A fishing town on Peru's northern desert coast, Huanchaco sits 4km from Chan Chan, the Chimú capital and the largest earthen city of pre-Columbian America, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its fishermen still paddle out on caballitos de totora, reed boats of a Moche-era design that Save the Waves Coalition calls one of humanity's earliest known surf craft, ridden here for over 2,500 years. Save the Waves approved Huanchaco as Latin America's first World Surfing Reserve in 2012, and the town has hosted the Huanchaco Longboard World Championships since 2010. Founded as a Spanish town in 1535, it is now Trujillo's beach suburb, 13km from the regional capital.
Nights sit around 14°C and afternoons around 20°C.
Huanchaco barely changes season: afternoons sit around 23°C and nights around 16°C most of the year.
Rain is hardly part of the picture: about 5 mm a year, with January the wettest month at just 2 mm. Dry, bright months are the norm.
Wind is rarely an issue; most months sit between calm and a light breeze. Air quality is worth watching: February averages an AQI of 58, while April clears to 54.
Daylight is steady all year, around 12.0 hours a day.
For what you're after, the best months in Huanchaco are February – March. Expect fast internet (329 Mbps) and a moderate cost of living (about €950 a month).
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