With its sparkling blue seas, exotic tropical vistas and breathtaking beaches, the Caribbean is truly a dazzling work of nature with its outer beauty. It also holds two semi-precious stones that could not be found anywhere else and these are Larimar and Caymanite.

Larimar is a semi-precious stone which can be found in a remote area in the Dominican Republic. This exquisite gemstone was actually created from the volcanic forces that also created the island. What happened was that hot gases pushed the molten material to the chimneys of the volcano and this caused its minerals to crystallize. It also created the unique properties of the stone. Over the hundreds and even thousands of centuries, erosion caused the bits of this semi-precious stone to break off, and washed them to the Bahoruco River where these stones hit rocks and other debris. Once the stones reach the end of the river at the beach, the polishing action has been able to reveal the green, marbled sea-blue, and white hues that Larimar is known and valued for.

Now though the date of this semi-precious stone is not known, it is very likely that inhabitants could have already come across the blue stones which washed up on the shore over a century ago. Its origins were later traced to the mountains.

Scientifically, the stone is blue pectolite. Though there are other types of pectolite that could be found in several locations all over the world, Larimar is considered to be unique to the mountain range of Bahoruco. Copper gives the stone its characteristic greens and blues, with the blue stones considered to be more valuable. Additionally, there are some stones which have brown, red and gray shades. Due to its color, Larimar is sometimes mistaken to be blue jade or turquoise.