Last Updated on: 3rd September 2023, 05:27 pm

Out of all countries neighboring the Black Sea, Romania and Bulgaria are probably the most popular beach destinations. As I’m Romanian, I want to write about these Black Sea beaches and resorts on my travel blog.

Best Hotels in Mamaia

Poeme Mamaia Retreat – Lakefront 4-star hotel with great reviews on Booking. There are three beaches near the hotel: Vega Beach, Kudos Beach and H2O Beach. This hotel best suits couples. Click here to see the rates and to book your stay.

Zenith – Top Country Line Conference & SPA Hotel – I’ve stayed in this hotel a few years ago. I highly recommend it thanks to its excellent location, in the northern part of Mamaia, in an area with nice restaurants and beachfront promenade. Check out the Zenith hotel here.

When To Go for a Beach Holiday in Romania?

The best time to enjoy the Black Sea beaches in Romania is between mid-June and mid-September. In the beginning of June the sea would still be cold, but more often than not the weather would be warm and nice. Just keep an eye on your favorite weather forecasts to see the evolution of the temperatures by the Black sea beaches.

Unfortunately, the beach season in Romania is much shorter than the one in Greece, Portugal or Spain. Even Bulgaria enjoys a slightly longer season than Romania.

This means the Romanian seaside gets very busy in July-August, when most families and their children have their summer holidays.

 

Black Sea beaches with umbrellas on the sand

The fine sand of Black Sea beaches is so waiting for your feet! I took this photo in May, before the start of the season

Black Sea Resorts in Romania

From north to south, there is Navodari, then Mamaia. Then there is the city of Constanta, the main Black Sea port of Romania.

Further to the south, there are two small seaside resorts, Eforie Nord and Eforie Sud. They are very close to each other. They have been famous since decades ago for their advanced medical procedures and wellness therapies.

As you drive along the coast toward the border with Bulgaria, you’ll pass another group of small summer resorts: Costinesti, Neptun-Olimp, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Cap Aurora.

After Cap Aurora, there is another city, Mangalia, with its own beaches, a beautiful beachfront promenade, and a naval yard.

Once you pass Managlia, you’ll reach two small villages that are very popular among Romanian beach lovers, 2 Mai and Vama Veche. After Vama Veche, there’s the border between Romania and Bulgaria.

All these resorts were great some 40-50 years ago. Unfortunately, very few of them developed to what we’d define nowadays as a great location for a pleasurable beach vacation. You do need to cherry pick your accommodation in order to ensure everything will be fine.

1. Mamaia, Mamaia Nord & Navodari

These two resorts are joint together, so you may not even realize where Navodari ends and Mamaia North begins.

Many Romanians would say that this entire area belongs to Mamaia. For convenience purposes, I’m also going to refer to it as such.

Mamaia is the most developed Black Sea resort in Romania. The beachfront promenade has been recently renovated and upgraded. It is perfect for early morning and evening walks. There are several hotels, restaurants, bars and night clubs scattered along this stripe that follows the coastal line.

The downside to being the resort with the biggest number of hotels and restaurants is that it can become awfully crowded, particularly in July and August, when the high season kicks in.

There are no cliffs in this area. You can easily step off the promenade to walk directly on the sand.

Mamaia Beach Romania

Seaside Seagulls

Mamaia North (and the south of Navodari) is where the newest hotels and rental villas are. Although hotels in southern Mamaia aren’t bad either, many of them are the old hotels dating from the communist period, renovated and sometime upgraded to suit modern quality and comfort standards.

Best Hotels in Mamaia

Poeme Mamaia Retreat – Lakefront 4-star hotel with great reviews on Booking. There are three beaches near the hotel: Vega Beach, Kudos Beach and H2O Beach. This hotel best suits couples. Click here to see the rates and to book your stay.

Zenith – Top Country Line Conference & SPA Hotel – I’ve stayed in this hotel a few years ago. I highly recommend it thanks to its excellent location, in the northern part of Mamaia, in an area with nice restaurants and beachfront promenade. Check out the Zenith hotel here.

Vadu Beach & Corbu Beach

The two beaches worth mentioning here are Vadu and Corbu. Although promoted as the last wild beaches in Romania, they started to get crowded, at least in the peak season (which is between end of June and beginning of September).

The following video shows the beauty of Vadu beach, a fine stripe of sand north of Navodari. Corbu Beach stretches somewhere between Navodari and Vadu. Click here to see the position of Corbu beach on the map.

If you want to get to Vadu beach, you’ll need a car.

At a certain point, you’ll need to leave asphalt behind and get on a dirt road. Fortunately, this road is quite good, so you don’t need an off road vehicle to get to Vadu beach.

Take a look at the next video to see how the dirt road to Vadu looks like.

2. Constanța

The beaches in Constanța have undergone a major revamp several years ago. Sand was extracted from the bottom of the sea, so all beaches were extended to impressive sizes.

As Constanta is a real city, much bigger than the other Romanian Black Sea resorts, it has several beaches scattered along the shoreline.

Faleza Nord Beaches

In the north, as soon as Mamaia ends, there is Plaja Faleza Nord. This beach is tough to spot from the main boulevard, but you can ask the locals for directions.

Faleza Nord is an organized beach, with lifeguards, chairs, umbrellas, toilets, and several beach bars.

There’s also plenty of room for those who prefer to bring their pwn towels, chairs and umbrellas.

Constanta Seaside Romania

 

Modern Beach & Trei Papuci Beach

As you go toward the south of the Black Sea coast, you’ll get to two other beaches: Trei Papuci (Three Slippers) and Modern.

Black Sea Beach in Romania

One of the Black Sea beaches in Romania in high season

These beaches have chairs, umbrellas, lifeguards and beach bars.

Tripe soup in Romania

Tripe soup is one of the top dishes in Romania

Up from Modern, there’s also a restaurant with beautiful sea view and with a very good tripe soup.

3. Eforie Nord & Eforie Sud Beach Resorts

Eforie Nord and Eforie Sud are only a few km south from Constanta.

Once you pass the Agigea bridge, you’ll get to Eforie Nord in less than 10 minutes.

Both seaside resorts are small, but there are enough hotels to choose from, should you prefer a more relaxed and peaceful vacation, without loud music and night clubs.

The sandy beaches in Eforie Nord were extended a few years ago, so they are now very generous in terms of space for sunbeds and umbrellas.

4. Costinești Beach

Costinești was one of the most popular spots for students and other youth categories. Lively, cheerful and boasting a vibrant nightlife, Costinesti was my favorite place on the Black Sea coast.

Today, Costinesti caters to a wide array of vacationers, from teenagers to mid-age couples and families.

5. Neptun – Olimp Beach Resorts

Neptun and Olimp are two of the oldest beach resorts in Romania. In the communism years, Ceausescu had a villa in Neptun.

Nowadays, both Neptun and Olimp are quiet and less posh than they once were. Some of the hotels here are new or nicely renovated. Unfortunately, there are many others closed and run down, true eyesores that make many people avoid them.

You can have a nice beach holiday here, provided that you choose your hotel with great care.

6. Venus & Cap Aurora

Venus was never as nice as the other seaside resorts in Romania. Cap Aurora was a bit more isolated than the others, so it had a charm apart.

Today, though, I don’t even know whether Cap Aurora still exists. Venus is nice, but only if you choose a hotel in a renovated area.

7. Mangalia Beaches

Mangalia is a real town with permanent residents. It has a nice beach and a great looking seafront promenade.

8. The Beach in 2 Mai

2 Mai is a small seaside village with a fairly nice beach. If you prefer rural-like accommodations, you can find some excellent options in 2 Mai.

9. Vama Veche

Vama Veche once was the Romanian equivalent of Matala, the hippie Greek beach.

Since younger generations have discovered it, Vama Veche has turned into a noisy and crowded stripe of sand with beach bars, night clubs and drunken party goers sleeping or hanging out on the beach. This is an exaggeration, though. If you don’t mind the crowds and the very loud parties late into the night, you’ll enjoy Vama Veche.

Blue Flag Black Sea Beaches in Romania

There are only three beaches in Romania that have been awarded the Blue Flag certification for 2019. Two of them are in Navodari (Phoenicia Beach and Marina Regia Beach). The third one is Vega Vintage Beach in Mamaia. All three beaches are in the north of the Romanian Black sea seaside, a few km away from Constanta.

Violeta Matei