[8][9] The top layers of other parts of the spit are formed by sand and shells washed by the flows of the Azov Sea.

[12] The Arabat Arrow was wild until 1835 when a road and five stations at 25–30 km (16–19 mi) intervals were built along it for postal delivery.

The Soviet authorities tried to drown the Crimean Tatars from the Arabat spit in the sea on a barge, and those who tried to swim ashore were shot.

While the spit is geophysically part of the Crimean Peninsula, politically its northern half belongs to Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, while its southern portion is located within the boundaries of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory internationally recognized as part of Ukraine, which came under Russian military occupation in 2014.

[citation needed] On 5 January 2023, Vladimir Saldo, head of the Russian occupation authorities in Kherson Oblast, stated that a new city would be planned on the spit.

[citation needed] The rural communities of Henicheska Hirka, Shchaslyvtseve and Strilkove are located in the northern section of the spit, within the Kherson Oblast.

Arabat Spit is a popular place for summer vacation among Ukrainians because of the warm water of the Sea of Azov.