Huacachina, ever heard of this place? Nope. Well, read to find out more about the wonderful village. 

Huacachina, a desert oasis and tiny village just west of the city of Ica in southwestern Peru. At its center are the green waters of the Huacachina Lagoon, ringed by palm trees and thought to have therapeutic properties. The lagoon’s shores are dotted with bars and clubs. Dune buggies run across the high, rolling sand dunes surrounding the village. 

This is one of the places that you must visit when going to Peru. Isn’t super cool having a village right in the middle of the desert? The population of Huacachina is just 200 people, and there is everything you can think of. 

The dunes around town are the largest in South America and are rightfully popular for adventure activities like dune buggy rides and sandboarding. Groups are put into vehicles with drivers and make their way up the hill to the dunes, racing up and down what seems like mountains. This is not for the faint of heart as some of the drivers go a bit crazy and it is dangerous. Be careful at the sunset viewpoint as buggies leave at different times and people take photos without paying attention. I highly recommend getting travel insurance if you know you want to do this. Secure your hats and sunglasses, wear a bandana or Buff to keep sand out of your mouth, and wear shoes that are easy to get sand out of. Zip up your phone in a bag and bring a water bottle. When it comes to boarding, you’ll be given a basic board that is waxed to make it easier to go down. Some of the dunes are very steep and you can pick up high speeds, so prepare yourself for a face of sand. I got some nice burns from sliding off the board. But you can also go without a tour or rent skis and GoPros, which one of my travel companions did. There is a route to hike up the dunes to go on your own. 

In Huacachina, there is a lot of things that you can do, but the two main things that MUST be done is the most famous tour in the region is the DUNE BUGGY AND SANDBOARDING TOUR. This popular tour involves being driven through the gigantic sand dunes in a dune buggy that looks like it is from a SCI-FI movie and then trying the sport of sandboarding. Because the sport of sandboarding is very challenging, most visitors eventually end up lying flat on the sandboard on their stomachs and using it as a sled. This is very fast and not difficult and offers a lot of entertainment value. 

Now that you know a little bit about the spectacular village, do you want to go and experience all the fun?