Do the major buses drop and pick up near enough to the boat tours to walk to the boat tours? (We'd be taking a Cruz del Sur bus from Lima to Paracas and leaving after the boat tour on the cheapest local bus we can find to Ica) Assuming all buses depart/drop off in the same area-?

We are arriving at the Lima airport in the middle of the night and considering taking a bus to Paracas directly very early. Although Peruhop and other buses run tours it's hard to say if we could just take say a Cruz del Sur comfort bus to sleep and then arrive in Paracas early and arrange our own boat tour, then try to get to the dunes in the afternoon on our own. Is this silly and we should just go with an agency. Or could this save us some money and keep our schedule flexible? Do the boat tours run all the time and we can easily catch one or should we book this ahead? And how much would a boat tour be on its own?

We are coming in on a cruise ship into Pisco at 8am in February. Will we be able to jump on a tour boat leaving for the Ballestas Islands from that dock area? If not, will there be people selling the trip once we get on the pier?

What time of year were you there? We are going mid July - and I can't seem to find good info online about what wildlife is likely to be there that time of year, though I've found info that December-February is best. Thanks!