Erg Chegaga is home to some of the tallest dunes in Morocco, with peaks rising up to 50 metres above the desert floor. That scale, combined with fine, consistent sand, makes it a genuinely excellent place to try sandboarding — whether you have snowboarded before or never stood on a board in your life.
A Short History of Sandboarding
Sliding down dunes is nothing new: depictions of sand-sliding go back to ancient Egypt. The modern sport, though, took shape in the 1960s with Brazilian surfers looking for waves to ride when the ocean was flat, and was pushed further in the 1970s by pioneers like Gary Fluitt and Jack Smith, who experimented with plywood and laminate boards built specifically for sand. From there it spread to dune fields worldwide — South America, Australia, the Middle East and, of course, the Sahara — and picked up a new wave of popularity in the 2000s as videos of riders spread online.
What It Feels Like
The sensation is close to snowboarding, but the ride is different: sand offers more resistance than snow, so speeds are a little gentler and falls are a lot softer. That makes it very approachable for beginners — most guests are up and riding, however wobbly, within their first few runs.
Good Instruction Included
We provide boards and basic instruction as part of our Erg Chegaga excursions, so you do not need any prior experience to give it a try.
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Curious to experience it yourself? Explore our Erg Chegaga desert excursion from Marrakech.