Lancelin Sand Dunes

The dunes at Lancelin rise directly behind the town, a field of soft white quartz sand covering several square kilometres with slopes steep enough for sandboarding and rides big enough for serious four-wheel driving. The sand is unusually pale, which makes the glare severe and the photographs striking. Boards are hired in town for a few dollars, and tour operators run buggies and vehicles across the field. Lancelin itself is a crayfishing town with a sheltered lagoon protected by an offshore reef, which has made it one of the best-known windsurfing and kitesurfing spots in Australia, with the Lancelin Ocean Classic race held each January.

What you actually see

• The white dunes - a field of pale quartz sand behind the town.
• The sandboarding - hired boards taken down the steeper faces.
• The four-wheel driving - vehicles and buggies working across the dunes.
• The lagoon - reef-protected water used for windsurfing and kitesurfing.

When to go

April to November for tolerable temperatures; summer sand becomes hot enough to burn feet, and glare is punishing. The afternoon sea breeze is strong most days, which suits sailors and blasts everyone else. The ocean race falls in January.

Honest expectations

There is no shade and glare from the white sand is intense; sunglasses and covered feet are essential. Sandboarding is slower and harder work than snow, requiring a climb for each run. Vehicles bog easily and recovery is on you.

Nearby

Cervantes and the Pinnacles lie north; Perth is two hours south.