Group Activities in Ica, Peru
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A convoy of nine-passenger buggies cresting a dune ridge together, engines roaring and everyone cheering at the drop, is the sound of Ica on a Friday afternoon. This is a destination built for groups, from tour buses to backpacker crews, and the activities scale with the crowd rather than shrinking to fit it.
Buggy convoys and shared sandboarding
Standard tours run 9- to 12-passenger tubular buggies in convoy, timed for sunset so the whole group gets the same golden light and photo op on the ridge. Book a group dune buggy and sandboarding run covers the shared-departure format most operators run for groups of six or more.
Bodega crawls and communal feasts
Small-group van tours hop between the artisanal bodegas of Subtanjalla (El Catador , Pisco Nietto) and the larger estates (Tacama, Vista Alegre), usually ending in a shared lunch: platters of carapulcra con sopa seca (dried potato stew and seasoned noodles with pork and chicken) and morusa de pallares (puréed giant Ica butter beans with roast pork). Book the 3-winery pisco and wine route covers El Catador and Tacama on the same run.
Islas Ballestas group charters
Twin-engine speedboats carrying 20 to 30 passengers run the same El Chaco-to-Ballestas route as smaller tours, just at group scale, within the protected area SERNANP manages. It suits a tour-bus-sized party better than the smaller shared boats do, and the wildlife viewing is identical either way.
The hostel social scene: one honest warning
Huacachina’s oasis hostels (Banana’s Adventure, Wild Rover, Desert Nights) run pool parties, trivia nights and barbecue cookouts most evenings, and a group sunset hike up Duna Mayor is a genuinely good way to close out the day together. One thing has changed since late 2025 that group travelers should know: Peru was added to the UK’s expanded methanol-poisoning travel advisory in November 2025, alongside more than two dozen other destinations. It does not mean Huacachina is unusually dangerous; it means the same rule now applies here that applies everywhere on that list. Stick to factory-sealed bottled or canned drinks, decline free unlabelled shots, and be wary of very cheap poured spirits at party nights, especially in open cocktail buckets shared around a group.
For the group version of a quieter evening, our romantic getaways guide covers where couples in the same group booking go to escape the hostel noise. Book buggy convoys and bodega crawls a day ahead in peak season (December to March); groups larger than eight often need a second vehicle reserved in advance.