Dominican Republic’s Secret Sand Dunes: Exploring Las Dunas de Baní
The Dunes of Baní stretch across the Las Calderas Peninsula in a straight line for 15 kilometres, a geological feature that started forming in the Pleistocene from deposits of the Bahía Stream and the Nizao River. This desert-like landscape sits in the Dominican Republic’s Peravia Province, roughly an hour’s drive west of Santo Domingo, and it’s one of the Caribbean’s more unexpected natural formations. The sand here is unusually fine, rich in quartz and feldspar, and the highest dune reaches 35 metres tall — a figure that becomes more impressive when you consider the surrounding subtropical dry forest and