometimes you can find a few rocks right on the shore. Water shoes would be nice, but are not necessary.
The beaches in Zorritos are safe to walk on. We were told several times that there is basically no crime in town.
Muelle Flotante de Zorritos
This was such a fun activity! Located on the beach right in front of Maliah Beach Club in Zorritos, this segmented dock is malleable and contorts to the shape of the ebbing waves. The dock is about 500 feet in length, and there’s a larger area at the end where you can sit down to take a break, or to use for jumping in the water.
Walking on this dock was a lot harder than I imagined. I found myself walking from post to post keeping an eye on the coming waves. It was definitely an adrenaline rush! Our kids really enjoyed the experience and weren’t as nervous as the grown ups in our group were!
The cost to go in is 20 Nuevos soles (~US$5) per person, and it included an unlimited time on the dock and a life jacket.
Santuario Nacional Los Manglares De Tumbes
This protected area was established in 1988 and it protects the largest are of mangrove forest in Peru. The park is located about 45 minutes from Zorritos and about a half hour from the border with Ecuador.
I believe you can arrange a visit to the Manglares prior to arriving in Peru, but we opted to hire someone once we were in Zorritos. We setup our visit with Don Carlos (WhatsApp +51-920-486-913) and he was wonderful! He picked us up from our rental in Zorritos, drove us to the Manglares, then to the border town, and back to Zorritos with a quick stop at the Plaza de Armas (Main square) in Tumbes. We were out from 8am until 5pm and the cost for transportation was 315 Nuevos Soles (less than US$85) for a small van with 3 rows of seats.
Once we arrived to Puerto Pizarro (the port from where boats leave to explore the Manglares), we were greeted by a friend of Don Carlos who took us to the boats that had been reserved for us. The best time to visit this park is during high tide when most of it is underwater, making it easy to access most of the side channels. We were lucky to arrive right as the tide had peaked. We paid a bit under US$25/boat for the length of our visit. There was also a small fee to enter the park (less than a dollar).
The boat tour makes 3 stops: The first is at the Crocodile Rehabilitation Center, which was more like a breeding center because they are not yet reintroducing them into the wild. They have been successful at reproducing them in captivity, which is nice because this particular species of crocodile was close to extinction due. This was an exciting stop for the kids as they got to see these incredible animals up close.
The second stop is next to the Island of Birds. Here you are able to feed fish scraps to the birds from the area, which mostly included pelicans and frigates. This was a very cool experience for all of us, even though we weren’t totally on board with the practice of feeding wildlife.
The last stop was at the Isla del Amor. Our boat dropped us off here and told us he’d pick us up in about 2 hours. This island is were the ocean waters enter the park, and the shore is lined with several restaurants offering deliciously fresh seafood! Our kids loved walking around finding seed pods for the mangrove trees and “planting” a new forest, while the adults enjoyed a cold beer in the shade. It was perfect! We ate lunch on the island and the food was delicious!
After our boat picked us up from the island around 1pm, we headed back to Puerto Pizarro where we met our driver. From there we drove to the border with Ecuador.
Peru-Ecuador Border
After a lovely time at the Manglares, we drove 30 minutes to the border town of Aguas Verdes. Our driver found a shady spot to leave the car and showed us which way to walk to reach the border. The entire border area was hopping with commerce, and it was a bit chaotic in general. Many people come here to score good deals on home goods as it is a duty free zone as well.
We have done a handful of land border crossings, but this was the first time we were able to walk from our country to the other without going through a security checkpoint or immigration control. You simply walk from Peru to Ecuador, and then back as if you were just walking from one neighborhood to the next!
Once we crossed the border into the town of Huaquillas, we ventured into a giant street market. The setup reminded us of the big market in Kuala Lumpur, only a bit more chaotic and perhaps a bit dirtier too. Still, it was fun to see and experience this area.
If you plan on doing this border crossing, I recommend you don’t have valuables such a jewelry on you. Also, if traveling with kids, keep them close to you at all times as there are bicycles, carts, motorcycles and more moving quickly around you.
Hervideros
There are two reasons to visit Hervideros: To see the wild foxes (Zorritos), and to experience the geothermal baths.
The geothermal baths include five very rustic pools with different types of mud lakes for different ailments. There is water for rinsing off after soaking in the mud pools. We didn’t go in, but saw lots of locals happily floating in them.
The town of Zorritos gets its name from the local population of wild foxes (zorros). There are about 15 different species of foxes in the area, and Hervideros is a great place to them. The foxes are used to being fed by visitors so they hang around the parking lot for the thermal baths. Even though we decided against feeding the foxes, there were other people there feeding them, so we got to see them from very close. You can also catch a glimpse of them while wondering around the thermal pools.
Walk up to the lighthouse for a panoramic view of town
This was a local recommendation and it was a fun and quick outing. Right off of the Pan-American Highway, you can see a colorfully painted set of stairs. There is a lighthouse at the top of the stairs, but the real treat is the wonderful panoramic view from the top.
We were slightly puzzled by the location of the lighthouse (inland), but it was a fun place to visit.
Check out the town of Zorritos
The town of Zorritos stretches a couple of blocks on either side of the Pan-American Highway. There are a couple of squares with benches, and we found one playground-like structure of a boat you can climb onto. There are lots of stores and restaurants lining the road. These stores are quite complete and you can find pretty much anything in them. Convenience stores also sell alcoholic drinks.
The Malecon (beachside promenade) was undergoing improvements when we were there, but it looked so pretty already! In general, it felt like the town was getting a facelift. This might be due to the fact that it has seen a huge increase in domestic tourist. That being said, we didn’t see a single other foreigner during our 2 weeks there.
Zorritos Market
We took our kids there because we all love seeing local markets wherever we travel to. The market in Zorritos was small but very complete. There is a meat/fish section that really captivated our kids’ attention with the chopping of chicken, and the cleaning of fresh caught fish. Definitely a good place to learn more about the local fish options. There is also a wonderful fresh fruit and produce area. Bring your own reusable bag to avoid getting a plastic bag for every purchase you make.
Whale Watching and swimming with sea turtles
We didn’t do this, but heard it was a fun experience. There are several tour operators in the area, and you can reserve once you arrive in town. We can go whale watching here in California, so didn’t feel the need to do it in Zorritos.
Money
The currency in Peru is the Peruvian Nuevo Sol. The exchange rate fluctuates between 3.8 and 4 soles per dollar, making Peru and extremely affordable destination. This is especially true for Northern Peru, where costs are lower in general.
We found an ATM in town outside Banco de la Nacion. There’s a 24-hour guard outside the bank, and the ATM was working well every time we used it. We never felt unsafe withdrawing money from it, but took the common-sense precautions of covering the keypad when entering our PIN, and making sure nobody was too close to us. We also do that here in the US, so nothing to worry about while doing it there!
Food
Because our Airbnb gave us the option of hiring a person to cook meals for us, we didn’t eat out much. We only tried one restaurant in town that was highly recommended: Eduardo El Brujo.
Eduardo El Brujo
No Northern Peru beach vacation is complete without a stop at El Brujo! This is the best choice in town! Lots of deliciously fresh seafood dishes in a setting with lots of options to enjoy the pool, the beach, the balcony, hammocks, etc. A feast for 5 people was about $100.
Other places that were recommended to us were Son y Sabor and Pizzeria La.
Safety
We were told over and over that Zorritos is a very safe town with very low crime rates. We always felt safe walking on the beach, and around town. Like with any place, you should take precautions like keeping your valuables close to you, and avoid wearing expensive and/or flashy jewelry.
I hope this post was helpful in planning your Northern Peru beach vacation! To read more about our family travels, click here.
