San Pedro de Atacama sandboarding · Sandboarding in San Pedro de Atacama
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Sandboarding in San Pedro de Atacama
Sandboarding in San Pedro de Atacama
Like most deserts, Atacama has its share of dunes and sand-banks. The most popular is located in Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley). All sandboarding tours will take you there. The dune is almost 100m in height; still, the typical track is barely a fraction of that. Some of them offer also to watch sunset in the Moon Valley-but be aware that you won't visit any of its spots, except the Great Dune or the Cari Viewpoint.
If you plan on going, please consider the following:
Many bike rentals also rent sandboards. The way is very taxing, though, so keep that in mind. If the moon is full, or close to, and rising early, it might pay to ride there later-skipping the unforgiving sun can be of great advantage, especially during warmer months (from October through March).
If you're cycling there with company, the traditional axiom is: One board per three people. Remember that there're no lifts in Valle de la Muerte, which means you've to climb the sands by foot. This will be tiring and frustrating! Three people can share one sandboard with ease; while one toils away, the other two can relax and rest. Of course, this assumes you've lots of time, which might not be the case.
Many agencies will take you there on a van, and include a board per person in their fare. This leaves you more time and energy to sandboard, plus they'll usually include watching the sunset, and maybe even a photo album of the experience. Depending on your schedule and interests, this could be far better.
Sandboarding is absolutely forbidden in Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley)! Expect to be fined if you even try.
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San Pedro de Atacama Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.