Hiking dunes can be really horrible if you’re wearing heavy or stiff footwear. The best shoes and boots for your trip to the dunes will be lightweight, eliminate blisters and keep sand out.
We go over this further in our post Best Shoes for Sand Dunes. For instance, I opt for smaller and breathable shoes for short day hikes and enjoy the Watelves Sport.5 Sand Shoe.
A tight water shoe is really nice for those of us with sweaty feet. However, for long treks, a nice hot-weather hiking boot will serve you well.
In fact, we’ve been to the dunes in almost every type of shoe and, while breathable, running shoes will fill with sand and cause chaffing, blisters, and sore feet very quickly. If you mean business, the right footwear will completely change your hike.
Finally, always wear shoes as sand gets molten hot in the middle of a summer day. In fact, when outside temps reach 90°F, sand can get be 120°F causing serious injury (source).