Mancora beach resort in Peru

Mancora is a small town on the Northern coast of Peru, which is becoming popular as a destination for surfing and  those who want to escape to a relaxing beach bungalow.

Mancora is still a relatively undeveloped resort with a population of around 9,000 the main businesses are fishing and tourism. Estimates are that in 2005 there were 340,000 tourists. Although there are hotels with tv and air-conitioning if you want them, there are also small and intimate bungalows with just the basics to let you really relax.

Getting to Mancora involves a long bus trip from Lima along the coastal Pan-American Highway, which takes about 18 hours, so you will have to travel overnight. I would really recommend getting a 1st class reclining seat with either Cruz del Sur or Oltursa.

A faster way to get there is to fly to Tumbes with Lan Peru (about 1 hour 45 minutes) and then get a taxi or a bus to Mancora (approx 1 hour 30 minutes by road) although the flights are quite late so you might have to stay one night in Tumbes.

Las Balsas, Mancora. Pool or the beach...?

There are many different beaches in the Mancora area. Some are better for surfing, some are full of rocks and have many interesting rock pools full of life.

The Pan American Highway running through Mancora

Some people predict that in the future Mancora will be a very busy beach resort, similar to the Costas in Spain but at the moment it’s a quiet place to enjoy a relaxing holiday.

Links:

Parque Central De Miraflores in the heart of the Miraflores district of Lima, Peru

Would you like to have a little tour of the Miraflores district of Lima? Miraflores is a very touristic district and there are many hotels. If you are going to stay here as many tourists do on their way in and out of Lima and Peru this is a circular walk from the centre that will show you some interesting scenes.

Parque Central De Miraflores and Parque Kennedy are two parks next to each other in the centre of Miraflores. They are well tended by the park keepers who keep it full of flowers all year.

It is a nice place to sit and ‘people watch’, you will see couples together, kids in the play area, sometimes women coming to feed the stray cats (you can find cats stuck up a tree sometimes). Very early in the morning you can hear the birds morning chorus in the trees, even a few parrots.

Pizza Street in Miraflores, Lima. It is lined with Pizza restaurants!

Just off Parque Kennedy you can find what locals call ‘Calle de las pizzas’, literally Pizza Street! It’s real name is San Ramon, but because it is completely full of Pizza Restaurants from end to end it is batter known by it’s nick name. It is a lively place at night and it has some pubs and night clubs as well and it’s  popular with tourists. They sometimes dress the place up during events like halloween, with fake spider webs all over the place!

Larcomar leisure complex on the cliffs in Miraflores, overlooking the Pacific.

Larcomar can be found by simply follwing Avenue Larco until you come to the coast. It is a complex of shops, bars, restaurants, cinema, theatre and nightclubs. It has amazing views over the Pacific Ocean and the beaches. It also now has a gold museum which claims to now have the best collection (sadly many of the exhibits in the main Gold Museum in Lima were discovered to be fakes, with the real ones smuggled out of Peru).

La Rosa Nautica, a very posh restaurant with seafood and fine Peruvian cuisine

Turning right from Larcomar, you can walk along the costal path on the cliffs, which gives you a great view of the beaches. This is a popular route with many health fanatics who you will see running along. One thing that you cannot miss is the pier from the beaches below. It is a very posh restaurant mainly serving seafood, fine Peruvian dishes and international styles. Very exclusive and expensive by local standards but not out of the price range of many tourists, but you had better look smart or security might not let you in

Parque del Amor, on the Costa Verde cliffs in Miraflores, Lima

Continuing along the costal path you will see a sculpture ahead, just over a bridge that was once a popular suicide bridge for heart broken people! This is Parque Del Amor a nice park dedicated to love. I have more details on the Parque del Amor in Lima here >>

After seeing the park, head away from the coast up MC Balta, a main road just opposite. You can follow this road all the way back up to central Miraflores. Now you can have a rest in Haiti, a cafe popular with local people and have a coffee.

D'Onofrio Tea Room, an interesting Ice Cream Parlour

If you think you have earned a treat you can go to the D’Onofrio Tea Rooms just off Parque Kennedy for one of their delicious ice creams. See more about Peruvian Ice Cream Culture >>

Links to some of these places (opens in a new window):
www.larcomar.com
www.larosanautica.com 
www.heladosdonofrio.com

Sunset in Pocitas, beaches near Macora in the North of Peru

Peru has 1400 miles of coastline and many beaches. I used to live in the South of Peru, where beaches are nice during the Summer but in the Winter the weather can be very gloomy. Some small towns are like ghost towns during the winter months and in the summer they are full of people visiting the beaches.

Beach Lounge at Bungalows Soleil, Los Organos, Mancora

In the north of Peru however there are lovely beaches where even in the Winter the minimun temperature is about 25 C, and in the summer it’s very hot. These places used to be empty desert but some entrepreneurs decided to set up hotels in the 1980′s. They started by planting palm trees, then building the hotels and now there are many hotels along the different beaches (Mancora, Pocitas, Vichayito, Punta Veleros, Punta Sal, etc). Mancora is now a popular resort for surfers (we have some world class surfers like Sofia Mulanovich, a descendant of Croatian immigrants).

Me enjoying the pool at Bungalows Las Balsas, Pocitas, near Mancora

The hotels have all the facilities and lovely swimming pools and are cheaper than going to the Caribbean (especially during low season) and it’s very easy to get there, just get a bus and go. If you are a tourist visiting from Lima it’s about 18 hours by bus to Mancora. There is an airport as well not far from there (Tumbes) which is about two hours to the lovely beaches.

Middle class people from Lima and another parts of Peru can go there all year round and it’s extremely busy during the Summer and holidays like Easter, New Year, etc.