Playa Roja

Playa Roja is on the Paracas peninsula in the Ica region of Peru, inside the Paracas National Reserve, about four hours south of Lima. The beach is a crescent of red gravel and coarse sand backed by ochre desert cliffs, with the Pacific in front of it.

The colour comes from the cliffs. The headland above is a red porphyry, and material eroding from it accumulates on the beach below, giving a red that is closer to brick than to the saturated images that circulate. The setting does more than the colour: this is one of the driest places on earth, the desert reaches the sea with no transition, and the Humboldt Current keeps the water cold and the air cool while the sun is fierce.

That cold current is why the reserve exists. Upwelling makes these waters among the most productive on the planet, supporting sea lions, Humboldt penguins, flamingos and enormous seabird colonies — the guano islands offshore were the basis of a nineteenth-century export boom that briefly made Peru wealthy.

There is nothing built. The reserve has a road, viewpoints and a visitor centre; the beach is reached by a track and access has been restricted at times, including a period of closure after an earthquake damaged a nearby rock formation. Swimming is not the point and the water is cold, rough and full of life. The Ballestas Islands offshore are the guano islands proper, and the boat trip out of Paracas is how most visitors see the wildlife; the Candelabro, a geoglyph cut into a dune facing the sea, is passed on the way and nobody agrees who made it.

Red porphyry gravel, a desert reserve, cold Humboldt water and no swimming worth the name. Access has closed before, for conservation and after seismic damage, so check it is open before driving four hours from Lima. The Ballestas boat trip out of Paracas is where the wildlife actually is.