Beach Week: Odessa

Along with Yalta in the Crimea, the city of Odessa is the main tourist destination for Ukrainians and Russians wanting to enjoy the Black Sea. The most popular Odessa waters, however, are a slight trek outside the city center to a place called Arcadia Beach.

I visited the beach on my second day in the city, and while the shoreline was mediocre, it got a big plus for having sand. All the other beaches I visited had small stones, and they can be a bit painful to walk on, especially if you have little wussy feet like me. Arcadia had sand that is much easier on the high arches, though I must also note that you should not be envisioning the sandy paradises of SoCal or Florida right now. Odessa sand is filled with crushed seashells and every imagine form of trash (mostly cigarette butts), but it's still better than rocks. Nevertheless, the water was nice, and there was even a reef of sorts a few hundred feet out that you can sit or stand on for a nice view back at the shoreline.

As it was September, the main tourist season was over. This meant the countless nightclubs along the beach were closed up for the year, but the venues certainly showed the promise this place could have during the prime months. In fact, I thought Arcadia Beach had the best seaside nightlife setup of any town in the Ukraine, which explains why it is so popular. Personally, if I return, I will come during the summer months and stay at a resort near Arcadia Beach rather than locate myself in the heart of the city.

Overall, the town's Arcadia Beach got points for having sand and great nightlife, though overall the beach is a bit too dirty and uninteresting to merit a more elite rating.

Odessa Rating: 5 out of 10