Karadere beach

Worth a detour

Karadere is the last undeveloped bay of the Varna coast, on the northern slopes of the Stara Planina between Byala and the village of Goritsa. The sand is clean and unstony, backed by forest in places and scrub in others, and the surfing is good. There is no infrastructure at all. In summer there can be two hundred tents along it. It is a hundred kilometres from Burgas.

Story

Background

The bay lies just north of the Irakli protected zone and shares its character: forest coming down to the sand, no buildings, no lighting, no water. The main Varna–Burgas road is seven to ten kilometres away, and access is on tracks from Byala or Goritsa, by bicycle, or on foot.

What happens here in July and August is a small temporary settlement. Tents run for several kilometres along the shore and back into the trees, and the numbers have long since outgrown a place with no sanitation. Rubbish is the consequence and it is serious; volunteer groups clean up periodically and the problem returns. The other practical note from those who camp here is that there is no firewood on the shore at all — everything has to be brought in.

For a visitor based in Burgas the honest assessment is that Karadere is a long way for a beach, an hour and a half each way on a road that is busy in August, and that Irakli gets you the same thing thirty kilometres nearer. Go if the idea of a beach with nothing on it is what you came to Bulgaria for; the two together make a good day if you start early. Take everything you need, including water, and take your rubbish home — nobody else will.