These islands are accessible from the resort town of Paracas by tour boat which typically lasts 2 hours. During the visits it is not uncommon for the sea lions to approach the tourist boats and make spectacles for the visiting tourists. The sea lions are also responsible for a unique audio spectacle with their wolf-pack cries that echoes around the Ballestas and creates an effect of a 360 degree surrounding choir.
On the way to the islands, on the Paracas Peninsula, visitors will notice El Candelabro, a large-scale geoglyph that may have served as a beacon to mariners. The mystery as to the origins of this particular geoglyph is ongoing with much speculation. The visit to the Ballestas Islands is, from an ecotourism point of view, probably the best known along the Peruvian coast.