sand surfing

protip: practice on the smaller 20-30 foot dunes at the beginning of the park so you don't completely blow it later.  then hike to the 700 foot big ones, chill on the top for a while, enjoy the view, find your lines (this is important if you want to maximize your returns from spending an hour or two climbing up a mountain of sand. You really only have one series of rides to the bottom, unless you are fit enough to climb up and down sand dunes all day), find your lines (maximize efficiency with smart dune selection) and then sand surf your way down to the bottom.  good times. 

The board is hard to control, you can really only go straight. for me, cutbacks, carves and turns were impossible. you can't cut across the face of the dune, at least i could never manage it.   you go really really fast on the big steep faces (probably too fast, might want to focus on quality rather than speed of ride); it helps to crouch down low and drag a hand in the sand to slow and stabilize yourself.

protip: lots, if not most, tourists go straight up the middle to the big dune, and it is big, maybe the biggest 700 foot one, there are a five around that size in the park, but on my first day there i went to the right side  (north-east corner) of the dune field (if you are looking at the dunes from the parking lot) and found big giant dunes all to myself, virgin sand with no footprints but my own.  the big one in the middle is cool cuz you get a 360 degree view from the highest peak, but it's also crowded... and a lot of work to get to the top. the second day i went to the big one in the middle cuz i wanted to maximize my board riding opportunities.