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Sandboarding is a boardsport and extreme sport similar to snowboarding that involves riding down a sand dune while standing on a board, with both feet strapped in. Sand sledding can also be practised sitting down or lying on the belly or the back. It typically involves a sand sled, although it is also somewhat possible to use Sledding or . The invention of modern sandboarding is largely attributed to Lon Beale, aka 'Doctor Dune', who began sandboarding in 1972 in California's Mojave Desert. Sandboarding has adherents throughout the world, but is most prevalent in desert areas or coastal areas with beach dunes. It is less popular than snowboarding, partly because it is very difficult to build a mechanised ski lift on a sand dune, meaning participants must climb or ride a dune buggy or all-terrain vehicle back to the top of the dune. On the other hand, dunes are normally available year-round as opposed to ski resorts, which are seasonal.
Lucky Bay, about south of Kalbarri, in Western Australia, is another sandboarding hotspot. Sandboarding Tours are offered in the area.
The Stockton dunes, 2.3 hours north from Sydney. Stockton Bight Sand Dunes system is up to , long, and covers an area of over . The massive sand dunes climb up to high. Located only minutes from the centre of Nelson Bay, it is the largest sand dune system in Australia.
Namibia features sand-skiing, which is similar to sandboarding, performed with skis instead of a board. Most of the sand-skiing is performed in the Namib desert dunes around Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. With a special permit it is sometimes possible to sand-ski at the world's highest dunes in Sossusvlei. Henrik May, a German living in Namibia for some 10 years, set a Guinness World Record in speed sand-skiing on 6 June 2010. He reached a speed of ." The World Record", Ski Namibia, Retrieved 5 January 2013
After some pioneers like Derek Bredenkamp who boarded Swakopmund around 1974, commercial operators in South Africa began offering sandboarding to tourists in 1994. In 2000 the Sandboarding South Africa league was established. Between 2002 and 2004 the South African Sandboarding League held competitions on the Matterhorn Dune located between Swakopmund and Walvis bay. Competition events included dual slalom, boarder cross and big air events. In 2005 and 2006 Alter Action held sandboarding competitions at Matterhorn but the competitions no longer formed part of the South African Sandboarding League during those years. The league collapsed, then the sport was revived again in 2007 with weekly sandboarding sessions in and around Cape Town and Gauteng.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, near Kanab, Utah, permits sandboarding on roughly 2,000 acres of sand dunes within its boundaries. Utah also contains sand dunes near Salt Lake City, Lake Powell, and Moab. Additionally, the company Slip Face Sandboards is based in Provo, Utah.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve near Alamosa, Colorado has sandboarding on what it calls the tallest dunes in North America. Sandboarding and skiing are permitted anywhere on the dunefield away from vegetated areas.
In Chile, sandboarding is practiced throughout the north of the country, including the Medanoso dunes in Copiapo (where the Dakar rally takes place), Puerto Viejo beach in Caldera, excellent dunes in Iquique, and some near Viña del Mar.
The Dune of Pilat in France is an hours' drive from Bordeaux; it is the tallest dune in Europe, measuring 3 kilometres across, 500 metres wide and between 100 and 115 metres tall depending on the year.
Amothines is a small desert from Katalakkos village in Limnos, Greece. There are many sand dunes there, where people can practice sandboarding.
Holywell, Cornwall is also home to a beach with a complex of sand dunes; in the summer and during peak times, local shops that cater for beach goers also sell sandboards.
The Braunton Burrows sand dunes on the Devon coast, was the filming location for where Alex Bird became the first sandboarder to be towed by a car on British shores.
In the North East region of the United Kingdom, there is a small beach at Seaton Sluice where people can sandboard. This is a good alternative to sledding, as there is insufficient snow to support sledding there, even though the UK has a rather cold climate, with chilly winters and cool summers.
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