Huanchaco, Peru
South America, Peru
Full file · 8 sections
I live in places instead of visiting them. Peru, Colombia, Portugal, Mexico. Teaching English, volunteering, learning the language on the ground, then writing up what it actually took: the combi you need, the price people really pay, the office hours nobody posts. I write the same field notes at Vibing with Locals.
- Total cost
- US$65What the trip cost them
- Days needed
- 2
- Go between
- May to Sep
- Pace
- —
Fifteen minutes from Trujillo by combi, next to free. A fishing town that became a surf town without giving up the first job. Two nights is the sweet spot.
9 of 9 sections are free to read.
The Verdict
A working fishing town that also surfs. Two nights, a reed boat ride on a design three thousand years old, and an hour on the church hill watching the bay go gold. Cheap, easy, and fifteen minutes from Trujillo.
The pier, and the bay that goes gold at sunset
Getting There
Combi from Ovalo Huanchaco in Trujillo. About fifteen minutes and next to free. They run constantly through the day and the front window says Huanchaco, so you do not need to ask. The combi drops you on the main road a block back from the malecon. Everything in town is walkable from there. Coming back after dark is the one thing to plan. Combis thin out in the evening and flagging a taxi on the street at night is not how it works here. Book a taxi in advance, or ask your hostel to call one. They will have a driver they use. If you are coming straight from Trujillo airport rather than the city, take a taxi direct. It is about half an hour up the coast and you skip the transfer.
A fishing town that also surfs, both jobs at once
Staying
Small, locally owned, walking distance to the beach. Full of cats, which is not a marketing line, it is a description. The owners live on site and they are the reason to stay here rather than at one of the bigger surf hostels on the malecon. Ask them where they eat. That question got me better food than any list I found online.
The seafront places charge for the view and the view is free from the beach. One street back drops the price and costs you ninety seconds of walking.
If you already have a bed in Trujillo, Huanchaco works as a day trip. You lose the evening, which is the best part, but the combi runs until dark.
Ceviche, one block back from the seafront
The Month
The town works year round. What changes is the water and the crowd. I went in the southern winter. Grey mornings, sun by early afternoon, cold water, and the beach mostly to the locals and the surfers. That suited me. December through March is the Peruvian summer holiday. Warmer water, warmer air, and the town fills with domestic tourists. Still good, just louder and pricier for a bed. Sunset is the appointment. Get up to the church on the hill about forty minutes before it goes down and stay after. The whole bay turns gold and then it turns cold fast, so take a layer. Two nights is the sweet spot in any month. Arrive Friday after your commitments, leave Sunday before dark. One night is not enough. Three starts to feel like avoidance.
The Receipt
- Combi, Ovalo Huanchaco to Huanchaco, each wayTransport$1
- Two nights, small locally owned hostelStay$30
- Caballito de totora ride, 15 solesGuide$4
- Ceviche and drinks, one block back from the maleconFood$12
- Breakfasts and coffee, two daysFood$8
- Taxi back to Trujillo after dark, booked aheadTransport$10
- TotalUS$65
- Stay$30
- Food$20
- Transport$11
- Guide$4
What Went Wrong
I ate on the malecon the first night because it was there. Same seafood, tourist prices, worse. The second night I asked the hostel owner where she eats and walked one block back for half the money and better ceviche. Ask the host where they eat, not where you should eat. Those are two different questions and they get two different answers. I tried to flag a taxi on the street to get back to Trujillo after dark and stood there for twenty minutes. You book it. The hostel has a driver. I went in the water in board shorts. The Humboldt current runs cold along this coast all year. Everyone else was in a wetsuit and I lasted about eleven minutes. I almost skipped the reed boat because it looked like a tourist thing. It is the opposite. Those boats go out to fish before dawn and the ride costs less than a beer. I booked one night first and extended. If you can, book two from the start, because the good rooms in the small places go on Friday afternoon.
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Background by Kieran Proctor on Unsplash