Can you sandboard / do activities in the dunes?

Sandboarding is the activity everyone wants to try, and yes, you can. Most of the camps we work with at Erg Chebbi keep a stack of boards and will lend them out — you trudge up a steep dune face (the climb is the hard part, your feet sinking with every step) and slide back down. It is not as fast or carving as snowboarding because dry sand is grippy, but it is genuinely fun, and tumbling off into soft sand never hurts. Waxing the base helps you go quicker.

There is plenty beyond the board. Quad biking and buggies are popular if you want speed and an engine, run from the village edge rather than deep in the dunes, with a guide. A 4x4 dune-bashing loop is a thrill in its own right and doubles as transport to outlying sights. And of course the camels — the slow, traditional way in and out — are an activity as much as transport, swaying over the ridges at sunset.

Then there is the cultural and natural side, which I think people undervalue. You can visit the Gnawa community at Khamlia, descendants of sub-Saharan peoples, and hear their hypnotic trance music played live — it is a highlight for many. You can call on nomad families who still herd out here, walk to a date palmery or the seasonal Dayet Srji lake where flamingos sometimes gather in spring, or hunt for marine fossils in the black hammada plains nearby.

And honestly, some of the best "activities" involve doing very little. Walking barefoot along a high crest at first light, lying on a blanket counting shooting stars, or just sitting in the silence are the things guests describe most when they get home. So whether you want adrenaline or stillness, the dunes deliver both — the only thing I would say is wear closed shoes and sunglasses for the windier, faster stuff, and check what each camp includes versus charges extra.