Ica Dunes or Ica desert is an area of the Peruvian coast that is located on a strip of variable width of the coastal desert plain of the central South American Pacific that limits with the shore of the Grau Sea to the west and the Peruvian Andes to the east.
Located in the department of Ica, where the phenomenon of the paracas winds occurs, there are some of the best known and most visited dunes in the country. Paracas, a word of Quechua origin that means “rain of sand”, defines the winds that, from moderate to strong intensity, originate in the peninsula of the same name. These winds are a consequence of the differences in atmospheric pressure that occur between the sea and the desert coastal strip.
The Ica region, in the middle of the desert, has a dry subtropical hot desert climate. The average annual temperature is around 22 °C. Some of the highest dunes in the world are found in that area. One of them is the Cerro Marcha Dune. Located in the Valle de las Trancas province of Nazca, this dune is approximately 1673 meters high and is known by lovers of adventure sports.
These dunes have existed since ancient times, because these dunes are one of the most visited attractions by tourists seeking adventure in Ica,among the dunes of the Ica desert where people come mainly to do the sandboarding and tubular tour, and the party!
Access : Coordinates: -14.093139, -75.776667 / Location: 5 km from the city of Ica.
Highlights :
- The geography of the dunes allows the desert region to be considered in the routes of important automobile competitions such as the Dakar Rally7 and the Caminos del Inca Rally.
- Visitors will be able to discover the most spectacular desert on the Peruvian coast, where they will also be able to slide down the dunes with sandboarding.
- La Huacachina, is an Oasis in the middle of the desert composed of a natural lake from which many hypotheses were made where the water came from in the middle of the desert in its surroundings there are palm trees, tamarind trees and sand dunes that rise several meters high, creating a unique and representative landscape of the south of the country.
- The Ica desert is, along with the Atacama and the Sahara, one of the driest areas on earth.
Go next : The oasis of Huacachina / Ballestas Islands / city of Ica, home to more than 200 pisco distilleries.
