Vacation in Ukraine: what sea spots to visit with a tent and without crowds

Alice Smahina

What are your plans for the summer? Enjoying the bounties of all-inclusive in a Turkish or Egyptian resort, regaining the skills of traveling in Europe, sightseeing in Ukrainian cities, testing yourself in kayaking, meeting the dawn in the mountains, or just laying in a hammock under the cherries in the countryside? If you've already experienced all this in your life and now you just want to relax from any hustle and bustle of people, but still visit the sea, Rubryka has prepared for you the top 10 places where you can go in a tent and spend some unforgettable days alone with clear water, sea breeze and bright starry sky.

Geographically, the Kinburn Spit is part of the peninsula of the same name, located in the Mykolayiv region near the city of Ochakiv. The peninsula is washed on one side by the salty Black Sea, and on the other, by the fresh waters of the Dnieper-Bug estuary, part of the spit belongs to the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve. Kinburn isn't only the most famous place of Cossack military glory, but also a fantastically beautiful place. Wide sandy beaches covered with fine white sand, many birds, fragrant herbs, tranquility, serenity, and complete unity with nature. And more than 150 sunny days a year. Clean humid air, enriched with salts of iodine, bromine, volatile forests, and steppe grasses, and a unique microclimate make the holiday not only pleasant but also healthy, especially if you combine the beach and swimming with mud treatments in the lakes.

That is why the Kinburn Spit is one of the favorite recreation places for residents of Ochakiv and Mykolaiv. Finding a modern base or a guest house with a cozy area in Pokrovka, the nearest town, isn't a problem, but those who don't like even the hustle and bustle of the country usually choose the campsites on Kinburn Spit. As for the facilities, you'll be offered sockets for charging phones, freshwater showers and toilets, renting tents and mattresses, ready meals (meals should be ordered in advance). Since the reserve on Kinburn Spit is a national park, it's not recommended to set up a tent just anywhere, otherwise, there may be problems with the law.

• How to get there? It's most convenient to get there from Ochakiv to the Forestry 333 berth (you can leave your car in a paid parking lot). Then, you continue your journey on a boat that goes three times a day, get to the spit, and take a taxi-SUV which drives on the spit to the campsites. Experienced travelers advise choosing smaller campsites, and away from civilization if you want more nature and silence.

The alluvial Fedotova spit is located in the Zaporizhzhia region between the Sea of ​​Azov and the Utliuk liman in the south-western direction from the center of Kyrylivka. At the beginning of the spit, everything is the same as in other resorts, noisy and crowded, because the largest entertainment facilities are concentrated here: water park, dolphinarium, nightclubs. However, the farther from the mainland, the less the infrastructure becomes, completely disappearing in the neighborhood of Stepok. Immediately after Stepok, kilometers of untamed spaces open up before you; there you'll find a tent camp. Although the tent outside the major resort area can be placed anywhere, there's still more than enough space. The holiday season on Fedotova Spit lasts for five months. Seawater is clean and has almost no algae in the beach season. The sea here is quite deep with a gentle entrance, and the beaches are sandy with shells. On the shore, you can also find clay soil areas formed by storms. This should be taken into account when setting up the tent so that it doesn't get wet or washed away with water during a storm.

• How to get there? From most major cities of Ukraine, there are regular buses directly to the village of Kyrylivka. If there's no direct flight, you need to get to Melitopol. Then on a shuttle bus or taxi. From the bus station in Kyrylivka, minibusses (minibus 'Stepok') or taxis also go to Fedotova spit.

Peresyp Spit is washed by the Sea of ​​Azov on the one side and the Molochnyi Lyman on the other. The beaches here are spacious and wide, so you'll have a place to stay and won't disturb others and they won't disturb you. The smooth descent into the water and the shallow depth of the coastal waters attract many families with small children. The local places are also enjoyed by people, wanting to get healthier because of the healing mud of the Molochnyi liman. Peresyp is a quiet place where there are almost no loud disco beats, so here you can fully enjoy the lapping of the sea waves and the silence of the night. The campsites on Peresyp have parking lots and shops, the beaches are cleaned, and the distance from the noisy center guarantees a clear sea. Another spit, Stepanivska, passes into the Peresyp spit. Spacious and empty beaches attract wild recreation lovers and nudists to the Stepanivska Spit. People come with families and groups from surrounding cities to spend a few days alone with nature or fishing. In the shade of trees, you can pitch a tent, and put the car. Note that there are no tall trees and plenty of open space. The densest trees grow in the far part of the spit, on the side of the ravine.

• How to get there? From the bus station in Kyrylivka by minibus "Peresyp" or by taxi. The territory of the Stepanivka Reserve is officially closed to cars, but in the middle of the season, there are dozens of cars. From the main dirt road, there are several exits to tourist parking lots.

Biriuchyi Island Spit is a reserve between the Sea of ​​Azov and the Utliuk liman. In fact, Biriuchyi Island is a continuation, or rather the end of Fedotova Spit. But it wasn't always the case. This area is officially recognized as an island because of a small strait that existed until 1929 and separated it from the rest of the land.

Holidays on Biriuchyi Island have a certain exoticism. This is a land of the wildlife of the Azov Sea, the cleanest sea and sand. Crowded beaches stretch for many kilometers along the coast. Resting on Biryuchy Island will be pleasant to all who wish to go far from civilization, enjoy the peace and beauty of nature to the fullest. There are few hotels and recreation centers here, so those who love wildlife won't suffer from the people dominating more crowded and popular Ukrainian resorts. On Biriuchyi Island, you can visit Khrushchev's former country house, admire the lighthouse and ancient stone Scythian women. One of the highlights of Biriuchyi Island is the opportunity to observe the life of all creatures great and small in the natural environment and also save the experience in a photo or video. Photo hunting will be more successful in the evening when the animals go for a drink; at this time you can see deer, fallow deer, kulans, mouflons. There are also many foxes and hares in this region. For a photographer, specializing in shooting fauna, it's a real expanse!

• How to get there? However, getting on Biriuchyi Island as a holiday-maker isn't so easy. In addition to being a protected area, the territory includes a presidential dacha. To legally relax in the open air on the island, you'll have to issue passes in advance, providing passport information. Permission can be obtained from the Kherson Regional Forestry Department. You can get to the island from Zaporizhzhia by shuttle, which runs several times a week and takes you to the "Gold Coast" recreation center (there you can stock up on food and water). If you plan to get here by public transport, go to the Zaporizhzhia bus station and take a minibus to Kyrylivka. You can also take a bus from Melitopol from the bus station-1.

The island of Dzharylhach (the name, translated from the Turkic language, means "burnt trees") in the Kherson region currently doesn't need advertising, although a few years ago not many people knew about it. The only uninhabited island in Europe (certainly not in summer) is famous for its white beaches, crystal clear water, and incredible nature; on land, you can see wild boars, deer, and pelicans up close, and playful dolphins swim right to shore.

"Ukrainian Maldives," as Dzharylhach is also called, has several hundred salt lakes with therapeutic mud and three springs with fresh water. The total length of the island is 42 km. On the east side, near the lighthouses, there are organized campsites. Delivery of water and food is organized in tent camps for a fee. In addition, here everybody is offered tours, the so-called "safari" in jeeps. But if you prefer to rest in a tent in a completely deserted place, go to the west side of the island. Deserted places begin at a distance of 4-5 km from the lighthouses. It's there that you can be by yourself and communicate with nature alone. But you need to stock up on drinking water near the lighthouse. It's also necessary to provide yourself with reliable shelter from the sun because the wild olives and shrubs that grow in some places on the island shouldn't be relied on, they don't provide substantial shade.

• How to get there? You can get to Dzharylhach from Lazurne or Skadovsk. In summer the isthmus between the village and the island can be waded, and there are "sea minibusses" from locals. Moving to the island from Skadovsk is more civilized: there is a boat going from the city promenade towards Dzharylhach several times a day, there are private boats that will take you to the island. Boats and yachts that go to the island are at the very end of the promenade, on the pier near the concrete wall. The schedule can be found on the spot.

It's difficult to call the Arabat Arrow in the Kherson region a god-forsaken place; thanks to its convenient location, railway connection, and warm and shallow sea, this area has long gained an excellent reputation as a place for an ideal family vacation with children. After the occupation of Crimea, the infrastructure of Arabat Spit began to develop rapidly, thanks to which it became a resort that is attractive for active young people who like to dance and hang out in bars. However, the growing popularity of Arabat Spit doesn't mean that now there's nowhere to nuzzle with a tent.

The length of this longest natural beach in Europe is as much as a hundred kilometers, so there's enough space for everyone. Wild beaches on Arabat Arrow border the beaches of the resorts of Henicheska Hirka, Shchaslyvtseve, and Strilkove, but if you want to completely forget about civilization, walk along Arabat Spit as far as possible towards the Crimea. There, only a few small tourist parking lots will remind you of the existence of humanity, and the sea is deeper there. Be sure to stock up on mosquito repellents; due to the proximity of Sivash, there are always a lot of them on Arabat Spit. During your visit to Arabat Arrow, don't forget to visit one of the most famous natural wonders of Ukraine, Lemuria Lake, located on one of the shores of Sivash near the village of Hryhorivka. The water in the lake is truly unique and its healing properties and salt concentration are not inferior to the waters of the Dead Sea.

• How to get there? You can get to the sea in Henichesk by any means of transport: by train (many additional trains run in summer), buses, taxis or your own car. Shuttle buses depart from Kherson, Skadovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Poltava, and other settlements to the seaside villages of Henicheska Hirka, Strilkove, and Shchaslyvtseve.

The steppe village of Prymorske (former Bilshevyk) in the Kherson region isn't very well known to Ukrainians. Those who aren't interested in discos, attractions, and the accompanying hustle and bustle come here. Residents of a few recreation centers cannot fill the wide beaches, so in Prymorske, you can relax freely even when you rent a room. Especially those who come here with tents are in for a treat: kilometers of deserted beaches stretch in both directions from Prymorske, to Lazurne and Zaliznyi Port. You can drive almost everywhere.

What to do in the wild steppe by the sea? Enjoy solitude, watch seagulls and dolphins, catch shrimp and crabs. To catch delicacies for dinner, you'll need nets and creel, and preferably an inflatable boat. Shrimp are caught closer to the shore, and crabs are at depth. Please note that fishing is prohibited from 1 August until 15 September. Be sure to take cooler bags, otherwise, you'll have to go to the grocery store every day. There are shops in all the surrounding villages. Fruits and vegetables can be bought at the market in Zaliznyi Port or Lazurne. Closer to Zaliznyi Port, there's an auto-camping area, but there are no special facilities there, although you'll still be charged UAH 100 for travel to the territory, toilet maintenance, and garbage disposal. In Prymorske, there's an interesting attraction, a healing geyser. Its water is rich in healing trace elements and has medicinal properties.

• How to get there? A large number of regular buses run daily from Kherson to Prymorske. When planning a trip to Prymorske from Kherson in your own car, take a look at Oleshkiv Sands, the largest desert in Europe, on the way.

The small village of Khorly, located on the Hirkyi Kut peninsula in the Kherson region, has become a tourist destination not so long ago. Only a few hundred people live in the village. Now Khorly is a fairly quiet seaside resort, which few people know about; it's the first absolute plus of this place because here resting will be quite "wild" even without tents. There are at least five drinking springs in the village, two of which have water saturated with silver ions. In addition, Khorly has impressive springs with therapeutic mud and a deposit of cosmetic blue clay. The sea here is shallow and warms up quickly. Besides swimming in the Black Sea, you can smear yourself with healing mud, and the wide shores are covered with seaweed, rich in iodine. They say a two-week vacation in Khorly, in the air soaked in the world's largest vapors of iodine, is enough to keep you healthy all year round, and the ancients say that whoever tries the "silver" water will definitely come back, despite the jellyfish.

At the entrance to Khorly, you'll see a fountain two meters high with artesian water beating from the ground at a temperature of 9 degrees. The village itself has a well-developed infrastructure: there are cafes and shops, a market, a water park, a library.

• How to get there? Getting to Khorly is most convenient by car. You need to leave Kherson on the E97 highway and get to Kalanchak. There, turn south on a minor road. In 30 minutes, you'll reach Khorly. There are also regular buses from Kherson. If you go by train, you need to take a ticket to Kalanchak station. Take a private taxi from there.

The coastline in the area of ​​Kurortne (Odesa region) differs from the gentle beaches, usual to our eyes. Steep shore, in places up to 30 meters high, protects a long strip of beaches, like an earthen wall. To access the sea in the village, there are gentle slopes, dug to the beach. The resort is a convenient place for lovers of wild recreation. There's a place to put the car and go down to the sea. The high cliffs offer a beautiful sea view. People pitch tents near the cliff or closer to the sea, on the beach. In the village, you can settle down with greater comfort in one of the numerous recreation centers. Because of the distance from Odesa and Zatoka, the beaches of the resort are sparsely populated. The seabed is flat; the sand is clean and fine.

• How to get there? There's no railway station in the village. If you use public transport, it's easier to get first to Odesa or Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi by train or bus, and then change transport to a minibus to the destination. From the Odesa "Privoz" bus station, there's a bus №662 Odesa-Tatarbunary, which passes through the village of Kurortne, also from the "Pryvokzalna" bus station, there's a direct bus №134 Odesa-Kurortne.

Finally, they set apart a secret place for you. In the Odesa region, there are many bays and desert places protected from winds where nothing will interfere with quiet rest. Warm sea and beautiful beaches, good transport accessibility to the nearby civilization; these places are just perfect for a self-organized vacation in tents. In Vapniarka, Dofinivka, Rybakivka, Karolino-Buhaz, Lebedivka, Serhiivka, there are few people on the outskirts, and it's easy to set up camp in an isolated place. For discerning holiday-makers, there are campsites where there's freshwater, toilet, electricity, shop, places for tents and campfires. But if you want real relaxation, try to find a secret cozy place with an amazing view near the city of Yuzhne. You will have to leave the car on the hill and then backpack down on foot to the beach. The reward will be the purest water and complete solitude.

How to get there? From the entrance to the city of Yuzhne, the first turn to the right. Then go to the last recreation center and on a dirt road towards the sea. Approximate coordinates: 46.612772, 31.085954