Bulgaria's Sunny Beach offers complete tranquillity and endless partying
Are you looking for a place where you would like to spend your holidays or perhaps a pension? Bulgaria is definitely not one of the forgotten ones! The Sunny Beach in Bulgaria could be just the thing. It offers beautiful beaches where you can find everything you need for a great holiday. There are amusement parks, restaurants, bars. In some places you will find tranquility, in others you can dance and drink until dawn.
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Bulgarian Sunshine Coast offers complete tranquillity and never-ending parties
Bulgaria's Sunny Beach offers almost everything a tourist could wish for. With around seven kilometres of sandy beaches in a bay lined with hotels, restaurants, bars, amusement parks and water parks, the holiday mood is truly relaxed.
At one end of the bay is St. Vlas, where yachts are moored and peace and quiet reigns. On the other is picturesque, historic Nessebar. In the middle, in the centre, is a never-ending party street full of discos. The suburbs consist of the small village of Ravda. You will come across it right on your way from Burgas airport or by car. The Sunny Beach is the most accessible by road, which is its great advantage.
If someone decides to go to this resort, he should think in advance what he expects from the holiday. According to Alexandria CK delegate Tatiana Jaramova, a Czech who has lived in the area for 21 years, the best place for people looking for peace and quiet or going with a family is St. Vlas, or the area near Nessebar and the village of Ravda. Those expecting a big party should stick as close as possible to the centre of Sunny Beach.
There is a street several hundred metres long, full of restaurants, bars, discos. Those who live nearby can dance and drink the night away and then go straight to a nearby hotel.
Jaramova points out that just a few streets away from the main avenue, however, the bustle is not audible. The main street ends at the pier, which you can use as a platform for a boat trip to the Nessebar peninsula. It's pretty hectic, though, so if the sea isn't completely calm, you'd better choose another mode of transport.
The parties don't end until the wee hours of the morning
On Party Street, even at midday, we meet families, elderly people, and those who clearly didn't get much sleep last night. They're also targeted by several entertainment services. Matt, from Bristol, England, is the manager of one of the so-called "party crews", a group that organises a party at a venue for 25 Bulgarian leva. He explains to me that the entertainment on offer includes a DJ playing music, competitions such as who can drink the most in the shortest time, teams competing by gender, dancing competitions, etc.
Jaramova points out that a new Bulgarian law mandating that the music be turned down at 11pm makes these activities a bit more difficult, but they are still taking place. Indoor discos can merrily celebrate life until dawn with no restrictions on the intensity of the music.
The ideal transport is local public transport or the tourist train; a car is not worth it. If someone chooses the tourist train going around the whole bay, they should pay attention to their route. You may have to change trains twice from Sveti Vlas to Nessebar and pay a ticket each time.
In the centre they target more the youngsters and the less demanding, the really upmarket and better discos and restaurants are towards the Nesebar peninsula. If anyone is looking for a beautiful beach and traditional Bulgarian folkpop and folk-rock in one place, with a bar, restaurant and club in the middle and a swimming pool, head to Nesebar to the Bedroom area. There they play jazz, modern music, live production. There is entertainment day and night, the beach is clean, lifeguards and doctors everywhere.
Sunny Beach, as Bulgaria's largest resort with tens of thousands of beds and rooms, has a quality medical service. Ivanka Kamenova, who normally works as a cardiologist in Berlin, oversees everything as head of the medical service. She shows me the medical facilities with a defibrillator, resuscitation unit and everything else I need; there is also an anaesthesiologist on duty, for example. He proudly points out the parked tricycle, which can be used to move around the beach comfortably and reach the sea, even by people who are medically disadvantaged.
Kamenova adds that the rescuers on the beach have walkie-talkies that they use to call the doctors, while more serious cases go to the hospital. The only regret of the upper-middle-aged doctor is the fact that her favourite DJs like Tiesto and Carl Cox will probably not come anymore because of the new law on the volume of music.
How colourful the Sunny Beach is is proved by another meeting, this time with Mr. Karel Rohovec from Prague. He and his friend have been coming to the resort for 23 years, once or twice a year. Both of them, now retired, have travelled almost all over the world in their former profession, but they like Sunny Beach the most. They appreciate the clean sea, the possibility of entertainment in the centre of the town, shopping, services.
Nesebar breathes history
Those who like history should not miss the Nessebar peninsula, listed by UNESCO. Exim Tours delegate Nikolina is Bulgarian, but she speaks fluent Czech, she studied our language. She enthusiastically tells me about the history of Nesebar, founded in the 6th century BC. Picturesque streets, traces of Thracians, Greeks, Eastern Roman Empire, Bulgarians, churches and temples from different periods, all this is worth a trip. No one should miss this place.
Nikolina recommends the Star kapitan restaurant, with fresh seafood, Jaramova preserved church, where there is now a gallery. If you don't have a photo from there, it's as if you've never been to the Sunny Beach.
Nesebar is also a good place to consider for accommodation. There is an excellent bar on South Beach, a beautiful, quiet beach with luxury hotel accommodation, which is definitely worth a visit. Those who don't want the hustle and bustle of the Sunshine Coast head here, where they don't even know about the bustle-filled bay on the other side of the peninsula. The place is also accessible by public transport, the Boullevard bus stop.
Excellent food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails made in-house, opening hours from 8am to 1am. Owner Anita recommends the Bulgarian small fish Safrid, traditional white bread and her delicious grilled calamari. There are themed nights - Bulgarian, Greek, Latin American - and people dance on the beach, but they are not parties. During the day it tends to be families with children, the atmosphere is more intimate in the evening.
In Nessebar we also meet Radim and Marcela from Novo Mesto na Moravě. They are buying a trip with their daughter to the dolphinarium in Varna. They chose the Sunny Beach because they think it is suitable for children, there is a lot to do there, they sleep peacefully and do not hear the noise from the discos, and they not only did not care about the parties in the centre, but they did not even know that they were taking place.
Fun for all ages
Another place that no one should miss is one of the local water parks. The biggest one is called Paradise, located just outside Ravda. It can be reached directly by buses, which take interested people for free from public transport stops. It's an absolutely stunning place, one of the biggest water parks in the Balkans. On Jaramova's recommendation, we went there.
The castle with extreme slides is not for the faint hearted, but it is worth trying at least one. The milder slides are suitable for everyone, and are usually ridden in pairs.
As a base, I recommend the "Paradise Island", where you can leave your towel in peace, or soak in the various massage whirlpools. The waterpark also offers the possibility to get your skin toothed by fish, you pay with a watch on your wrist, and unused credit is returned not only in cash but also on a credit card.
The second option among the large waterparks is the Action Waterpark. According to Jaramova, it is more suitable for smaller children, it is also cheaper, more transparent. The fact is that we didn't see completely small children in Paradise, but we saw a lot of bars with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, a lot of food at affordable prices, but no one seemed drunk.
The staff was more than helpful, opening hours from 9 in the morning to 18 in the evening. You probably won't catch even part of it in an afternoon, so it's worth heading out first thing in the morning. And be careful not to bring your own food and drink, it's checked at the entrance, albeit nicely, but uncompromisingly.
Another activity option, according to Nikola, is a trip to see traditional Bulgarian pottery, called Imperial. You can tell by the fact that it always has a bird's head painted on it. It is usually available in Nesebar.
A unique experience is also possibly watching the walking on hot coals, a pagan celebration that Bulgarians call Nestinar. At the moment, there are only 12 or 13 people in all of Bulgaria who master the ancient art with pre-Christian roots, according to Nikolina. They can be seen, for example, in the village of Bata.
If you're after a view from a height other than the carousel ride, head to the Chan Shatra restaurant above town. It's a bit more expensive, but well worth it. The sea is clean, pleasant, except when there are storms, when algae can wash up. If you see them outside the storm, it means that the operator doesn't clean the place very well and it's better to go and lie on the beach elsewhere.
Sunny Beach is a holiday that offers the chance to be in one place and experience everything, staying with different nationalities, there are lots of English and Dutch people on site for example. There are mountains above the Sunshine Coast, so it is possible to go hiking. But the place offers so many possibilities that you will probably be completely absorbed by the resort in a week or ten days.