This past weekend, I decided to tap into my adventurous side by going sandboarding when I visited the coastal city of Viña Del Mar.
VIÑA DEL MAR — On the edge of Viña’s coast sit enormous sand dunes. These dunes tower over the water below. Many locals rent sandboards and slide down these huge sand dunes. I decided to rent a sandboard and try the exciting activity for myself.
You could rent one of two types of sandboards for only CL$1.000 per hour. The options are a sandboard to ride standing-up like a snowboard or one to ride sitting down like a sled. My friends and I decided to try both options.
It took us forever to climb to the top of the sand dune. We kept sinking deep into the sand and making no progress on the steep incline. Finally, we made it to the top and saw a spectacular view of the ocean and the city before us.
When we got to the top all that was left to do was sandboard down the hill! First, we had to apply wax the bottom of the boards to make sure they slid easily.
It was a little scary the first time plunging at top speed towards the ocean, and it took us a while to learn how to keep our balance on the sandboards themselves. The first time I tried to go down the hill I wiped out and fell right on my face in the sand. I’m sure it was quite hilarious for the veteran sandboarders watching.
The worst part was climbing back up to the top of the hill when we were done. It took so much more energy to walk back up than to actually sandboard.
Towards the end of the hour the sun began setting. We sat at the top of the sand dunes and watched the gorgeous sky. It was an amazing end to the perfect day to just relax at the top of the hill and watch the sunset disappear beyond the horizon.
