The huge sand dunes in Vityazevo are a landmark not only of this resort village, but also of the entire Caucasian coast of the Black Sea. There is nothing like this in other resorts of the Caucasus and Crimea. The height of the dunes reaches 15 meters, and the width of the sandy beach is about 100 meters. Such dunes in Russia can only be seen on the Curonian Spit.
All beaches on the Black Sea coast are covered with pebbles, and only the coast in the Anapa area is covered with magnificent sand. This is due to the several millennia ago the Kuban River flowed into the Black Sea. The source is located on the northern slope of Mount Elbrus, and the waters of the river carried a huge volume of sand to these places. The dunes in Vityazevo and the beaches of Anapa consist of this sand.
The Kiziltashsky and Vityazevsky estuaries are the former mouth of the Kuban River, which now flows into the Sea of Azov. Vityazevsky estuary is located on the northwestern side of Vityazevo. All estuaries on the Taman Peninsula are very shallow (about 1.5 meters deep), and their bottom is covered with a thick layer of therapeutic mud.
Sand dunes stretch for 2 kilometers from the Vityazevsky estuary south to the village of Dzhemete. On average, sand dunes are located 100 meters from the sea shore, but in some places this distance is longer. On the north side of the village on the beaches of Dune and Tortuga, the width of the sandy strip of beaches reaches almost 200 meters.
On the south side, Vityazevo borders the village of Dzhemete and then Pionersky Avenue begins. Several dozen pioneer camps were built along it during the Soviet years. In Dzhemet, the height of the dunes becomes lower. They are no longer on Pionerskiy Prospekt, but the sandy beaches are just as wide.
Most of the dunes in Vityazevo are overgrown with small shrubs and grass. This makes them very picturesque. The sand that the Kuban River carried to these places contains quartz. Sunbathing on quartz sand is very useful, especially for children, so some tourists prefer to sunbathe in the dunes, not on beaches.
