Activities · 7 min read
Sandboarding is the thing most guests try once and then ask to do three more times. It is slower than snow, softer when you fall and needs no experience at all. Here is how it works on Erg Chebbi and what to expect if you have never stood on a board.
A sandboard is a wooden or laminate board with foot straps and a waxed base. You walk up a dune face, strap in or sit down, and slide. The sand on the lee side of a dune is soft and steep, which is exactly what you want.
Speeds are modest — this is not snowboarding. The reward is the setting: you are sliding down a 100-metre face with nothing in any direction but more sand.
Yes. Boards and wax come with our one-hour dune ride and the sunset ride at no extra cost. We drive to a dune with a clean face, park, and you have as many runs as your legs will take.
The walk back up is the hard part. Most people manage three or four runs on a one-hour tour before deciding the view from the top is enough.
Start sitting down. A seated run on your first try teaches you the slope and costs you nothing in dignity.
Standing up: knees bent, weight slightly back, eyes at the bottom of the dune and not at your feet. Steer by leaning, not by twisting. If you feel yourself going, sit down — sand is a forgiving surface and the fall is almost always funny rather than painful.
Long trousers and closed shoes. Sand at speed against bare shins is unpleasant, and hot midday sand is worse on bare feet. Sunglasses stay on, and tie back long hair.
Everything you take out will fill with sand. Leave loose items in the buggy and zip your pockets.
Anyone who can walk up a dune. We have had eight-year-olds and seventy-year-olds on boards in the same week. Children usually sit; teenagers usually stand up by the second run.
If the climb is too much, we park the buggy at the top and you only ever ride down.
Frequently asked questions
Yes — boards and wax are included on our one-hour and sunset rides at no extra cost.
No. Almost everyone sits for the first run and stands for the second. Falling into soft sand does not hurt.
Neither. We bring the boards and your guide waxes them and shows you the technique.
Yes, sitting down and on a gentler dune face. It is usually the highlight of their trip.
Send us your date and group size on WhatsApp. We usually reply within a few minutes.
