Pomorie: the salt lakes and the free mud baths
Pomorie, the salt pans and mud therapy — what the free mud baths actually involve, how to get there and what to expect.
Pomorie is about 20 km south of Sunny Beach — half an hour by car, and one of the few trips around here that is not about an old town or a beach. People come for Pomorie Lake: a salt lagoon whose bed yields black therapeutic mud. You can use it for nothing on the shore of the lake, or pay for it in a spa. They are two quite different experiences, and both are described honestly below.
Getting there from Sunny Beach
Pomorie sits on the road between Sunny Beach and Burgas, so it is easy to reach. By car it is about 20 km via Aheloy — half an hour with no traffic, longer at peak times in August.
Buses on the coastal route pass through Pomorie all day during the summer season, including those bound for Burgas. Many organised excursions stop here too, usually paired with a winery or with Nessebar.
| From | Distance to Pomorie |
|---|---|
| Sunny Beach | ~20 km |
| Nessebar | ~17 km |
| Burgas | ~20 km |
| Burgas Airport | ~13 km |
The salt lakes and the salt pans
The town stands on a narrow headland between the sea and Pomorie Lake — a hypersaline lagoon separated from the sea by a sand spit. This is not a freshwater lake and it is not for swimming; it is several times saltier than the sea.
The lake has two faces. One is industrial: salt has been harvested here by the traditional method of evaporation in shallow pans for centuries, and it still is. The other is natural — the lake is a protected area and one of the important bird sites on the Black Sea coast. During the migration seasons you can see pelicans, avocets, gulls and terns, and with luck flamingos. There is a visitor centre with a trail and a hide.
If you have binoculars and are willing to get up early, the lake in the morning is far more interesting than any beach nearby.
The free mud baths: what they actually are
The lagoon mud from the bed of the lake is black, greasy to the touch and distinctly sulphurous. It has been used in Bulgarian mud therapy for decades — most often for joint and spinal pain, for skin complaints and in gynaecology.
The free version is exactly what it sounds like: you go down to the shore of the lake, where people wade into the shallows, dig out the mud, plaster themselves in it and stand in the sun until it dries and starts to crack. Then you rinse off. There is no ticket office, no appointment and no treatment card.
How it works in practice:
- You wade into the shallow water at the spot set aside for it and take mud from the bottom.
- You cover yourself — usually avoiding the face and the area around the heart.
- You wait in the sun for it to dry. If it is windy or overcast, this takes considerably longer.
- You rinse thoroughly. The salt needs washing off as well as the mud.
Honestly: what this really looks like
Here is the awkward part, because most people turn up unprepared.
There are no proper facilities. On the lake shore, do not count on changing rooms, sunbeds or a hot shower. Rinsing off is improvised, and that is the main reason people come away disappointed.
The mud stains permanently. Wear an old swimming costume you do not mind losing. Pale ones do not survive.
It smells. The hydrogen sulphide is part of the deal, and it stays on your skin for a while after you have rinsed.
The bottom is silty and slippery. Flip-flops or water shoes are a good idea.
It is not right for every time of day, or for everyone. Standing motionless in direct sun during the hottest hours is hard on the body. Anyone with heart problems, high blood pressure, a fever, or who is pregnant, ought to ask a doctor before self-administering mud therapy. If you have come because of a specific complaint rather than out of curiosity, the paid version is the more sensible route.
Take water. More than you think you need.
The season for free mud runs in practice from July to early September — that is when the sun is strong enough to dry the mud and the water in the shallows is warm. In June, and after mid-September, the whole experience is a good deal less pleasant.
The paid treatments: what the difference is
Pomorie has been a balneological centre for decades, and the town has a specialist rehabilitation hospital, sanatoria and spa hotels working with the same mud and with brine from the lake.
The difference is not the raw material but everything else: the mud is brought to temperature, the application is controlled and timed, there is a shower, a clean cubicle and a medical judgement as to whether the treatment suits you. Therapeutic programmes normally begin with an examination and run as a course of treatments rather than a single coating.
| Free, at the lake | Paid, spa or sanatorium | |
|---|---|---|
| The mud | The same, cold | Warmed |
| Hygiene and showers | Improvised | Provided |
| Supervision | None | Assessment and timing |
| Booking | No | Usually yes |
| Who it suits | Curiosity, once | A real complaint, a course |
If you are on holiday and want to try the mud once, the lake does the job. If you have come to Pomorie because of your back, the paid version is the one that makes sense.
The salt museum
The only museum of salt in this part of Europe is right here, and it is more interesting than it sounds. Besides the exhibition there is an open-air section with working salt pans, where salt is produced by the medieval method — shallow basins, wooden paddles, heaps of salt. If you have children with you, this makes more sense to them than any display case.
The harvest happens in late summer, so August and early September are the best times to see real work going on rather than just basins of water.
St George’s Monastery
At the entrance to the town is St George’s Monastery — working, 18th century, tied to the legend of an icon discovered in a well and the healing of a local bey. The holy spring in the courtyard is still the reason people arrive carrying bottles.
The monastery is a calm place and free to visit. The only condition is the usual one: modest dress and quiet. On 6 May, St George’s Day, it is busier than at any other point in the year.
The beach and the old town
Pomorie’s beach is long, with dark, iron-rich sand that locals maintain is therapeutic in its own right. The water stays shallow a long way out, which is convenient with small children. Do not expect the infrastructure of the beaches at Sunny Beach — it is more modest and quieter here.
The old part of town, along the sea, keeps a few streets of wooden houses and the church of the Transfiguration. Pomorie is also a wine town, so a tasting is easily arranged.
For ideas on combining it with the rest of the area, see day trips from Sunny Beach or neighbouring Nessebar, which is 17 km away.
Hotel Caesar Palace is in the centre of Sunny Beach, 20 metres from the beach. See the hotel or call us on +359 554 222 36.