The Romanian Seaside
The seaside of the
Black Sea, known as Pontus Euxinus in antiquity has a length of 244 km. It stretches in between the
Danube's arm called Chilia, in the north, and the southern border of the country. The northern part of the littoral, between
Musura and the Midia Cape, has a relief characteristic for the delta, with offshore bars and lagoons, while the southern part, between
Midia Cape and Vama Veche, near the border with Bulgaria, has a higher relief, dominated by sea walls, gulfs and promontories. The beaches have a width of over
250 m at Mangalia and Techirghiol and of 50-200m in other places.
The Romanian littoral rivals the Mediterranean's, being renown for its fine sand, of a special quality. The
Black Sea's water has a reduced salinity as compared to other continental seas (only 17%), that allows the practice of sub-aquatic and nautical sports in optimum conditions. The littoral platform has an extremely reduced inclination. There are broad areas of 100-200 m where the seawater does not surpass a depth of 1m - 1,5 m, thus eliminating any risk factor. The seawater is calm, without powerful tides. The medium latitude and low altitude favour a dry climate and subsequently, a longer summertime season (since the second half of May until October). The seashore is oriented towards east, offering tourists the possibility of contemplating superb sunrises and producing a maximum luminosity during the daytime.
The lakes from the vicinity of the littoral (Techirghiol, Agigea, Costinesti, Agighiol,
Nuntasi) have an extraordinary curative value. Besides the curative effects of the water, these lakes contain organogenous mud deposits.
The medical therapy that can be exercised in this part of the country is not the only best card of the region. A great variety of entertaining activities can be developed on the littoral - tennis, minigolf, bowling, equitation and scooter tours.
Tourists can visit a series of historical vestige and relics, like the Greek fortresses dated in the 7th and 6th centuries BC:
Histria, Tomis (present-day Constanta), Calatis (present-day
Mangalia).
Tourists have frequently visited the southern sector of the littoral, with a length of 72 km, ever since the end of the 19th century. Since 1959, the resorts of the littoral have been constantly modernised.
Mamaia, Eforie Nord, Eforie Sud, Techirghiol, Costinesti,
Neptun-Olimp, Jupiter, Cap Aurora, Venus, Saturn,
Mangalia represent the favourite choice tourists from everywhere make every year. Today, the accommodation capacity of the resorts is of approximately 160.000 places.
The transportation in between the resorts is provided by a special miniature transportation means, called "minicar", which links
Mangalia to Neptun-Olimp in the southern area of the littoral and which also provides a tour of the Mamaia resort.
Tourists can also join organized trips departing from the littoral towards various locations of the country (the
Danube Delta, the monasteries of Bucovina, Bucharest or Prahova's
Valley) or abroad (to Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey).
MAMAIA
Where Constanta ends northwards along the coastline, Mamaia starts.
Mamaia is the biggest and oldest Romanian seaside resort.
Mamaia has more than 120 large hotels and some more smaller
ones, 35 discos and several nightclubs, plenty of services like water sports,
biking, riding, parachuting and beach games. There are shops, bars, cafes and
restaurants in any category.
The proximity to Constanta makes Mamaia packed with natives
on Saturdays and Sundays, the rest of the week the foreigners may be more
visible in the picture. Scandinavians, Germans, Italians, Arabs and Brits and a
few newly rich Russians are common visitors. Mamaia is actually a long stripe of
sandy beach - with the Black Sea on one side and Suitghiol Lake
on the other -from
the crowded LUNAPARC area to the more dotted hotels at the end close to Disco
Enigma. Mamaia ends with a camping site and a nudist beach.
The centre of Mamaia is around the outdoor cinema ALBATROS
where restaurants and shops are plenty. There are also small markets around
ALCOR further north. HOTEL REX is one of the most well known hotels in Romania
with its five star clientele and the car park outside is a study of status
symbols belonging to the Romania elite.
Beach machines filter the Mamaia beach every night, and with
a big sea on one side and a nice lake on the other, Mamaia offers a great visual
impression during sunsets and sunrises. Foreign tour operators seem to pick
Mamaia only - forgetting all about the other Romanian Riviera resorts, - but the
beach, the services and entertainment offered, and with Constanta close by, it
may be an obvious choice. Mamaia is - and will probably always be - a tourist
machine. My Romanian friends say "Mamaia is not Romania at all," and
of course they're right, this is not the genuine or typical Romania. But if
you're just in search of sun&sand, it is a place to go like anywhere else in
Southern Europe. And if it's your first time in Romania, it is an easy way to
start getting around and about. And believe me, " getting used to
Romania" is a precondition to enjoy any trips to this country.
If you're in doubt whether you should dip your body into the
real thing, Mamaia is unique in the sense that most hotels have nice swimming
pools, many even right on the beach itself or in a fenced garden just a few meters
from the beachside. If you're not happy with the pool in the hotel where you're
staying, you can enter any other pool after paying a few lei.
The name "Black Sea" itself has nothing to do with
pollution. The sea is more than 2000 meters deep, and the natural look of the
water surface is next to black and blurred. Even so the water close to the beach
can be crystal clear for a few days. Minor earthquakes on the sea floor also
causes peculiar stirs in the water, and the sea temperature may fall several
degrees for a some days before returning to the average again. The average Black
Sea temperature in July is plus 24 centigrade.
Basically Romanians are friendly and hospitable in spite of
the hardship they face every day. Which is stunning and amazing considering the
effect such a life would have on any of us.
An old slogan with the Romanian Tourist Board has been:
"Come as a guest and leave as a friend" - and beyond doubt: That's
possible...
Mamaia Map
NAVODARI
This non-touristic town is situated just north of Mamaia and
15 km from Constanta - and has more than 40000 souls - and growing. From the
Constanta airport there is a shortcut to Mamaia via Navodari, but you will not
discover the town centre from the road. Navodari is an industrial town with
some huge factories nearby, symbols of a Stalinist past - with mega dimensions
on the plants that were created. If Mamaia is colorful and appealing, Navodari
is right the opposite, dull, gray and poor by the first look. However, looking
closer it is the real Romania with a working centre and a working class to fit
in it.
There are nice shops, small bars, nice pizzerias and
prices are half of those in Mamaia during the peak season. And Navodari Camp
outside the town is enjoyable, a combined fun fair and camping site aimed at
kids from all over Romania, who used to be sent here on summer camps. And still
do to a certain extent. A huge disco is the last attraction and it faces up to
the twin discos in Mamaia in all ways. The locals believe that Mamaia and
Navodari will be one in a few years time, and they may be right looking at all
the houses now being constructed among the sand dunes between the two resorts.
The seaway channel outside Navodari is enormous, and the view from the bridge is
overwhelming. Moving out and about from Mamaia to Navodari is a lesson in the
differences of Romania, but worth the experience.
EFORIE
EFORIE NORD (14 km south of Constanta) is situated at the same latitude as the famous Nise, Monaco and San Remo, and is
hidden in a pine forest on a few hills overlooking the Black Sea. Eforie is one
of the few small resorts on the Romanian seaside which is open the year round
and is in fact also a town with a Romanian lifestyle. Eforie is a world famous
spa resort, offering a great variety of massages, mud baths and electro-therapy.
Eforie is close to Lake Techirghiol with its
even more famous health treatments and nudist beaches close to the village
Techirghiol
The sea is cleaner here than in Mamaia, but some of the
beaches themselves are trashy. A small walkway on top of the steep hills with
the sea in front is connecting the small beaches dotted around what is Eforie
Nord. The resort is one of the cheapest around, the atmosphere relaxed and the
Romanian middle class the main visitors. Several Romanian football teams also
host their summer camps here for a shorter period of time.
It’s easy to get around in Eforie because everything is
within walking distance. The resort has about 10 discos and several really good
restaurants, and the town has a charm that grabs the visitor. One of the most
well-known folklore restaurants in Romania – NUNTA ZAMFIREI – is right
outside the town centre. You pay a fixed entrance fee and you eat and drink till
you drop. During the night you will observe brilliant Romanian folk dances and
be a paying guest in a Romanian stage wedding. In the end you will learn a few
dancing steps yourself. The programme and opening hours differ according to
bookings, so check in advance. Eforie Nord also has several good tennis courts,
especially close to HOTEL DELFINUL. There are a couple of markets and shopping
centres as well, - and buses to and from Constanta run more than often, but not
after 10 pm. The bus station is vis-à-vis the post office. Two internet cafés
with slow connections have opened in the main street leading to the Bellona
Beach. In July and August Eforie Nord is the arena of great concerts and theatre
performances.
EFORIE SUD is a bit further south and a sleepy version of
the twin resorts, basically offering housing in low budget pensions and camping
sites. A few shops and dead like a Norwegian mountain village after sunset. Any
visitors here head for Eforie Nord when seeking nightlife.
Eforie Sud was called in the inter-war period "Carmen
Silva", after the poetess pseudonym taken by Queen Elisabeta of Romania. Turned into a resort in 1912, it is recommended for the therapy of rheumatic,
dermatological and bones illnesses. The resort distinguishes itself through the limestone promontory and the seawall, which has a width of 35 m in some places. The hotels' categories range between 1 and 2 stars.
TECHIRGHIOL, a resort situated on the shore of the lake with the same name, has become famous for its organogenous mud found on the bottom of the lake, with remarkable curative qualities, well-known all over the world. At
Techirghiol one can also undergo therapies with saline aerosols. On the lake's beaches with fine sand, helio-therapy and wave-therapy can be
practiced.
COSTINESTI
Intended as a summer resort for the young people, Costinesti is placed at 31 km south of
Constanta, near the villages Costinesti and Schitu. The latter has been created at the end of the 19th century by the German colonists. The central area of the resort was built in 1949, when the first vacation camp for pupils was planned here.
Every year, Costinesti hosts a series of cultural and entertaining events, among which we mention the ones organized under the aegis of the "Sea's Feast" ("Sarbatorile Marii"), the Assembly of the Young Actors ("Reuniunea tinerilor actori"), the Film Festival for the Young ("Festivalul de film pentru tineri") and the Jazz Festival ("Festivalul de jazz").
The resort possesses an extremely diversified material basis: hotels, restaurants, libraries, clubs, exhibition halls, studios for musical auditions, sport fields and a nautical base.
The Forum hotel has a polyvalent hall with an infrastructure enabling it to be used for international assemblies, concerts and movie projecting.
NEPTUN and OLIMP
Neptun and Olimp are the most elegant and luxurious resorts of the Romanian littoral. They are placed at a distance of 6 km from
Mangalia and 38 km south of Constanta. The Comorova forest surrounds the resort, providing strong ozone air to this region.
Olimp, which was finished in 1972, represents the "northern" district of the
Neptun resort. The hotels, with a comfort of 1-3 stars, have a special modern architecture.
In Neptun, electrotherapy and kineto-therapy are available, as well as aerosol inhalations and the renowned geriatric therapies created by Dr. Ana Aslan. It is worth mentioning that the
"Doina" hotel (3*), is fitted with balneary and physiotherapy equipment, operated by a highly qualified medical staff.
Among the recreation options we mention the outdoor cinema, the Summer Theatre, the
Neptun Bazaar, the docks, the polyvalent sport fields, two minigolf fields, a recreation park, the facilities for nautical sports and a vacation village.
The restaurants offer a great variety of Romanian food, fish specialties and folklore performances. Among these we mention:
Calul Balan (Romanian culinary specialties), the
Neptun Wine House (Crama Neptun) - (a rustic stop) and the
Insula restaurant, offering fish
specialties.
Jupiter, Cap Aurora, Venus, Saturn
The four resorts are known for the recreation tourism and the helio-marine therapy.
Jupiter is situated between the Comorova forest and the Black Sea's littoral. The
Tismana artificial lake represents the core of this superb resort.
Cap Aurora, inaugurated in 1973, is the most recently built resort of the littoral. It is placed on a rocky promontory, and its hotels have the names of precious stones. The
Catunul restaurant, built in the architectural style specific to the Dobrogea region, imitates an authentic home.
Venus is remarkable for its stylish hotels having girl names. In this resort one can practice canoeing and equitation (at the Mangalia stud farm), with the possibility of renting horses for long rides.
Saturn is situated in a calm gulf, right near Mangalia. It has a camping site with 1500 places and 2 vacation villages -
Dunarea and Delta. One can practice here minigolf, bowling, tennis, volleyball and equitation.
The
Danube