Sandboarding in Cape Town: Atlantis Dunes with equipment & guide
Learn to ride sand dunes the way snowboarders ride snow
Sandboarding at Atlantis Dunes near Cape Town is a half-day or full-day activity where you learn to ride a sandboard down white dunes up to 35 metres high, with professional instruction, equipment, hotel pickup and lunch included. The combo option adds a quad bike ride after sandboarding. Minimum two people per booking. Children from age 5 are welcome.
Options for this experience
3 optionsWhat’s included
- Professional guide instruction in English.
- sandboarding equipment.
- pickup and drop-off from your hotel or a meeting point in Cape Town CBD.
- transport in an air-conditioned minivan.
- lunch.
Times
- Every day 10:00
Before you book
Operated by Downhill Adventures
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The experience
You leave Cape Town CBD at 10am in an air-conditioned minivan: hotel pickup is available if you're staying in the city. The drive takes you to the Atlantis Dunes, a rare commercial sandboarding site and one of Africa's largest sand dune fields. On arrival, your guide briefs you on safety and teaches you how to handle the board, starting with the basics of balance and control. Unlike snowboarding, which depends on season and snow conditions, sand dunes stay rideable almost year-round, so the sport works here when it would not elsewhere.
You begin on smaller dunes to build confidence, then move to the bigger slopes as you improve. The half-day tour ends around lunchtime with transport back to town and a meal included. If you book the full-day option, you continue sandboarding in the afternoon. The combo package, the most popular choice, swaps the afternoon sandboarding for a quad bike ride across the dunes instead, giving you two different ways to move through the same landscape.
Downhill Adventures invented sandboarding and still runs the operation here with world-champion equipment and teaching methods. The dunes themselves are the draw: white sand slopes with views across the landscape, and the sheer scale of them, up to 114 feet high, makes the ride feel substantial even on your first run. Dress in comfortable clothes and closed shoes. The sand and the physical movement mean you'll want support underfoot.
Is this one for you?Book the half-day if you have a free afternoon and want to try sandboarding without committing a full day. Choose the full-day to spend more time on the dunes and build your skills. The combo option suits you if you want two different activities (sandboarding and quad biking) in one outing.
Compare the 4 alternatives
Top questions
Can children come?
Yes. Ticket types: Youth (12 to 17 years); Child (5 to 11 years). Children under 5 can't be included in the booking.
What happens if it rains?
It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.
What's the difference between the half-day, full-day and combo sandboarding options?
The half-day tour runs until around lunchtime with sandboarding only. The full-day tour continues sandboarding in the afternoon. The combo option replaces the afternoon sandboarding with a quad bike ride, and it's the most popular choice because it gives you two different activities in one day.
Do I need sandboarding experience to book this?
No. Your guide teaches you the basics on arrival, starting with how to handle the board and safety, then you begin on smaller dunes and work up to bigger ones as you gain confidence. The sport is fast and easy to learn.
What time does the sandboarding tour leave Cape Town?
Pickup starts at 10am from designated meeting points in Cape Town CBD, or from your hotel if you're staying in the city. The half-day tour returns around lunchtime. The full-day and combo options run longer.
What's included in the sandboarding tour price?
Pickup and drop-off from your hotel or a meeting point, transport in an air-conditioned minivan, professional guide instruction, sandboarding equipment, and lunch are all included. Gratuities are not included.
Why is sandboarding possible in Cape Town year-round when snowboarding is seasonal?
Sand dunes stay rideable almost all year because they don't depend on snow or cold weather the way ski slopes do. The Atlantis Dunes are one of the few commercial sandboarding locations in the world, and the sport is derived from snowboarding but works in desert and coastal sand instead.
Sandboarding in Cape Town: Atlantis Dunes with equipment & guide
EN
from US$ 99 per person
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