Palomino Islands or Ballestas Islands? If you are visiting Peru and looking into what islands you want to visit, here you will find some insight into my experience. Now Palomino islands offer something Ballestas Islands don’t: swimming with sea lions in Lima. That was the reason I chose Palomino instead of Ballestas Islands.
Location and Duration of the Trip
Palomino Islands 
Ballestas Islands
To reach Palomino Islands it is the best to be located in Lima. Ballestas Islands instead are 4 hours away from Lima, near Ica, Paracas.
Now both tours usually take around 2 to 3 hours. You also have the option to stay in Lima and do a one day tour to Paracas/Huacachina. To me it seems quite tiring (start at 5-6 am, back at midnight) but doable if you don’t want to travel around this area too much. There are also options to stop for two days or more.
The Trip
For us the meeting point was at Restaurante El Mirafor, La Punta.
On the tour you pass the bigger Isla San Lorenzo and the smaller Isla El Fronton where you can see the ruins of the El Fronton prison. From here the water has a little bit more of a movement. I usually get some sea sickness, but I was fine looking at the horizon and it’s also something they recommend before starting the tour.
On the way to Palomino Islands, you will have the oportunity to see different birds, including penguins. Usually when you see ads for Ballestas Islands, you will notice they sell the same thing – opportunity to see different species of animals, including penguins. So if you are asking yourself if you can see penguins on Palomino Islands, the answer is yes.
Reaching the Palomino Islands, you have the option to change into suits and jump into the sea to go swim with sea lions. The water is quite cold, the first 30 seconds can be hard but then you get really used to it. If you have any chronic pain, it can be quite stressful and hard. I would recommend to think about the risks.
Swimming with sea lions
Now one of the first things you will notice is the smell. Yes, you can smell the poop of the sea lions. I would recommend having your mouth shut when you jump into the sea (for obvious reasons :))
After jumping into the water, you will need to follow the instruction and make a line while putting your feet up. The sea lions for some reason love them and this is a gesture to make them come closer. They will (try to) grab your fingers with their mouths but you need to stay calm to not scare them away. I sadly didn’t have any luck as neither came to me. I would recommend you being one of the first ones to go into the water to have more time.
After that you will need to change and go back to the meeting point. This is the point I started to feel a little bit sick as I looked down while changing clothes. We got a little snack so I tried getting distracted with that.
The tour lasted around 2 hours and a half.
Price
To do the trip I chose Mar Adentro excursiones. It was the cheapest option and it was really good. You can book them on Airbnb (56$ or 48€), where you can find the best price, or here (65$ or 55€). You have to come to the meeting point alone. Other trips are more expensive (reaching more then 100€) and they also offer transportation. In general if you stay in Lima and you don’t rent luxury, the transportation should not be higher than 10 EUR. For me, the transportation didn’t justify the higher price so I chose Mar Adentro excursiones.
Ballestas Islands on the other hand are cheaper. You can find tours for as much as 15$. I also found tours that take you to Ballestas Islands and Paracas National Reserve for 30€ (you can also observe some skeletons …). So if Paracas National Park is not on your plan for a different day, I would say it can be quite a deal.
La Punta, Lima
After the tour I would recommend checking out the area, La Punta. It is a really nice spot, with food and beverage providers, where you can buy something. There you can find some bars and restaurants to have lunch or a snack after the tour, before going home to take a highly recommended shower (don’t forget you swam in poop).
Conclusion
Ballestas Islands are also called Peruvian Mini Galapagos after Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, known for large number of endemic species. This is the strongest selling point of Ballestas Islands. As I said, it is also cheaper. But if you want to experience swimming with sea lions in Lima in the open sea, Palomino Islands are the deal. And don’t worry, you will see different species of birds here too. If you don’t have this wish, I would say to choose whatever is better for your itinerary and pocket. But I must say that jumping in that cold sea and seeing them so close is what I will talk about for years. For me, Palomino Islands were worth it.