Sandboarding on the Atlantis Dunes inside the Witzands Aquifer Nature Reserve, about an hour north of Cape Town. Boards, helmets and instruction come with the session, and you can ride standing up or lying down.
The Atlantis dunes are a field of mobile white sand inside a City of Cape Town nature reserve, close enough to the coast that the wind keeps rebuilding them. From the top of a slipface the landscape looks nothing like the rest of the Western Cape.
Sessions start with a briefing and some instruction. The boards are modified snowboards: you can ride them standing once you have the feel for it, or lie down and go straight, which needs no experience at all. Boards, helmets and hairnets are supplied.
Access to the dunes is by nature reserve permit, arranged with the session. Sand has to be dry to slide, and the dunes are unshaded and open to the wind, which makes a morning session the better one.
Highlights
- Mobile white dunes inside the Witzands Aquifer Nature Reserve
- Thirty minute and one hour sessions
- Stand-up boarding or lie-down runs, no experience needed
- Boards, helmets and instruction supplied
- About an hour north of Cape Town
- The reserve is closed on Wednesdays, unless the Wednesday is a public holiday
Tips
A nature reserve permit is payable in addition to the session.