Guide · Spots compared

Sandboarding dunes of Peru: where to ride, spot by spot

Peru's desert coast runs the length of the country, and the national tourism inventory names more than a handful of dunes for boards. They differ in height, access and how much help you get on the sand.

Check availabilityfrom $23 · free cancellation

Editorial team, perusandboarding.comUpdated October 26, 2026about 6 min to read44 sources

The matching tour Dune buggy and sandboarding at sunset, Huacachina 4.9 (543 reviews) 2 to 3 hoursSandboards and a bandana includedPickup in Huacachina or Ica from$23per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer

01Easiest start: Huacachina near Ica: dunes up to 100 m, gear for rent and plenty of tours.¹ ²
02Biggest climb: Cerro Blanco near Nasca, a dune with a steep face 700 m high.³
03Experts only: Toro Mata in Arequipa region, a descent of 1,800 m.⁴
04Near the capital: Day trips from Lima ride dunes around Punta Hermosa.
05Up north: Medano Blanco, Manchan and Huamanchacate on the northern coast.⁵ ⁶ ⁷

A coast of sand from the north to the south

Peru's Pacific edge is desert for most of its length, and sand piles up into rideable slopes from the far north to the far south. The tourism ministry keeps an inventory of attractions, and several of its records name sandboarding as an activity: at the Huacachina lagoon, on Cerro Blanco near Nasca, on Toro Mata in the south and at dunes along the northern coast.⁸ ⁹ ⁴ ⁷ Here they are, from the easiest to the hardest.

The dunes are not alike. Some sit beside a town with hotels and tour desks; others need a 4x4, a guide and a long walk before the first run. Height varies too: Huacachina's dunes reach up to 100 m, while Cerro Blanco has a steep face of 700 m.¹ ³ The right choice depends less on bragging rights than on how much climbing, driving and risk you want in your day.

Before you pick a spot, decide how you want to ride. PromPeru lists riding seated, on your front or upright, and lets a nervous beginner share a run.¹⁰ ¹¹ Lying on a waxed board takes no skill at all. Standing up needs a proper board with bindings and some practice, and that shapes which dunes and which outings make sense for you.

Down the coast

From Lima to the big dunes of the south

40 km south

Punta Hermosa

Beach towns south of Lima where a dune day hands out its gear.¹²
About 3 h 10 min

Paracas

The overland time from Lima to Paracas.¹³
About 4 hours

Ica and Huacachina

PromPeru's road time from Lima to the Ica region.¹⁴
About 2 hours

Nasca

The road time from Ica to Nasca.¹⁵
24 km east

Cerro Blanco

The giant dune beyond Nasca, at km 19.4 of the highway.¹⁶

Huacachina, the dunes most travelers start on

The lagoon of Huacachina sits 5 km west of Ica, and MINCETUR lists sandboarding among the things to do there.¹⁷ ⁸ PromPeru rates the riding beginner to intermediate and gives the best season as the whole year.¹⁸ Gear is for rent at the resort itself, so you can turn up without owning a board.²

Scale is part of the appeal. PromPeru describes dunes up to 100 m high around the oasis and counts them among the highest in the region.¹ ¹⁹ In 2022 the lagoon logged 57,047 foreign visitors in the municipal register.²⁰ Expect company on the slopes. The sunset seen from the dune tops is among the most photographed sights of the oasis.²¹

Outings here pair a dune buggy with board runs. The most reviewed listing is a 2 to 3 hour buggy tour with sandboard sledding and the sunset; 543 reviewers give it 4.92, and it costs from $23. Its boards are ridden on the belly or sitting. That format suits beginners and anyone who wants speed without a lesson. Stand-up riders should look at the outings with snow boards and bindings instead.

Scale

How tall the official dunes are

Heights as published: the steep face of Cerro Blanco, the upper limit PromPeru gives for Huacachina, and Medano Blanco's height.³ ¹ ²²

Side by side

Peru's sandboarding dunes compared

Dune	Region	Size or height	Getting there
Huacachina	Ica	Dunes up to 100 m	5 km from Ica
Cerro Blanco	Ica (Nasca)	Face of 700 m	24 km from Nasca, then a climb
Toro Mata	Arequipa	Descent of 1,800 m	480 km from Arequipa
Medano Blanco	Piura	20 m high	9 km from Sechura
Manchan	Ancash	Dune field	5 km from Casma
Huamanchacate	Ancash	27.81 ha	Km 422 of the highway
Pampa Salinas	Moquegua	Dunes near Ilo	Bring your own board

Sizes and access as MINCETUR's tourism inventory records them for each dune and PromPeru for Huacachina.¹ ¹⁷ ³ ¹⁶ ⁴ ²³ ²² ²⁴ ⁶ ²⁵ ²⁶

Three bases

Ica, Lima or Paracas as your base

Dune Buggy Sightseeing Tour in the Huacachina Desert, Sunset, and Sandboarding-Sledding

Most reviewed

Huacachina buggy

Sledding and the sunset

Duration: 2 to 3 hours
Reviews: 543
Price: from $23

See the trip

Sandboarding Experience Lima Includes Boots, Bindings & Helment

Stand-up riding

Lima dunes day

Snowboards with bindings

Duration: 6.5 hours
Group: Up to 10
Price: from $199

See the trip

Shortest

Paracas buggy

A board and a short ride

Duration: 1 hour
Group: Up to 5
Price: from $50

See the trip

Decision helper

Which dune fits you?

Match the spot to your skill, your time and your legs

I have never been on a board I want the biggest dune I can climb I am an expert chasing a long run I only have a day in Lima I am traveling the north coast

Huacachina

PromPeru rates the riding there beginner to intermediate.¹⁸

Cerro Blanco

A steep face of 700 m and a summit at 2078 m.³ ²⁷

Toro Mata

Considered the longest descent, 1,800 m, for experts only.⁴

The Punta Hermosa dunes

A 6.5-hour day with pickup from your hotel.

Medano Blanco or Manchan

Both are named by MINCETUR for sand sports.⁵ ⁶

The dune is an attraction for extreme sports such as sandboarding and rallying; it is considered the longest descent, at 1,800 meters, and only for experts given its extreme complexity.

MINCETUR, Inventario de Recursos Turisticostranslated from Spanish · Source 4

Cerro Blanco, the giant of the Nasca desert

Cerro Blanco rises about 24 km east of Nasca, at km 19.4 of the Interoceanic Highway.¹⁶ MINCETUR describes a dune 6 km long and 3 km wide with a steep face 700 m high, and its record calls it the highest dune in South America, citing a Peruvian newspaper.³ ²⁸ The summit sits at 2078 m, high above the town.²⁷

Nothing about it is quick. The official access runs 20 km on asphalt from the main square of Nasca, then a 4 km dirt track that takes 40 minutes by 4x4, then a climb on foot of 1.8 km lasting 1 hour 45 minutes.²⁹ ³⁰ ³¹ Entry is free and the site is open all year from 06:00 to 17:00.³²

Few people make the effort. Nasca's municipality counted 260 foreign visitors at Cerro Blanco in 2022, against tens of thousands at Huacachina.³³ ²⁰ Choose it if you are fit, comfortable on a board and happy to trade a long hike for a single enormous run. Our Cerro Blanco page covers the climb, the season and the half-day trips from Nasca in detail.

Map

Where Peru's sandboarding dunes sit along the coast

The northern dunes from Sechura to Casma, the road south from Lima past Punta Hermosa and Paracas to Huacachina and Nasca, and the big dunes of the far south.

Map of the north coast of Peru from Sechura in Piura south past Coishco and Casma to Lima — North coast

Map of the coast south of Lima past Punta Hermosa, Paracas and Huacachina to the town of Nasca — Lima to Nasca

Map of southern Peru with Huacachina, Cerro Blanco near Nasca, Toro Mata near Acari and the dunes near Ilo — South coast

1
Medano Blanco
A dune 300 m long and 20 m high in the Sechura Desert, Piura.²²
In Google Maps ↗
2
Huamanchacate
Dunes near Coishco with easy access from the highway; riders start at the foot.⁷
In Google Maps ↗
3
Manchan
A dune field about 5 km from Casma, best visited with a guide.⁶ ³⁴
In Google Maps ↗
4
Lima
The capital; its beach towns lie 40 km south and Ica is about 275 km away.¹² ³⁵
In Google Maps ↗
5
Punta Hermosa
Beach town south of Lima where the Lima sandboarding days hand out the gear.
In Google Maps ↗
6
Paracas
Gateway to a reserve of 335,000 hectares, about 3 h 10 min from Lima by road.³⁶ ¹³
In Google Maps ↗
7
Huacachina
The lagoon 5 km west of Ica, ringed by dunes up to 100 m high.¹⁷ ¹
In Google Maps ↗
8
Nasca
The town of the lines, about 2 h by road from Ica.¹⁵
In Google Maps ↗
9
Cerro Blanco
A dune about 24 km east of Nasca with a summit at 2078 m.¹⁶ ²⁷
In Google Maps ↗
10
Toro Mata
A dune by the Acari river with a descent of 1,800 m, for experts only.⁴
In Google Maps ↗
11
Pampa Salinas
Dunes near Ilo where you bring your own board.²⁶
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Before you choose a dune

Questions to answer

Do you want to ride standing or lying down?
How much driving and climbing fits your day?
Does the listing's health list rule you out?
Is board rental included or extra?

What to arrange

Transport to the dune, often by 4x4
An authorized operator and a receipt
Water for the whole outing
Sun protection for open sand

Cost calculator

Price a dune day for your group

Type in your party size to see four bases priced side by side.

Huacachina buggy2 to 3 hoursfrom $23 Lima dunes day6.5 hoursfrom $199 Paracas buggy1 hourfrom $50 Nazca and HuacachinaFrom Limafrom $350

People 2

Total from$46

per head from $23

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Totals are each outing's from-price times the number of people you enter, turned into your currency with that day's ECB rate; checkout shows what you actually pay.

Video

Two days in a desert oasis, sandboarding in Peru

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Toro Mata, a descent for experts in the far south

In the district of Acari, in Caraveli province of the Arequipa region, Toro Mata stands at 1,277 m beside the Acari river.³⁷ MINCETUR records it as a draw for extreme sports, sandboarding and rallying among them, and says it is considered the longest descent, at 1,800 m, and suitable for experts only.⁴

Getting there is a trip in itself. The inventory gives 480 km from the Arequipa bus terminal to the main square of Acari, about 8 h 16 min by public bus.²³ That puts it far from the usual Lima to Nasca route, and none of the listings compared on this site goes there.

If you search for sandboarding near Arequipa, this is the dune the official inventory points to. Treat it as a goal for experienced riders with their own gear, a local guide and time to spare. A beginner gets far more from Huacachina or the dunes near Lima, where instructors, rental boards and shorter slopes are part of the package.

Northern dunes from Sechura to Casma

The north has its own sand. Medano Blanco, in the Sechura Desert of Piura, is a dune 300 m long and 20 m high that MINCETUR calls well suited to sand skiing, motocross and walks.²² ⁵ From Piura it is 50 km by bus to Sechura, about 1 h 20 min, then 9 km by mototaxi, about 20 min.²⁴

Further south, in the Ancash region, the Manchan dunes lie about 5 km from the town of Casma and suit sandboarding, walks and rides in sand vehicles.⁶ The inventory gives a warm desert climate from 18 C in winter to 30 C in summer, opening hours of 07:00 to 17:00 and the advice to visit with a guide.³⁸ ³⁴

Near Coishco, the Huamanchacate dunes cover about 27.81 hectares and are reached from km 422 of the Pan-American North.²⁵ MINCETUR counts them among the best in Peru for their easy access from the road, with sandboarding at the foot of the dune.⁷ These northern spots are local favorites rather than tour products: plan on your own transport and gear.

Dunes within reach of Lima and Paracas

You do not have to leave the Lima region to ride. The beach towns of Punta Hermosa and San Bartolo lie 40 km south of the city, and a highly rated sandboarding day rides the dunes there.¹² It picks you up at 7 am, hands out snowboards, boots, bindings and a helmet at Punta Hermosa and then rides small and large dunes for 6.5 hours in all.

Paracas is the other coastal option. A 1-hour buggy outing in the desert near the town includes a board, with a group of up to 5 and a meeting point beside a hotel in Paracas. MINCETUR's record for the Paracas National Reserve lists boat trips and quad rides but not sandboarding; check where any Paracas board session actually takes place.³⁹

Far in the south, near Ilo in Moquegua, the Pampa Salinas dunes are named by MINCETUR as an ideal place for sandboarding, and the record adds a practical detail: you must bring your own board.⁴⁰ ²⁶ Our pages on Lima and on Paracas go deeper into both, with the day trips that mix the coast and the dunes.

Where to go sandboarding, by the kind of rider you are

If this is your sandboarding debut, the answer to where to go sandboarding is simple: Huacachina. Instructors are present on organized outings and give you the right equipment, and PromPeru's own advice for beginners is to choose slopes that suit your level and follow the instructor.⁴¹ ⁴² The sledding tours need no lesson at all.

Confident riders with a few days have more choice. Cerro Blanco offers the biggest face, Toro Mata the longest descent, and the Lima dunes a full day of stand-up riding with snow gear.³ ⁴ Each needs more planning, more transport and, at the two big dunes, a real level of fitness.

Whatever you choose, sandboarding in Peru happens in hot, dry country with few services on the sand. Book through operators that are authorized by the regional tourism office and ask for a receipt, as PromPeru advises for Paracas, and read each listing's health limits before you pay.⁴³ Then pick the dune that matches your nerve, not the one with the biggest number.

Your sunset