Huacachina with friends: booking the dunes as a group

If you're planning a trip to Huacachina with friends and want to ride the dunes in UTVs, here's what saves the most grief: one person deals with us, the group decides beforehand who wants to drive and who doesn't, nobody drinks before taking the wheel, and everyone turns up on time. Sort those out and we'll handle the rest (how many UTVs, the route, adding sandboarding or zorbing).

Sounds obvious. It isn't. In more than 12 years in the Ica desert we've seen more friends' outings derailed by the group chat than by the dunes.

This post is for you, the one who always ends up organising. The one who set up the WhatsApp group, chases the friends who never reply, and gets the blame if anything goes wrong. How a group gets split between vehicles is covered in how a group UTV tour in Huacachina works. This one's about your job.

How to plan a Huacachina trip with friends without losing your mind

One voice

You're the contact. If every friend messages us separately, one says there are six of you, another says nine "but two haven't confirmed", and a third asks about a different date. Nobody can book several UTVs for the same departure like that.

Collect the answers in your group chat and send us one message. And put a deadline on the list. "If you haven't replied by Thursday, you're not on it" sounds harsh, but it's the only thing that works with a group of friends.

What to ask in the group chat

Paste this into the chat and get everyone to answer:

• Are you definitely coming? (yes or no, no "probably")
• Do you want to drive, ride along, or don't mind?
• Do you get carsick, or sick on rollercoasters?
• Any back or neck injury, or anything else we should know?
• Interested in adding sandboarding or zorbing?

The motion sickness one looks like overkill. It isn't. It helps us when we split the group between vehicles, and it reminds that person to eat light that morning. We wrote a whole post about it: prone to motion sickness? How to do the UTV tour without suffering.

The friend who doesn't want to drive

There's always one. Sometimes it's nerves, sometimes they just aren't interested, sometimes they've never driven anything in their life. That's fine: in our UTVs you can ride as a passenger, and groups swap drivers at the guide's stops.

What doesn't work is pressuring them. A driver who doesn't want to be there is the one who slams on the brakes halfway down a descent.

Then there's the reverse, which happens all the time: the friend who swore they wouldn't drive asks for the wheel at the second stop. Let them. If they did the flat-ground practice with everyone else and felt comfortable, they can drive. That's why it's worth everyone doing the briefing, even the ones who say they're only riding shotgun.

The group that arrives in instalments

This happens to nearly every organiser and almost nobody plans for it. Three of you get in the night before, two are coming down from Lima by bus that same morning, and one is joining from Paracas. If the outing is in the afternoon, fine. If it's in the morning, whoever's on the bus arrives just in time, short on sleep and without breakfast.

Our advice: build the plan around whoever arrives last, not first. And if someone's travelling in that morning, have them ride along for the first stretch until they've properly woken up.

Alcohol, hangovers and the late friend: what ruins a friends' outing

No drinking before driving

We'll say it bluntly because with groups of friends it's the number one issue: whoever is driving drinks nothing beforehand. Not one beer at lunch. If someone turns up after a few drinks, put them in the passenger seat, and if they're in bad shape, they're better off resting at the hostel.

This isn't us being fussy. The US CDC's travel advice for Peru says do not drive after drinking alcohol or ride with someone who has been drinking, and points out that people take more risks when intoxicated. On a dune, in a vehicle you're steering, that shows on the very first descent.

Want a toast? Great. Make it once the driving's done for the day and nobody else is getting behind the wheel.

The hangover

Huacachina has a lively night scene and plenty of backpacker groups arrive the day before. Whoever went to bed late and skipped breakfast is a prime candidate for feeling sick on the first dunes. We see it almost every week: the friend who says "I'm fine" and turns grey on the second climb.

If the night before is going to be a long one, book the dunes for the afternoon, or have that person ride along instead of driving. Water, something light, nothing greasy. More in what to eat before a dune tour.

The late friend

A group outing leaves when the group is there. If one friend is late, everyone's late, and on an afternoon outing that means losing the light. We've watched groups reach the top after the sun had already dropped, missing the exact photo they came for.

Organiser's trick: tell everyone to meet a bit earlier than what you actually agreed with us. Works every time.

And nobody comes in flip-flops. Footwear gets checked person by person before we set off, just like helmets and harnesses, and in flip-flops your foot slides off the moment you brake hard.

Adding sandboarding or zorbing to the UTV

Groups of friends nearly always want more than one thing. Two pair well with the UTV, and both sit high on most lists of things to do in Huacachina.

Sandboarding. Not included as standard: ask for it and we'll set it up. It's what friend groups request most, and also where we see the most knocks, usually from people going down head first or trying to stand up without ever having tried. Before anyone starts showing off, read group sandboarding: how to get down without getting hurt. The dunes around the oasis reach up to 500 metres high, so where you board matters.

Zorbing. You climb into a double-layer inflatable ball and the team releases it down a dune chosen for the purpose. Nothing to learn, and it's where a group of friends laughs hardest. Meeting time is 4:30 pm, and it combines with the UTV on the same day. You go in barefoot with nothing hard on you (earrings, rings, keys, phone, watch, glasses). Pregnant travellers can't take part, and anyone with back, neck or joint problems should skip it. Details on the zorbing page.

If you want both, say so when booking. With a group, changing plans on the spot is what wastes the most time.

Safety, even on a trip with friends

Groups of friends tend to treat the briefing as a joke. Understandable. Still a mistake.

With friends, the problem isn't the vehicle, it's the competition. The one who wants to overtake for a better photo, the one winding up the next car over the radio, the one who unclips at a stop to stand up on the seat and then sets off without tightening the harness again. As the organiser, your job isn't to play police officer, but it is to make it clear in the chat, before you arrive, that on the dunes the guide is in charge.

The rest comes with the kit: a factory-built UTV with a ROPS roll cage, 4-point harnesses, bucket seats, side nets, and helmets for everyone, drivers and passengers. A vehicle check before setting off, the flat-ground practice, and the guide leading with a radio. How the line works is in how a UTV convoy works. If the wind lifts sand or visibility drops, we reschedule, no debate: Peru's weather service SENAMHI posts wind warnings for the central and southern coast when they're expected.

If someone in your group would rather do a classic Huacachina dune buggy, have them ask what restraint it has and whether there are helmets. Plenty of buggies are well kept; the difference is where the safety was built. Ours is on the safety page.

Once the chat has answered, message us on +51 967 564 701 with your date, headcount, how many will drive, whether anyone gets motion sick, how and when each person is arriving, where you're staying, and if you're adding sandboarding or zorbing. Vehicle details are on the UTV tour page. Celebrating a stag or hen do? See bachelor parties in Huacachina, without stupid risks.

Frequently asked questions

Can we drink during the tour? Our advice: whoever's driving has nothing before or during. If the group wants a toast, it's best saved for the end, when nobody's driving any more.

Is it better to do the dunes in the morning or afternoon after a night out? Afternoon. Whoever went to bed late and skipped breakfast is the first to get queasy; in the afternoon the group turns up rested and with light for the photo, as long as nobody's running late.

Is sandboarding included with the UTV? Not as standard. Ask for it when booking and we'll arrange it for the group.