He grew up in North Bend, but Gabriel Cruz now calls Florence home and he’s King of the Hill, well, really Dunes and the Central Coast has plenty of sand beginning on the north side of the Coos Bay Channel, and running nearly 50-miles north to the South Jetty at Florence within the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. This is where Cruz developed his skills leading to becoming a two-time world sandboarding champion. The 24-year old works at the Sand Master Park on Hwy. 101 at the north end of town. One of his favorite sandboarding locations is just south of town at Jesse M. Honeyman Memorial State Park. When he’s not riding the Dunes on the Coast, he likes to snowboard during the winter months at Mt. Bachelor in Central Oregon. The biggest sandboarding event in Oregon, the San Master Jam, takes place the third weekend in July at Florence’s Sand Master Park.
