A real treasure given to people by nature, an interesting place from the point of view of history and just a beautiful lake — all this is the Dniester estuary, which has earned the fame of an outstanding attraction of the Black Sea coast, popular among tourists. And this magnificent corner of Ukraine can see all the tourists who came to holiday in Zatoka or other nearby settlements to the estuary.
Dnestrovsky Liman is a large bay in the northwest of the Black Sea in the Odessa region. In the south it is bounded by the sandy Bugaz spit, which has a narrow passage to the sea, and in the north the well-known Dniester River flows into it. The length of the bay from north to south is about 41 km, and its width varies between 4 and 12 km. Despite its impressive size, the bay is shallow — the maximum depth is 2.6 meters, which, however, does not prevent navigation on the water body. On the shores of the lake there are two ports: Ovidiopol and Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. Both ports have a rich history going back to the depths of centuries, and interesting to tourists architectural objects — the most ancient fortresses.
Scythians, Greeks, Ostgoths, Romans, Turks and Genoese left traces of their life in the area of the Dniester estuary, this natural attraction has existed since time immemorial, while many eras changed. Ancient fortresses Hadjider in Ovidiopol and Akkerman in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky are also mute witnesses of the vanished past, these fortresses are considered to be among the best examples of such architecture preserved in the south of Ukraine. Today tourists from all over the country and abroad come to the estuary to see them. There are also excavations of ancient cities in different parts of the estuary shores, which continue to be found by archaeologists.
Not only ancient fortresses have made the Dniester estuary famous — the second reason for its popularity among tourists is fishing. Due to shallow depths, favorable temperatures and good food base in the estuary are excellent conditions for the life of various species of fish, both marine and freshwater: mullet, sea crucian carp, gloss, sargan, starred sturgeon, herring, beluga, sturgeon, tulka, bullhead, percarina, roach, yaz, catfish, bream, pikeperch, perch. There are even whiskers, eels and sunfish! Another wealth of the estuary waters is crayfish, which the local population catches in large quantities. Fishermen have a lot of freedom here, but in order to preserve the population of crayfish and various fish species, the fish inspection bodies have to work constantly, as fishing is often illegal.
Therefore, it is better to come to fish for bullhead, which is found here in quite large specimens, crucian carp, bream, perch or other fish species, it is better to come at the authorized time set by the fish inspection.
What else can a tourist who came to the Dniester estuary do? Of course, mud treatment: healing muds cure many ailments, and combining mud applications with bathing in sea water has a tremendous beneficial effect on the body. For this purpose it is better to stay on Bugaz Spit in the settlements Karolino-Bugaz and Sergeevka, and of course the most famous is rest in Zatoka. In some places on the spit distance from the shore of the Dniester estuary to the sea is only a few tens of meters, thanks to which mud treatment and swimming in the sea is very convenient to combine. If you want to get closer to historical places, it is better to stay in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, one of the most ancient towns, where Prince Oleg started his campaign to Tsar Grad. Another option is the village of Shabo, famous for its vineyards and wines: here, too, any tourist who has come to see for himself the fascinating sights of the Black Sea region. will be pleased to stay on the shore of the Dniester estuary.