Fun for everyone! Many options for young riders to adults. I myself am a big guy and was comfortable the whole duration of the tour. Excellent service read more

If negative stars were available, that is the rating I would give this company. Absolutely HORRIBLE customer service. I tried to redeem my Groupon for the UTV excursion. The owner, Chris, had issues with redeeming them on his end. So, he suggested we come out anyway and pay in cash. We followed his directions, came out on April 6, 2025, and paid in cash for the UTV excursion. I recently looked at my outstanding Groupon credits and saw the Groupons were redeemed by Chris without my authorization on April 13, 2025. He already received a cash payment from me, yet he went ahead and redeemed the Groupons. So, I am out $600 in Groupon experiences, because of his crooked actions. This business also has horrible reviews on TripAdvisor. He has been scamming many patrons for these tours. STAY AWAY FROM SAN DIEGO DUNE TOURS at: 6 W Evans Hewes Hwy, Ocotillo, CA 92259! read more

I had a tour with my kids and father-in-law in October 2023. No real complaints about the tour... however, I was charged again in February, 2026. My calls, texts, emails have mostly been ignored. The phone numbers listed cannot receive any messages. At the time of this review, I have not been refunded. I started researching the reviews after this charge and saw at least 28 reviews about shady money practices. They have an F rating from the BBB. Do your research. read more

Chris! BEWARE!! More information needs to be provided on their website. What they don't tell you is a sizable deposit is required before you go out AND you must leave both your credit card and ID at their facility while out on the tour. After explaining how uncomfortable leaving behind the credit card and ID made us, we complied and informed of a bad review would follow. Chris then said he would, "Give us a reason to leave a one star review," and refused to allow the tour to take place. When asked about a refund for the refusal of service, we were told to talk to the owner who would "have Chris' back". If leaving negative stars was a thing, I would leave a -5! read more

I booked the abandoned train tour with San Diego dune tours for my family to try a new adventure and we had a great time! From the start, they were very responsive to all my questions and it was an easy booking experience. Chris was our tour guide and was very accommodating to my stepson, who needed help and couldn't figure out how to drive the ATV. Chris was incredibly kind and accommodating, he went back to his shop to provide us with another vehicle after we had already started the tour! After some initial chaos and delays, we still went on the tour and loved it. It was such a thrill, the scenery was beautiful, and the sights were all great for some photos. Thank you again Chris! We really appreciate it and hope to come back one day soon. read more

San Diego Dune Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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Chris was fantastic!! The tour was not only educational but super exhilarating!!! Even when I got into a few hiccups while driving. Definitely will return again!! read more

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had a great experience with this company. Chris, Mary, and fox were so welcoming and attentive. my party and i had a blast on the ATVs. 10/10 would reocmmmed! read more

San Diego Dune Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

Sketchy business practices. I'd give no stars if possible. I ignored some bad reviews hoping that things had gotten better. They have not!! I had to reach out multiple times to get clear information and only when I arrived for my tour did I find out more questionable business practices. I was informed upon my arrival that a large deposit would need to be paid to cover the vehicle. After a few questions, it was then made clear that this would just be a hold on my card for the tour (a hold of almost $2k for one vehicle). I agreed to that hold and the mandatory gratuity due before the tour. Then I was told that I would have to leave my driver's license and credit card in the office while on the tour. I've never been asked to leave my credit card and ID anywhere so challenged this requirement. At the threat of not getting to go on the tour at all, I finally agreed to leave a credit card but did mention that this was not made clear on the website and I'd leave a review giving this criticism. My comment of leaving a negative review triggered Chris to where he instructed his tour guide to cancel my tour. He said on the phone to me that 'he'd give me a reason to leave a one star review'. When I asked if I would get a refund since he was unnecessarily canceling my tour, he told me to take it up with the owner but that 'she would back him up'. To say the least, I was angry but more disappointed that my 11 year old nephew had to witness this poor customer service and missed out on the tour. I'd very strongly warn others to not waste their time trying to conduct business with this operation. read more

This is the 2nd time I rented and took a tour from Chris. The first time was with a friend. The second time I brought family and a team of work colleagues. We took the 4 hour tour and I was glad we used Chris again. Other places in Ocotillo just rent ATVs but combining some ATVs with some Polaris 2- and 4- seaters gave us the perfect mix of intense ATV riding with the chance to switch to the Polaris. Chris loves the desert and his knowledge of the places run deep. Even though we did the same tour both times, I learned something new each time. read more

San Diego Dune Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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We booked in advance, and showed up on a Wednesday evening for the 2-hour abandoned train tour! It was just enough time to get us feeling like we had an adventure, but without being too tired at the end of the day. We were stoked when it turned out to be just us two, plus Chris and Sergio our guides. It was a bit confusing at first because there was no sign for "Dune Tours", but we just trusted that we had the right address which was provided to us and it worked out! Chris and Sergio were both fabulous, my boyfriend and I had such a great time. Sergio took the best photos of us, and we had some good laughs and a killer sunset. read more

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Awesome tour!!! Recommend for all levels of riding. The tour guide can modify the trip to all capabilities. We did the Painted Gorge tour on dirt bikes and quads and the views were absolutely stunning. The riding was sandy at points and can be as challenging as you'd like. Great your all around. Definitely recommend! read more

San Diego Dune Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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Great tour guy and fun experience!!!! Would recommend it 10/10 Chris was phenomenal. We had a large group and he would wait for the slower drivers, everyone had a fun time read more

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Chris knows the desert like the back of his hand. While driving through to Painted Gorge, he quickly points out local wildlife. Such a fantastic day trip out of San Diego to appreciate the beauty of the local desert but also just so much fun to drive through the sand. Chris's vehicles are in great shape and has options for the whole family. If you go in Summer, definitely freeze a few water bottles in advance and bring plenty per person! read more

San Diego Dune Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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We had a fantastic time with the ATVs. Chris showed us a crazy a** adventure. He was very friendly, personable and showed us a great time. Was our 1st time Doing this & what a person to show us as for someone who has been doing this almost his whole life. The seens were beautiful. Nothing like a city tour. This was something very memorable. I should have brought my gopro. Missed out on video opportunities. Something else they might look in to renting for customers to take home videos. But Chris U rock! read more

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Do NOT rent from here. When we arrived, they didn't have the inventory they said they did. One of the dune buggies got a flat tire halfway through the tour and they told us just to keep driving on it. Another wouldn't shift into high gear. Another kept overheating and the engine would shut off. It was such a horrible experience and then on top of it all, they overcharged us and will not answer us at all. Unless you want to be scammed, stay far far away. read more

Had an amazing time. Showed us a bunch of extra stuff that we had no idea was out here. Definitely recommend going here. Also don't forgot to ask for the "surprise". read more

San Diego Dune Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

This was the WORST experience anyone could ever imagine with a company. My company asked for an itemized invoice, because an updated quote we asked for ended up being $15,000 more than we were originally quoted. After we asked for a breakdown of what the additional costs were for, the owner started to send the most disgusting and violent emails, text messages and phone calls. He called our employees the "c" word that rhymes with punt, and the "b" word that rhymes with witch... all because we asked for an itemized invoice. Wouldnt you ask for an itemized invoice if something you were told would be $10,000, and you were asked for $25,000 instead? Just wanted to know why it went up $15,000.... and where that money was being allocated. Needless to say we cancelled our company outing. Then, the harassment began. text messages, voicemails, emails and even videos were sent by the owner. It was very scary and alarming. read more

Rude, dishonest, terrible customer service. They used foul language and sent harassing emails and texts.

This was a great time! We took a group of ten out for my husband's birthday and we had so much fun. Chris is definitely a character and kept us entertained the entire time. We liked that he took us to different terrains and we got to experience difference landscapes. Most of us it was our first time so he definitely ensured that we had a few breaks. We had previously gone ATVing in Cabo and this was definitely more fun and adventurous. The only feedback I would give is that when it's a bunch of first timers to make sure maybe there is a second person at the end of the group. We did have some Quads that we had some difficulty starting and a couple people that fell. But other than that it was a fun day! read more

Had an amazing day with Chris, honestly if I could give it more stars I would definitely do. We did the sand dunes tour and it exceeded our expectations, amazing spot to do the tour, Chris took his time to stop and show us the history around the base very friendly super fun guy made us feel like we've known each other for long time which made our experience more than great, and his side effect sounds will keep you laughing. We will definitely be coming for more fun Don't hesitate on booking an over the top adventure!! read more

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Chris is the best guide out there! This is the second time we rode with him and we will continue to!! Get here for all your ATV/dirt biking needs! read more

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Super fun day with Chris! Definitely got our moneys worth - between the painted gorge and the sand bar it was an awesome and fun experience for our first time riding ATVs! Would totally recommend! read more

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Rented a Honda CRF230 from Chris for 3 days the 3rd week of May. Not many places will rent for multiple days and Chris was super accommodating. When we got there, we were presented with a well maintained 2017 model. Not a scratch on the bodywork (returned it the same!). It handled well and was a reliable bike for the local area which is mostly sand. Had enough zip and power to ably handle the local conditions. It was super hot when we rode so we were limited on the amount of time we could ride out in the Ocotillo wind farm area. That said, when we did ride, we had lots of fun! Next time, we'll come either early in spring or fall when it's not in the high 90s and will definitely rent from Dune (and Chris)! read more

San Diego Dune Tours - Dune Tours' Honda CRF230 Motorcycle in the Ocotillo desert - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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Super professional stuff. Got to know the area very well, they gave us a lot of history in addition to an amazing tour. Can't wait to come back for the sunset tour. read more

San Diego Dune Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

This was my first time riding atv. Our guide was cool and very interactive. It was a amazing first time withvery bumpy and windy roads and plenty of fun I would highly recommend. read more

San Diego Dune Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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The terrain was so fun to ride over on an ATV! Chris was a great host and brought lots of energy early in the morning !! We had a group of 4 and it was perfect. Definitely want to come back with more family and friends for another awesome and memorable adventure. read more

San Diego Dune Tours - The girls trip was a success with a fun ATV ride at 6am - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

Extremely disappointed with the customer service at this place. I booked my boyfriend and I an ATV tour with this company for his birthday. We've done ATV tours before so this was supposed to be a new experience with a terrain we've never done. I booked the Sand Dunes tour and booked our entire 3 day trip around this location. We arrived early as instructed on the day of the tour at the same time as another group of people. We were told to arrive 30 minutes early so that we had time to fill out paperwork and be on the road by our scheduled time. Our instructor Chris arrived last about 40 minutes after everyone else. As expected it took 30 minutes to fill out paperwork and get everyone ready to go. As soon as he got there he explained that we probably wouldn't have time to do the Sand Dunes because they were far and the other group of people that were there only paid to do the shorter Painted Gorge tour. I didn't understand why they only had one instructor scheduled to do 2 different tours at the same time. If they don't have enough instructors it seems like the tours should be split up by the type of tour. We ended up only doing the Painted Gorge tour and minus having to stop unnecessarily one too many times along the way (outside of slowing down for people to catch up), it was a pleasant ride. Since we specifically planned our trips around going to the Sand Dunes, the one thing I asked for at the end of the tour though was to be refunded the difference between the two tours. The Painted Gorge tour is $203 per person and shorter. The Sand Dunes tour is $288 per person. That's a huge difference. Everyone else in our tour group paid $203 per person. I suspect any reasonable person would expect a refund for the difference... Chris told me to contact an associate of his Michele to figure it all out over email. I sent Michele 4 kindly written emails explaining the situation before I finally got a response 10 days later after calling the tour guide to ask if she received them. She responded that refunds were against their policy and that the tour guide made a judgment call based on how fast the group was going. I totally understand if he felt we couldn't do the Sand Dunes tour due to timing, what I don't understand is why I had to pay more than everyone else to do the same tour. They let us know that this "happens a lot" so if that's the case I would strongly advise that if you want to go on this tour, do the shorter one, pay less, and hope that your group lucks out. This whole experience left a really bad taste in my mouth and it's not a company I would trust going forward. I feel scammed out of that extra money. read more

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Best experience in San Diego. Very enjoyable and great value for the money. Our guide was fantastic. read more

10/10 recommend visiting this dune tour!! Chris was amazing and we had so much fun!! He's great with first-timers and makes the tour so interesting! Definitely coming back again!! read more

San Diego Dune Tours - quad + buggy = fun - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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DO NOT RENT FROM SAN DIEGO DUNE TOURS!!!!! These people are scam artists. The tour was not what we paid for. We rented 4 2-seater UTVs. We paid in full before the tour. When we arrived they did not have the utvs that we rented. We had to convince the tour guide to give us 4 UTVs. One UTV got a flat tire and ran out of gas two hours in. The tour guide told us we had to ride with the flat tire for the remaining 3 hours of the tour because she did not have a spare. One UTV would not shift into 2nd gear so could not go more than 20 mph. One UTV kept over heating and shutting off. What was supposed to be a 3 hr tour took us 5 1/2 hours because we had so many issues with the UTVs. The tour guide told us it was not our fault and would not be responsible for any of the issues. Unbeknown to us, we were charged $2500 security deposit and still have not gotten it back. Their answering machine is full and their email does not work. We are out $5000 for a day of stress and frustration!!! read more

I took my self and 12 year old daughter out for a atv tour with Chris. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the whole experience- was definitely worth it. My daughter had a great time as well. So fun to watch her out there in the desert riding so confidently.. Chris made things very comfortable. I recommend the experience. read more

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Extremely disappointed with the entire "business". I went there with my 2 friends for a bachelor party for my best friend getting married in a month. We drove over 2 hours to find out that one of the ATVs is manual (none of us know how to ride manual nor did we book it) and were told that we can take turns riding the ATVs with no discount as this is not what we paid for. Chris said we could get a credit to come back, but we lost trust right away and will never go back. We ended up requesting a full refund and completely ruined our bachelor plans. Buyer beware! read more

Our second time out with these guys was just as fun as the first time! The guide showed us all new parts of the dunes. Stay hydrated and bring snacks! read more

First time on ATVs and my gf and I had a great time! Chris and Butch were great guides. The ATVs were in great condition and they took us on a route with varied terrain, which was great for the experience. If you're also a first timer, you'll find that the ATVs are pretty easy to maneuver, and you'll feel like an experienced rider after 15 minutes. Only downside was the car issues I had while in the desert, which shortened our day. Thanks guys, see you next time! read more

Great experience with Henry. Party of 20 and everything was excellent. We did the 4 hour experience and everything went smooth. Thank you! read more

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WOW. Where do I even start? I decided to take a spur of the moment Solo trip from Orange to Ocotillo, CA as a gift to myself. Booked on a Friday 6pm-10pm, which meant bad traffic once i hit San Diego on the 5 fwy. I recommend if you're coming from OC area to here, fill up tank full before leaving, and fill up again regardless of the tank level at the gas station right before the location's exit. Especially if you're doing the night tour (don't wanna be filling up late late into the night, tired on the way home) But long story short, CHRIS was an AMAZING guide. He stopped about every path turn just to make sure everyone in the group had caught up and was not lost. And if someone did get lost, he ensured to keep remaining members together while he went to find the rest. I HIGHLY recommend the 6pm-10pm tour over the 6am-10am tour, only because you get the nice cool daylight during 6pm to enjoy the scenery then the rush of adrenaline during the night ride at the end. (NO OTHER TOUR I HAD LOOKED INTO HAD TIME SLOTS LIKE THIS TO WHERE YOU GOT TO EXPERIENCE BOTH DAY AND NIGHT) Bring LOTS of water and Lots of little snacks like chips or granola bars. Chris did a great job of stopping here and there for the group members to stay hydrated and a quick granola bar bite. Lastly, my biggest, biggest tip is that if you're a beginner or have never ridden an atv or dirtbike before, just do a quick reminder for the tour guide so that they know to slow down a bit- also, choose an atv over a dirtbike. Ive been riding since I was 13, do i had no problems but chris made sure to really educate those who had not ridden before or were scared to go a bit faster. Cant wait until my son is old enough to go together one day! THANKS CHRIS! this one is definitely going down in the books as a great experience! read more

San Diego Dune Tours - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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RUUUUN!! This is also Academy rental and tours. Just read the reviews on Academy and you'll get a much better idea of who Chris really is. Oh, and ask to see his business license. My partner and I happen to be talking to Chris separately because we thought Academy was a different company. When I told him I was concerned about the reviews he said he didn't have any units available for us anyway and hung up. But at the same time he was telling my partner that he has units available. Then for the next hour he kept texting me. Telling me how great his company was. All the huge clients he has that spend thousands of dollars with him. Oh, he also likes to brag about his $250000 Polaris' because he is a "Polaris Rep". I own the same one that cost $17000. I'm calling MY Polaris Rep to let them know they are working with a scam artist. Go see Kenny around the corner at Dezert Adventure. He's a great guy. Your wallet will thank you and you'll thank me. read more

I called San Diego Dune tours yesterday to inquire about renting ATVs and side by sides and spoke with Chris for about 20 minutes. He took the time to talk with me and explain all the important questions I had regarding the tours and safety. I'm going to take my daughter out there as soon as I have a good week day. The other companies I spoke with were very short with me and didn't have similar pricing. This will be our next adventure. Thanks again Chris! read more

I will describe Chris to you now. He is rude, impatient, disengaged, unsympathetic, aggressive, immoral, and is the type of person that will prey on you if he gets the chance. In other words he is dangerous. There was another incident. I will set the scene: We have been riding now for 2 and a half hours, it is about 12 noon the sun is high in the sky and it is hot. There's a lot of sand/rocks/hills. There are 5 customers/riders in total: myself(30yo) black male, my wife (27yo) Asian woman, another gentleman (37yo) possibly half black, his spouse (37yo) black woman, and his adult daughter (22) black woman. We have stopped for a break underneath an abandoned bridge that is maybe 20 feet in height. Underneath this bridge there is a lot of United States memorabilia so it is like a shrine/ little boys tree house. Well during our break somehow Chris decided to speak to us (me in particular I guess) about his personal/political/social beliefs. He begins by talking about the incomplete border wall; this may be relevant to him because of the geography. Somewhere nearby the geographical location of his business the wall ends and is awaiting completion as he told us. Well during this conversation Chris expressed to us that he thinks immigrants, Mexicans, in particular are going to take over the country in his own words he says "you'll see it in your lifetime that there will be so many people here illegally that they will take control of this country. I need to know who they are." He also told us about how illegal immigrants tie a heavy object to the end of a rope and use this tool to climb over the border wall. He told us that a friend of his who works to secure the border gave him one of these man-made tools as a keep sake and said in his own words "I hang it on my tree at home." - I am unsure why it was significant for him to tell me that he has a rope hangin on his tree at home. read more

We had such an amazing time on our tour! We were late to our appointment, about an hour away at imperial hwy near the padres stadium. It was my fault. Our tour guide, Spoon was super cool and still accommodated us because my friend flew out from Washington for my birthday. Best birthday ever! The tour was absolutely amazing. The gorges were beautiful. The sunset was amazing. The terrain and the trails we went on were super fun. I had such a blast for my birthday. We are 100% coming back! read more

San Diego Dune Tours - My birthday squad 3 - ATV Rentals/Tours Near Me - Ocotillo, California

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