At Oceano beach formerly known as Pismo Beach just south of San Luis Obispo you can ride recreational vehicles on the beach and in the Sand Dunes. There are local ATV rentals, and locals with GoPros who think they are “pros”. We rented from Steve’s ATVs. We lucked out that day because it was overcast so we had the dunes pretty much to ourselves. We did some research and decided to get automatics rather than clutch ATVs. This was pretty much the best decision we made that day.

It took a bit to get used to the ATVs as well as the dunes. The most important thing was to ride up to the edge of a decline slowly, not knowing how deep it was on the other side. Taking a decline too quickly would equal impending danger i.e. injury, death etc. This is what the safety aka scare video told us right before we signed our lives away.

Are we having fun yet?

After our instruction and reviewing our handy map, we rode along the beach for a while and made our way to the dunes. Once we got into the dunes we concentrated on navigating, rode for a bit and then got stuck. We dug each other out and then got stuck again. Ride…get stuck. Repeat. Then…we got it. We finally realized that when you were riding uphill you had to gun the engine at top speed. If you went too slowly, you got stuck.

All was going well, we were cruising. After a while I thought we were too deep into the dunes and I wanted out. I had no idea where we came from and more importantly where we were. There were also no trail markers in sight. I panicked. Michele tried to calm me down but of course once I get into panic mode I can be a bit neurotic. I tried to figure out which dunes would take us back out. We rode up a few hills and then...

I took the wrong hill. I drove right into a twenty-five foot hole and had no idea how to get out. Right then I felt so small surrounded by a bunch of sand with nothing in sight. It was a good thing we happened to be near marker 15. I had to do the unthinkable. I had to call the rental guy to get my ATV out of the hole. It was like a walk of shame.

Enter the ATV rental dude. He casually strolls into the bowl and drives my ATV up and out. Just like that. He says that we can follow him back. We agree. Rental guy clocks it we struggle to keep up. We make sure we are gunning the ATVs like mad to get up the insane hills this guy is flying over. Finally we emerged from the dunes unscathed. Despite my mishap it was a cool experience and I’m sure we will try it again.

Flip Flops & Passports