MACHU PICCHU IS incredible, but after traipsing through the tourist-saturated picture-postcard ruins and other popular Peruvian destinations like Cuzco and Lake Titicaca, you long to break away from the well-worn gringo trail. The tranquil beach town of Huanchaco and the nearby United Nations World Heritage site of Chan Chan are welcome breaks from the crowds and the ever present backpacker scene.

Huanchaco is a small, traditional fishing village that evolved into a low-key vacation spot for Peruvians. After spending time huffing and puffing in the chilly, oxygen-scarce high altitudes around Cuzco and Puno, sea level becomes a literal breath of fresh air. In summertime – November through February in the southern hemisphere – the ocean feels like a luxurious, warm bathtub. Although it's only a few miles from Trujillo, one of Peru's largest cities, Huanchaco has no crowds, high-rise resorts, or signs of overdevelopment. During the day people paddle through the surf and fish, straddling cigar-shaped totora reed canoes known as caballitos, or "little horses." Children enjoying the summer school recess splash in the gentle waves and build elaborate sand structures.

Because of its modest size, Huanchaco is an easy place to explore on foot. An unassuming hill reached through narrow, zigzagging back streets offers a bird's-eye panorama of the town. From this vantage point, the 400-year-old pale yellow Iglesia de Huanchaco watches over the entire cove, and in the evening the last traces of the sun frame the fishing boats nosing their way back to shore.

At sunset people prop their canoes against the seawall for the night and bonfires dot the beach. Strolling the malecón on a weekend evening, people-watching is the preferred form of entertainment. Food stalls with sweet pastries tempt you on every block. Young couples flirt and court in earnest along the shadowy fringes of the artisan market. Seafood restaurants facing the setting sun hawk the freshness of their fare. My favorite evening pastime was watching the sun dunk into the ocean while snacking on a bowl of salty cancha, toasted corn kernels, accompanied by the local Trujillo brew.

Even after nightfall, Huanchaco's fishing commerce keeps buzzing along. A slender wharf juts out from near the middle of the boardwalk, dimly illuminated by graceful high-arched lamps. At its end, people with flashlights sell their remaining fish in the blue-gray light.

In scattered sites between Huanchaco and the colonial city of Trujillo, the ruins of the Chan Chan citadel bake in the blistering desert sun. Before its conquest by the Incan empire, the highly fortified complex was once the largest city in precolonial America and Peru's biggest sovereign territory. Towering mud and adobe walls provided both security and shelter during the A.D. 700 to 1400 reign of the Chimú kingdom, and royal sanctuaries were festooned with the elaborate friezes of a desert culture that revered water. Interlocking diamond patterns represent vast fishing nets, and geometric waves of rising and falling fish document their knowledge of marine tides. And even at Chan Chan's main complex, there were only a few dozen other tourists spread out over the site, nothing like the thousands of people at Machu Picchu.

But after exploring the intricacies of ancient civilization, the heat finally gives way to the siren song of the beach and the bliss of pondering absolutely nothing but the waves.

If you go

A number of major airlines have connecting flights from San Francisco International Airport to Lima Airport, starting at $550 round-trip. Aero Continente and LAN Peru have daily flights between Lima and Trujillo Airport, starting at $140 round-trip. www.aerocontinente.com, www.lanperu.com.

The family-run Casa Hospedaje los Ficus de Huanchaco has simple rooms with private or shared bathrooms for $10 to $14 a night. www.huanchaco.net/losficus/index.htm.