Village in Laoag turns sand dunes into playground

LAOAG CITY—Residents are claiming the city’s dunes as their virtual playground for a unique sand adventure sport that aficionados could only find in the sun-drenched village of La Paz.

Make way for sand boarding, the newest sports craze that is proudly Ilocano.

The sports trailblazing, eco-adventure group Laoag Eco-Adventure Development Movement (or LEAD Movement), which Reny and Tina Tan cofounded, first made the desert home to off-road driving using four-wheel drive jeeps.

Having their own four-wheel drive jeeps, LEAD members made off-road driving a regular activity and offered their jeeps for hire to those who would want to go “dune-bashing” (riding across sand dunes and conquering steep slopes.)

But Tina says her group’s love for weekend adventure led them to explore a new sand sport in August 2009.

“It all started one weekend,” she says. “Reny (Tan) wanted to try his new sand board invention on the dunes. The board was a DIY (do-it-yourself) thing, built from scrap. He then went to the dunes, rode the board and glided on the slopes and it worked,” she says.

The board that Reny created was similar to a skateboard without rollers. Using specifications from his research, he used bended marine plywood and attached an elastic band to hold the feet in place.

“The new ones weigh lighter and are more stable. They feature Velcro-type foot straps to fit better. We painted them with bright colors,” Tina says.

She says they wanted to develop a desert sport similar to that in Dubai, which has an extensive desert cover.

“The La Paz sand dunes are the only extensive stretch of sand that you can find in the country. We found the slopes suitable for sand boarding,” she says.

Nearly three years later, LEAD Movement thought of making sand boarding more than a weekend adventure.

“We wanted to create a sport that only Laoag would have and be known for. If Camarines Sur has wakeboarding, Laoag is now known as the home of sand boarding,” Tina says.

The group launched the first sand boarding competition in the country on Feb. 11, an event that was incorporated as a highlight to Laoag’s month-long Pamulinawen Festival.

Tina says the turnout in the competition was more than what they expected. All 49 competitors, most of them young skateboarders, were city residents, from 6 to 51 years old. Part of the group’s purpose is for locals to embrace the new sport.