Here I share some of my pictures and experiences about sandboarding on the dunes. See my other post (click here) about indoor snowboarding in the city.
The desert with the biggest dunes in the country is 30 minutes away from Dubai by car. You need a 4x4 vehicle of course. There are many companies which propose excursions with good drivers (who have been trained for the "dune-bashing").
Driving in the small dunes is already a nice experience by itself.
Sandboarding is planned in the morning when temperature is not too high. Other excursions are organized late afternoon for seeing and riding camels, looking at the sunset in the desert and eating local food in the evening.
There are few big dunes which are 200-300m high. The biggest one (the "Big Red") is too popular with many people and vehicles. We went to a cool place with nobody
First we stopped on a medium dune to give a try. I could not believe it when I saw the three boards that the driver took from his car!
One of them was an asymmetrical goofy board mounted with regular bindings! The two others had goofy bindings... while I'm regular. So I asked the guy if he had a screwdriver to change the setup. Damn, he had nothing! 
Apparently these companies don't know well what snowboarding is and are not very professional 
Well, I was told that they are used to see tourists who just stand or sit on the boards and don't turn.
I have chosen the board that was not too bad for me. But look at the picture carefully: there is a strap missing on the rear foot!
Though I was disappointed, I found a solution: I used my belt to attach the ankle, hihi!
First run! Note that the setup is not ideal: small negative angle on the front foot (no screwdriver around, grrr!) but it was OK.
The temperature was about 35°C and you can understand why people don’t have real snowboard boots. Though some companies talk about "sand skiing", they have no skis and no hard boots...
Of course the friction is much higher than on the snow. It's impossible to turn quickly or with counter-rotation...
A proper technique is necessary and I felt almost like on water or snow.
Speed is cool too. I didn't try to fall... Probably it's worse than on snow
Since the guy was embarrassed because of the bad stuff, he accepted to bring me to the best dune in the area (actually it's a small mountain covered by sand). It was not possible to get at the top with the 4x4 (but only with quads), so I walked the last meters. The run is on the other side, which is a bit steeper!
Incredible view at the top and fresh powder... sorry... sand
Ready for the big run, yahoo! Notice the belt on my right ankle, hihi!
Hmm... What a great feeling! The sand was light, but not as light as fresh snow of course... And what a color!
The car is waiting for me at the bottom. There are no lifts in the desert and walking on the sand is difficult.
One can see my trace around the piece of wood
In conclusion it was a great experience
though I was disappointed at start by the gear in bad state. I would love to give a try with an alpine board and hard boots (despite the temperature). It's possible to carve! However laying down a turn must require protection clothes: the body can't slide on the sand like on the snow 
Linking fully laid turn is another question: the friction is so high and the slopes are not steep.What is my next dream? Coming back there with my own gear, a quad for two persons, a good friend (driver) and enough drink
Patrice Fivat
