Sandboarding Around Ica

By Claire den Hoedt

A curvaceous, tan valley and high mounds of wavy desert sand stretches out for miles with little else near, while soft sunlight casts shadows against the real, but seemingly unreal dunes. A desert has never been so pretty.

Just five kilometers (three miles) outside of Ica, Peru, in a small town called Huacachina are some unique sand dunes. Not only are they an amazing landscape to witness, they beckon to some of the most extreme adventure-seekers out there: sand boarders. These hills taunt sand boarders with their smooth slopes and unruly enormity, calling on them to grab board and hit the sand.

I didn’t really know what sand boarding was when I first arrived in Ica, nor did I know that it was possible to board, which is just like snowboarding, on sand. Testing my limits on my South American journey, I declared a, “why not,” and signed up at one of the several tour operators in Huacachina.

Off we went in a sand buggy into the dunes, racing with high speed as we went up and over, and up and over the hilly dunes. Several times we stopped on top of a dune, with wind whipping us in the face as we grabbed a board and just like snowboarding, positioned our feet in and kicked–off, gliding across the sand as the speed suddenly increased, our hair flapped in the wind and we experienced the thrill of sand boarding.

A few people on my tour had no snowboard experience, and those who were too nervous to try standing up chose to belly board, also a common and fun way to sail down the dunes. I belly boarded once and found it to be exciting and funny as you flew down the hills very fast and had to break by putting your feet in the sand. The only real issue I had with belly boarding is that I laughed while going down, making me eat some soft, grainy sand.

Not only did I learn to sand board, but with dunes as high as 100 meters, (325 feet) I came to understand that sand boarding is a popular sport in this region of Peru, hosting a yearly international sand boarding competition in Cerro Blanco, a enormous dune 14 km (eight miles) north of Nasca.

From Ica, take the bus from Plaza de Armas to Huacachina. Most hotels in Huacachina have sand boards for rent. If you’re in Ica, don’t miss out on sand boarding. There are few places in the world to do it and it is certainly a thrill.

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