When we talk about the Oceano Dunes, it’s often in regards to an environmental issue. But there’s a reason the dunes are packed with people every weekend. KSBY anchor Scott Daniels stepped inside an ATV to see what the dunes are really like.
"You just got to be careful when you get to the top of the dunes. You have to stop and then you should wait to see what’s on the other side. If you think it’s too big of a hill or too steep, you just back away and cruise around in the flat area out there," said Shane Lambert of Steve’s ATV Rentals.
The hills are huge. The wind blows the sand to shift the dunes all the time.
Some of the drops are dangerous so keep to the smaller hills or the flat surfaces if you’re a novice.
Steve’s ATV Rentals has hundreds of ATVs to rent and between the four top rental companies, there’s more than a thousand that get rented out on a summer weekend.
"It’s just so peaceful and beautiful and gets your adrenaline going a bit. You never know when there’s going to be a 300-foot drop-off, plus the comradery is amazing," said David Hall, visiting from Orange County.
The Oceano Dunes brings in millions of visitors and $243 million a year to the local economy. Many of those visitors come from all over the world so you can imagine that many of the riders are rookies.
