Sandboarding in Namibia

Last Updated on June 18, 2021

The Namibian desert is home to some of the highest sand dunes in the entire world and in the region of Erongo sports like sand surfing and dune skiing have gained much popularity amongst locals and tourists, while the dunes of Sossuvlei are favorited by desert hikers and climbers.

⚠️ Sandboarding is an extreme sport. While generally safe, the dunes in Namibia are VERY steep and many of the local sandboarding operators will offer you cardboard sleds rather than actual sandboards, which increases risk. There have been cases of people getting severely injured and even deaths from sandboarding in Swakopmund and Welvis Bay. We recommend investing in a higher quality tour operator that provides proper equipment and making sure you are covered by sandboarding insurance in case something goes wrong.

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Swakopmund

Swakopmund is a tourist-friendly resort town located in the north-western coast of Namibia and the most beloved spot by sandboarders in the country.

Sandboarding tours

There are many tour operators offering sandboarding as a stand-alone activity or as part of a sand duning package. If you love animals, you can enjoy sandboarding as part of a desert safari quad tour. We recommend using a renowned company that offers sandboarding boards rather than cardboard sleds:

Tours by Viator:

Tours by Civitatis:

Walvis Bay

Walvis Bay is where you can find the popular Dune 7, which offers great drops at 1256 feet (383 metres) of height. There are plenty of local operators organizing dune boarding in the area, but most of them will offer you a cardboard for sledding. We recommend Alter-Action Sandboarding which has the most favorable reviews.

Can you sandboard in Sossuvlei?

Sandboarding is not normally allowed on any of the dunes at Sossuvlei National Park, although a permit may be granted on special occasions (mostly to professional sand-skiers). The area sports some of the tallest dunes in the Namib Desert – including the infamous Big Daddy and Dune 45, which are popular for those who seek a challenging dune climb.

Recommended tours

Sand-skiing in Namibia

Namibia is at present the only country in the world where sand-skiing has been popularized thanks to the efforts of German-born resident Henrik May, who entered the Guinness World Record book for fastest skiing on sand in 2010. May skied down a 75m tall dune located between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay using a pair of HEAD skis with some wax for sand skiing applied to them.

Documentary: Sandboarding in Namibia

Enjoy watching this documentary from CGTN Africa, titled “Faces of Africa – Down Rise: A Sandboarder’s Dream“. Synopsis: Namibia is a mecca for sand boarding in Africa. Raymond a Namibian knows too well the joy the sand dunes bring to his township as well as the tourists. He’s the founder of Township Tours and Sand boarding training. The profits made goes to empower his township.

International Sandboarding and Sand Skiing Insurance

World Nomads Insurance will cover the following activities during your trip to Namibia:

• Sandboarding
• Sand Skiing
• Dirt boarding (volcano boarding)
• Dune buggy
• Off-road BMX
• Off-road motorbiking
• Mountain biking
• Camel riding / trekking
• Camping (up to 19,685 feet/6,000 meters)
• Orienteering

Sandboarding in Africa

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