It is situated to the east of the village of Aberffraw, across the Afon Ffraw. The dunes, along with Traeth Mawr beach and Llyn Coron (at the north eastern end of the dune system) have been designated as a Site of Special Scientific (SSSI). The area also forms part of the Abermenai to Aberffraw Dunes Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

The dunes have open access (on foot) and there is a parking area on the western side, just off the A4080 main road. Refreshments are available in Aberffraw at the Llys Llewelyn visitor centre and café (which is open during the main tourist season). The varied habitats support lots of interesting plants and insects, including some rarer species, like shore dock and petalwort (a rare kind of liverwort). The site supports one of the largest lyme-grass communities in Wales, and the mobile dunes at the southern end of the reserve contain an abundance of sea holly.

The kinds of plants that can be found in the areas of fixed dune include red fescue, lady’s bedstraw, marram grass and early sand-grass.

Some of the slacks (low lying areas between the dunes) contain a lot of creeping willow, along with a diverse range of flowering plants, which includes marsh orchids, pyramidal orchids and helleborines.

The site is extremely rich in invertebrates, and also supports feeding chough and breeding lapwing and skylark. Llyn Coron supports a varied aquatic flora and fauna, including eight-stamened waterwort, hairlike pondweed and swan mussel.

The Afon Ffraw supports river water-crowfoot, an internationally important species that thrives in rivers with shallow, fast-flowing, oxygen-rich clean water.