Would continental deserts appear at the equator of a planet?

[Caenwyr]

Edit: I have just one more question. Assuming no terrain blocks the wind, how far do you have to travel inland before the area is no longer climatically connected to the ocean?

The group of climates not (or very weakly) influenced by ocean currents are called continental climates. In order to understand what these are, I suggest we first take a loot at the picture below.

Attachment 48323

As you can see continental climates only occur in cold and temperate regions. Sometimes they begin directly at the coast, sometimes they're hundreds of miles away from the sea. You also notice that, the more north you go, the closer the continental climate comes to the sea. The tempering, 'moisturizing' influence of the sea gets weaker. And the less influence you get, the more extreme the temperatures will be. In Siberia, temperatures can go as high as 90°F in summer and as low as -10°F in winter. The range in temperatures in sea climates is far smaller.

But actually I don't think you can rule out the influence of the terrain: it's one of the strongest factors! Just like with deserts, mountain ranges decide how much of the ocean's influence you get. You can have a continental climate right next to the sea, as long as it's separated from it by a mountain range.

But if you're asking about the maximum distance between the sea and the 'start' of a zone with a continental climate, I guess it's in the hundreds of miles, at least here on earth.