Lima Birding Tours: La Punta - Arenilla & Palomino Inlets

If you’re looking for one of the best Lima Birding Tours during a layover, before your flight, or as an early-morning activity before another excursion, this experience is the perfect option. Designed for travelers who want maximum species diversity in just a few hours, this tour combines coastal hotspots, urban parks, and a boat trip—all located close to the new Lima airport.

We begin with an early breakfast at 7:15 AM (we can start much sooner, depending on on your schedule), followed by a smooth drive toward the coast. Our first stop offers incredible photo opportunities of Inca Terns, Peruvian Pelicans, and other classic seabirds of central Peru.

Coastal Birds, Urban Parks & La Punta Highlights

Our next destination is a beautiful green park—one of Lima’s most reliable birding spots—where visitors frequently enjoy close views of:

• Vermilion Flycatchers (including the rare dark morph exclusive to Lima)

• Scrub Blackbirds

• Croaking Ground-Doves

• West Peruvian Doves

• Amazilia Hummingbirds

We also encounter a colorful selection of non-native but charismatic species commonly seen during Lima Birding Tours, such as Red-capped Cardinals, Saffron Finches, Blue-gray Tanagers, Pacific Parrotlets, Red-masked Parakeets, and Long-tailed Mockingbirds. With luck, we may spot Harris’s Hawks soaring overhead or hear the tiny Pacific Pygmy-Owl calling from the canopy.

Arriving at La Punta, we explore the small yet incredibly productive Poza Arenillas, a man-made lagoon famous for hosting thousands of North American migratory shorebirds during the peak season. Regular sightings include:

• Semipalmated Plovers

• Gray Plovers

• Semipalmated Sandpipers

• Sanderlings

• Least Sandpipers

• Massive flocks of Franklin’s Gulls

The surrounding coastline also provides excellent chances to see Andean Gulls, Gray-hooded Gulls, Belcher’s Gulls, Kelp Gulls, Blackish and American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, and Peruvian Pelicans.

One-Hour Boat Trip to Palomino Islands & San Lorenzo

After enjoying the coastal birdlife, we board a one-hour boat ride around San Lorenzo Island and the Palomino Islands. This extension is a highlight of many Lima Birding Tours, offering close encounters with:

• Gray Gulls

• Red-legged Cormorants

• Guanay Cormorants

• Humboldt Penguins

• Peruvian Boobies

• Inca Terns (amazing photographic opportunities)

One of the biggest attractions is the enormous South American Sea-Lion colony, home to more than 4,000 individuals. Here, we often spot the Surf Cinclodes (Endemic) along the rocky coastline.

During the cold-water season (June–September), it is also possible to observe pelagic species such as Elliot’s Storm-Petrels.

End of Tour & Optional Seafood Lunch

The tour ends between 1–2 PM, giving you enough time to enjoy an authentic lunch at a renowned local cevichería (optional add-on: $20 per person) before returning to your hotel or the airport.

Pricing Per Person

1 PAX – 450 USD
2 PAX – 250 USD
3 PAX – 220 USD
4 PAX – 200 USD
5+ PAX – 190 USD