Lancelin sand dunes, WA: Sandboard hire & 4WD tours

4WD tours of the Lancelin sand dunes in Western Australia also include sandboarding down the dunes. Day tours are available from Perth.

The Lancelin sand dunes, about 128km north of Perth in Western Australia, are hugely popular with 4WDers and quad bikers. But if you don’t have your own offroad vehicle, you can still enjoy the dunes.

Westside Tours offers a 45 minute 4WD bus tour over the Lancelin sand dunes. This specially modified bus climbs the white dunes, then plunges down the other side. It’s all good fun, and nerve-wracking in parts.

Four Lancelin experiences to book in advance

Full day Pinnacles and Lancelin dunes tour from Perth.
All terrain vehicle and sandboarding tour – conquer the massive dunes the fun way.
Single-seater or two-seater quad bike hire.
Lancelin dunes sandboard hire – see how fast you can whizz down the dunes.

Sandboarding on the Lancelin sand dunes

The Lancelin sand dunes 4WD tour also includes 15 minutes of sandboarding. For the uninitiated, sandboarding involves climbing up the dune, waxing the bottom of what’s little more than a wooden plank, then whizzing down the dunes on it. The speed can be intimidating, but you’re best off holding onto the board until you reach the bottom if you don’t want a face full of sand.

Sandboarding at the Lancelin sand dunes, north of Perth. Photo courtesy of Tourism Western Australia.

Obviously, 15 minutes isn’t very long to get in the swing of things, so if you want to try more sandboarding on the Lancelin dunes, you can hire a board. Sandboard hire at the Lancelin sand dunes costs $12.50 for two hours. After that time, expect aching legs as climbing up those dunes is extremely hard work.

The four star Lancelin Lodge is the best Lancelin accommodation choice.

Day tours to Lancelin from Perth

Lancelin’s proximity to Perth means it’s a popular day trip destination. Or, more accurately, it’s a popular destination as part of a day trip. Adams Pinnacles Tours is amongst the operators that bundle together the Lancelin Sand Dunes with the Pinnacles rock formations in the Nambung National Park.

The full day tour starts in Perth, then visits the Caversham Wildlife Park in the Swan Valley. At this wildlife park you can hand-feed kangaroos and hold a koala. It also stops at the Lobster Shack in Cervantes, the nearest town to the Pinnacles, for a tour of the lobster processing plant.

Alternatively, you can make the Lancelin sand dunes part of a trip up the west coast from Perth to Broome. Lancelin is in the Perth to Geraldton section of the drive, before you reach Shark Bay, the Ningaloo Reef and the Pilbara.