Pomorie Lake: Walk along the sand strip

Pomorie Lake is separated from the sea by sand strip and artificial dyke, and it lays around the town of Pomorie. The sand of the beach is in black because of the iron oxides that contain. It is the longest beach on the Southern Black Sea – 6 km long. Moreover, the place is suitable for beach, walking, jogging and leisurely cycling, as the whole road is wholly level and wide enough. Along the sand strip, there were formed dunes during the years. On them grow rare and protected kinds of plants that need high salinity soil.

The locals call the area with the name “Ivitsata” ( “the strip” in translation).

How to get to the sand strip around the Pomorie Lake – map, route and GPX file  
Download file: Pomorie-Lake-EN.gpx GPX file

USEFUL: For more information on how to open GPX files with a smartphone, see this link .

For planning your visit to the place or accommodation in the nearby settlements, can use the collection of assistive tools – Google Road Map with calculator in km, flights to Bulgaria, rental cars, weather forecast, hotel search, timetables of buses in the region, see this link.

Because the whole road is entirely flat, with no grass sections on it – no touristic clothing is required. So it would be enough to take water and a photo camera with you.

Route description

To reach the sand strip, first, enter the town of Pomorie, and further pass the football stadium, the Grand Hotel Pomorie and the holiday bungalows along the shores of Pomorie Lake. At the end of the asphalt road, it begins the dyke along which there is a road, suitable for walking or cycling.

Sand strip and dyke. To the left is Pomorie Lake and to the right is the sea.
Sand strip and dyke. To the left is Pomorie Lake and to the right is the sea.

The embankment was built several decades ago, and now prevents the passage of waves from the sea during storms. Those waves are dangerous because it could lead to an increase in the level of Pomorie Lake that could flood some quarters of Pomorie. “.

In the past, along the road on the embankment, cars also moved. Later, due to several breaches, that practice was stopped. At the present time, three concrete tetrapods prevent the passage of vehicles.

A long strip of black sand between Pomorie Lake and Black Sea
A long strip of black sand
The beginning of the dyke with tetrapods that prevents the passage of a car
The beginning of the dyke with tetrapods that prevents the passage of a car
The path along the embankment at the sand strip of Pomorie Lake to the town of Aheloy
The path along the embankment at the sand strip of Pomorie Lake to the town of Aheloy
Looking back to Pomorie. To the left is the sea, and to the right - Lake Pomorie.
Looking back to Pomorie. To the left is the sea, and to the right – the Pomorie Lake.
Sunset over Pomorie Lake. To the left, it is seen the building of the winery "Black Sea Gold."
Sunset over Pomorie Lake. To the left, it is seen the building of the winery “Black Sea Gold.”

The length of the hiking trail is about 6 km and is reaching south of the town of Aheloy. There is an abandoned old bunker.

For the first one kilometre, can meet summer-residents, mud healing lovers and kite surfers, but for the rest of the sand strip, the traces of people disappear. There, one can find relaxation and a real break.

In the summer, at the wild beach around Pomorie, there are also summer-residents.
In the summer there are also summer-residents
Kite Surfer at the beginning of the strip around Pomorie Lake
Kite Surfer at the beginning of the strip

In case of intense excitement – avoid swimming! The currents here are hazardous, and in combination with the lack of lifeguards, it can be fatal!

Preservation of the protected area

Pomorie Lake, together with its adjacent territories, including the sand strip, was declared a protected area under Bulgarian law, also a Ramsar site under the Ramsar Convention, and was listed in the Natura 2000 European Ecological Network. Therefore some rules should observe when visiting to protect natural resources.

To put it briefly – do not throw away waste, do not tear plants, do not disturb the birds, and let the place look like you’ve found it!

For more details, or if you intend to carry out particular activities other than a simple tourist walk, the full text of the laws can read here:

1. Pomorie Lake – current prohibitions and regimes ( the page of Bulgarian “Executive Environment Agency”)

The field was also declared an ornithologically important area for birds. On the sand strip, you will have not such an excellent opportunity to observe the birds, who inhabit the lake because the distance to the places they nest and the artificial islands is considerable. For a better chance, visit the information centre Pomorie Lake where they will give you binocular and the narrator will explain in detail for every bird.

Offers for hotels in Pomorie

Booking.com

What we saw along the way:

A fox who suddenly crossed the road and disappeared
A campsite for campers seeking solitude and tranquillity in the wild, built with a lot of imagination and handy material
Second campsite for campers - further, near Aheloy
Second campsite for campers – further, near Aheloy
An abandoned old bunker south of Aheloy
An abandoned old bunker south of Aheloy

For returning, we recommend using the same hiking trail because it is much safer. The other option is to reach the town of Aheloy, where there is a bus station with buses back to Pomorie. For this purpose, one has to exit to the highway. After walking along, will reach the Aheloy bus station. Unfortunately, there is significant traffic on the road, especially in the summer, so walking along it could be very dangerous. For this reason, it is better to back to Pomorie along the same trail that you came.

Rare seaside plants along the hiking trail on the sand strip around Pomorie Lake

In some places, the beach is overgrown with plantations of unusual plants. At intervals of distance, there are information boards placed here by employes of the Pomorie Lake Visitor Center. They give information about the species occurring here (some of them are rare and protected by law).

These are Seaside eryngo ( Eryngium Maritimum), Purple spurge ( Euphorbia peplis L.), Stachys Maritima, Galilea mucronata, European searocket( Cakile Maritima), Medicago littoralis, Sea wormwood (Artemisia maritima), Sea colewort (Crambe maritima), European beachgrass (Ammophila Arenaria), and more.

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Continue of the walk

In case you are planning a more extended stay in the area, it is a good idea to choose Pomorie as a city for staying. There are many hotels and lodgings and can offer many entertainments to diversify your Holliday at the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.

In Pomorie you can also visit:

  1. Pomorie Lake Information Centre where can watch birds with provided binoculars
  2. The Thracian dome tomb at the beginning of the town

Besides, the nearest fascinating cities with landmarks are:

  1. Nessebar (20 km to the north) with its unique old atmosphere and many preserved historical buildings
  2. St. Vlas (25 km to the north), which has a mountain hiking trail with sea views. The path has different branches, and one of them leads to the resort village of Elenite
  3. The regional city of Burgas (20 km to the south) and Poda Bird Watch Center (30 km)

USEFUL: To get a quick and easy idea of ​​where these places are – see the destinations marked on our Google map. There all the landmarks we’ve written about, are marked as tags with links.

Also, to plan your trip to them, you can use the selection of assistive tools: Google Road Map with calculator in km, flights to Bulgaria, rental cars, weather forecast, hotel search, timetables of buses in the region.

Offers for hotels in Pomorie

Booking.com