Can You Find Larimar On The Beach? (Short Answer)

Larimar is a semiprecious stone found naturally only in the Dominican Republic, although in the different beaches of the Dominican Republic you can find different species of smooth and attractive stones, you will not find larimar on a Dominican beach.

When I say you won’t find it, I mean naturally and fortuitously in the sand or mixed with other stones.

The only place in the world where larimar or blue pectolite is found in the earth’s crust is in Barahona, in the southern region of the country. This semi-precious stone represents the livelihood of hundreds of families in the province known as the “Pearl of the South”.

If you are interested in knowing the history and origin of larimar, as well as many other things, I wrote a complete topic about it.

Why won’t you find larimar on the beach?

It is not that it is impossible to find larimar on a beach in the Dominican Republic, but the probabilities are almost null, besides, of all the beaches that exist in the country, the only beaches where some larimar could appear is in Barahona and Bahoruco, both cities in the south of the Dominican Republic.

Actually, larimar is a very beautiful, rare and valuable stone, I say that it is not impossible to find on a beach, because in fact, when larimar was rediscovered in Barahona, it was on a beach.

In fact, in previous decades, larimar was so abundant in the surrounding areas of the province of Bahoruco, that locals would go to the beach and find a lot of larimar’s mixed with the stones on the beach.

It is probable that on the beach of Bahoruco or on some beaches of Barahona, it is still possible to find larimar stones, but this is very difficult, due to the high value and that this zone has been very exploited.

Currently, obtaining larimar requires great effort and mining work, Don’t even think that you will find larimar on tourist beaches like Punta Cana or Bayahibe, at least not in a natural way.

The main beaches of Barahona are San Rafael, El Quemaíto, Saladilla, Los Patos and Paraíso, san Rafael is one of the most crowded.

Where can you find the best quality larimar in the Dominican Republic?

The best quality and most reliable larimar is obtained directly in the area of Barahona, where there is a workshop, museum and store of larimar, an institution dedicated to teaching artisans to work with larimar, at the same time they sell and exhibit the stone in the best quality that can be found.

Of course, in the Dominican Republic, there are souvenir stores that sell larimar of the same quality as the workshop and museum of larimar, but I must also say that there are counterfeits of larimar made with plastic.

To detect a fake larimar, the sellers always carry a lighter and make a fire test to the stone, the larimar is not damaged by fire, the plastic is.

The larimar workshop, museum and store is located on the road to Barahona, in this place, there are many excursions for tourists and locals.

The larimar stone is classified depending on its color: the first or AAA (intense blue) is followed by the second, with less intense color, and the third, which are already starry and white.