Piura Tours, Travel and Adventures
Tourism in Peru

VISIT PIURA

But the lovely narrow, cobbled streets and charismatic colonial houses of central Piura make up for the fact that there’s little else for tourists to do here. There are also great spots for surfers, like Mancora Beach and Cabo Blanco.

Tumbes tours: Mangroves Reserve – surfing Cabo Blanco, Órganos, Máncora, Chulucanas, Catacao.Back to top

Piura and around

A proud and historic city, 264 km from Chiclayo, Piura was founded as San Miguel at Tangarará in 1532, three years before Lima, by the conquistadores left behind by Pizarro. It was relocated, first as Pirwa, then with its current name, in 1534. There are two well-kept parks, Cortés and Pizarro (with a statue of the conquistador, also called Plaza de las Tres Culturas), and public gardens. Old buildings are kept in repair and new buildings blend with the Spanish style of the old city. Close to the city are interesting towns on the coast and others specializing in handicrafts. Further afield is the culturally fascinating area of Las Guaringas and the more prosaic route to Ecuador through Sullana.

Getting there

There is an airport. Most bus companies are on Avenida Sánchez Cerro, blocks 11, 12 and 13 in the northwest of the town. There are some hotels in this area, but for central ones take a taxi.

Getting around

From the Plaza de Armas, some of the hotels and bus companies are too far to walk, but many of the sights and places to stay can be reached on foot. Three bridges cross the Río Piura to Castilla, the oldest from Calle Huancavelica (Puente San Miguel), another from Calle Sánchez Cerro and the newest from Avenida Panamericana Norte, west of town. A fourth bridge was lost in El Niño of 1997-1998. Transport to nearby towns is easy to find, likewise buses going to Sullana and on to Ecuador. For Las Guaringas, expect a long journey.

TUMBES AND PIURA

 “Let yourself be seduced by the upper Peruvian North and fall in love with its beaches and natural surroundings.”

If you find yourself lucky enough to travel by land along the coastline from Piura to Tumbes, you will not be able to escape losing yourself in the enchantment of the most beautiful of Peru’s coastal waters. Undoubtedly one of the main attractions along this arid stretch of land is the legendary beach resort of Máncora. It possesses a peculiar combination of surfers, enthusiastic families and regular visitors from all corners of the Globe that one day discovered – or were told about – that the sun never hides itself for every day is summer up here.

Yet, this narrow section of coastline is not limited to just Máncora. Equal to it are other great Piura beaches such as Colán, Lobitos, Cabo Blanco and Órganos, which have much to say and to bequeath to us in terms of nature and pleasure. Nevertheless, if this seems paltry, then you must not forget that Tumbes also faces the Pacific Ocean and has booked its visitors first class tickets for its beaches, such as modern Punta Sal, traditional Zorritos and Puerto Pizarro, where you can enter the mangroves and experience its fantastic wildlife. All of this is deliciously accompanied by Tumbes’ famous seafood tradition that can awe the most demanding palate.

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The Peruvian North is overflowing with nature and as a consequence, the delight that it gives – from quiet beaches stretching to the horizon to thick mangroves -belts out a hymn to diversity.

Accommodation and tourist services

4 star hotels operate in Piura, Máncora, Tumbes and Punta Sal, besides basic and comfortable lodging at the beach resorts and areas close to the ocean. Also, every city does have public transportation and you can also rent water sports equipment from certain hotels and specialized companies.

Tumbes tours: Mangroves Reserve – surfing Cabo Blanco, Órganos, Máncora, Chulucanas, Catacao.Back to top

Routes & length of stay

Tumbes: Puerto Pizarro and the Tumbes Mangroves National Sanctuary.
Tumbes: Zorritos, Punta Sal, Máncora and Cabo Blanco.
Piura: Catacaos and Chulucanas.
Piura: Colán and Yacila.

Tumbes tours: Mangroves Reserve – surfing Cabo Blanco, Órganos, Máncora, Chulucanas, Catacao.Back to top

Recommended for Visit in Piura

Handicraft collectors, who will find decorative pottery in Chulucanas and in Catacaos, as well as hats and silver and gold filigree.

Nature enthusiasts, who, upon visiting the Cerros de Amotape National Park, the Tumbes National Reserve and the Tumbes Mangroves National Sanctuary, will discover forests within very different ecosystems and abundant wildlife.
Bird watchers, who will haven a day to remember in Puerto Pizarro and El Angolo.

Water sports lovers, who enjoy surfing (Cabo Blanco, Órganos, and Máncora), sport fishing, diving (Punta Sal and Máncora) and rafting (in the Tumbes River).

People in search of sun, sand, and sea, who will find this in Máncora, Colán, Punta Sal and Zorritos.

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What to buy?

Many different types of handicrafts are made in Piura. For instance, in Catacaos, artisans work in silver and gold, especially filigree, while those in Chulucanas (in the town of La Encantada) create eye catching pottery, while in Santo Domingo, it is about straw hats. If you go to Huancabamba, flower arrangements that incorporate sea shells are what you will find as well as traditional back-strap weavers who specialize in saddlebags, shawls and ponchos. Craftsmen in Tumbes are known for their wood carvings and works using marine products.

Tumbes tours: Mangroves Reserve – surfing Cabo Blanco, Órganos, Máncora, Chulucanas, Catacao.Back to top

What to eat?

Tumbes is famous for its fresh cebiche de conchas negras (an intensely seasoned dish of scallops, marinated in key lime juice, spicy chili peppers, salt and onions, served with boiled sweet potato and corn), its caldo de bola (a dish featuring bananas that are mashed and formed into a ball, then filled with beef and fried xxx) and its majarisco (green bananas, mashed and fried, accompanied by all sorts of seafood).

There are also many different styles of cebiches in Piura. You can use grouper or mackerel or any other type of freshly caught fish, but essential ingredients are limes from Chulucanas and sarandaja beans. Piura is also the land of the seco de chabelo (a combination of a strong flavored beef jerky with mashed, seasoned and fried banana) and the sudado de cachema (a strong soup made with weakfish and served with large chunks of onions and tomatoes). As you patiently wait for these dishes, fried yuca (cassava) and chifles (fried banana chips) are your hors d’oeuvres. And for dessert, try the sweet natilla (a custard) and to a drink, a cold beer or chicha de jora (corn beer). There are fine restaurants in the cities of Tumbes and Piura as well as in Catacaos and the beaches of Órganos, Máncora and Punta Sal.

Summertime (December to April) is prime mosquito time and the temperatures is always hot; we recommend you to use bug repellent and a good sun blocker, wear a hat and drink plenty of liquid.

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Geography

The Tumbes Region is bordered by the Ecuadorian provinces of El Oro and Loja on the east; Peru’s Piura Region on the south; and by the Pacific Ocean on the north and west.

Morphologically, four zones can be defined in the region: the delta of the Tumbes and Zarumilla rivers; an alluvial plain north of the Tumbes River, with dry, low-depth ravines; ancient terraces that have been strongly eroded in the Máncora area; and the Amotape mountain range in the east and south, ending at El Barco Mountain. The delta of the Tumbes river is shallow, and when the tide is low, little sandy keys show up, which get covered by mangrove vegetation. Despite its small area— it is the second-smallest region in Peru— Tumbes has a great variety of ecosystems: mangroves, dry forests, the only coastal tropical forests in Peru, and a rich and warm sea. Around 50% of the region’s territory is covered by three protected natural areas: the Manglares de Tumbes National Sanctuary (which is part of the Gulf of Guayaquil-Tumbes mangroves), the Cerros de Amotape National Park and the Tumbes Reserved Zone.

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Climate

Tumbes has a warm and humid tropical climate in the north and center of its region and a dry tropical or tropical savanna climate in the south. Temperatures range from a maximum high of 40°C (over 42° during El Niño events) a minimum low of 18°C and a yearly average of around 27°C. The rainy season, which is more severe during El Niño, is from December to March.

Tumbes tours: Mangroves Reserve – surfing Cabo Blanco, Órganos, Máncora, Chulucanas, Catacao.Back to top

History

Tumbes was a populated region well before the Inca Empire. The first settlers were fishers and hunters. Most recent cultures that lived there have left evidence of the refinement in their ceramics, and huacas or ruins that still stand today.

Tumbes was integrated into the Inca Empire during the reign of Sapa Inca Pachacuti. He introduced a new way of organizing the empire, but the task of integration continued during Tupac Inca Yupanqui’s reign. He made it a key departure point for his campaign to conquer the Cañaris.

The adventure of the Spanish Conquistadores had its beginning in Tumbes: at Puerto Pizarro Francisco Pizarro and his men landed in search of gold. After overcoming countless difficulties, the conquerors were able to land in the empire of which they had heard many legends. Undoubtedly, the thought of such a rich empire had instilled in their spirit an unwavering will to go on. With the information gathered, the conquerors set off to the rest of the empire, founding cities and overpowering their people.

During colonial times, Tumbes was no more than a crossing point where soldiers and adventurers stopped momentarily to restock themselves, and continue traveling. Tumbes, however, gained permanent importance after Peru’s independence; with Ecuador’s long-standing territorial claims over the Loreto Region of Peru,Tumbes’s closeness to the border exposed it as a resistance point in some episodes of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian War.

As part of the decentralization process in Peru, a referendum was held on October 30, 2005 to decide whether the region would merge with the regions of Piura and Lambayeque to create the new Northern Region (Spanish: Región Norte). However, voters in the region voted against the merge.

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