Sveti Vlas and the marina: 5 km from Sunny Beach
Sveti Vlas — the marina, the beaches, and why so many people prefer Sunny Beach's quieter neighbour.
Sveti Vlas is 5 km north of Sunny Beach, at the very end of the bay, where the Balkan Mountains come down to the sea. It is the closest alternative to the resort for people who want the same sea without the main strip — quieter, greener, with a yacht harbour instead of nightclubs. You can walk there along the beach in about an hour, or take the bus in fifteen minutes.
Getting there from Sunny Beach
On foot. Head north along the sand and keep going. It is about 5 km, which at an easy pace across the sand and the promenade takes between an hour and an hour and a half. This is the loveliest option early in the morning or towards evening; at midday in August it is a mistake.
By bus. The coastal service runs frequently in summer and stops on the main road. The journey is short, but boarding at peak times can be a scrum.
By tourist train. Slow, but there is a view, and it is easy with children.
By taxi or car. 5 km along the main road. Parking in Sveti Vlas in summer is not easy, especially around the marina.
| From Sveti Vlas to | Distance |
|---|---|
| Sunny Beach (centre) | ~5 km |
| Nessebar | ~10 km |
| Elenite | ~4 km to the north |
| Burgas Airport | ~35 km |
The marina
The yacht harbour at Sveti Vlas, part of Dinevi Resort, is the town’s most recognisable feature and one of the largest marinas on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Hundreds of berths, a breakwater that the entire town strolls along in the evening, and a row of restaurants, shops and cafés along the quay.
Walking the marina costs nothing, and it is precisely what most people come here for an evening to do: it is calm, the view over the moored yachts with the mountains behind them is a good one, and the mood is more subdued than in the centre of Sunny Beach. Most of the boats offering trips around the bay leave from here too.
Honestly: the places on the marina itself are dearer than their equivalents 5 km down the coast, and that is fair enough — you are paying for the view. If you want value for money, drop a street back into the town.
The beaches
Sveti Vlas has a shorter, narrower strip of sand than Sunny Beach, but it is clean and the atmosphere is calmer.
The Central Beach sits in front of the town, with parasols, sunbeds and places to eat nearby. It is small and it fills up in August, though not with the density of the central sections of Sunny Beach.
The beach by the marina is more sheltered by the breakwater, and the water there is usually calmer.
The stretch between Sveti Vlas and Sunny Beach is the most underrated part of the whole bay. Ten minutes’ walk south of town there are wide sections that stay comparatively empty even in mid-August — simply because they are a long way from both centres. There are no real facilities out there, which is also why they are empty.
Parasols and sunbeds are paid for separately, as they are everywhere on this coast. If you have a car and want something entirely different, Irakli is about 20 km north — a wild beach with no infrastructure, reached down a dirt track.
Why people choose Sveti Vlas over Sunny Beach
| Sveti Vlas | Sunny Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Atmosphere | Quiet, family | Lively, loud |
| Nightlife | Restaurants and bars by the marina | Clubs, until morning |
| Beach | Smaller, calmer | 8 km, more facilities |
| Terrain | Steep, uphill walking | Flat |
| Choice of bars, restaurants, shops | Limited | Enormous |
| Evenings | Quiet after midnight | At their peak after midnight |
Sveti Vlas also has a reputation as a climatic resort — the combination of mountain and sea air is why it has had a sanatorium for respiratory conditions here for decades. You feel it in the evening: cooler air comes down off the mountain, and August nights are more bearable than in the middle of the resort.
Honestly: the drawbacks
The town is steep. Sveti Vlas climbs the hillside, and a great many of the complexes are a 10–20 minute climb from the beach. Going down is pleasant; coming back up in the afternoon less so. If your knees are a problem, or you have a pushchair, check exactly where the place is before you book.
The building is dense. Many of the newer districts are apartment complexes packed shoulder to shoulder. A sea view from the third row back is no longer a sea view.
There is not much choice. Fewer restaurants, fewer shops, fewer attractions. If you are here for a week with children, you will most likely end up travelling to Sunny Beach or Nessebar several times.
The beach is not big. In the two peak weeks of August it fills up too.
You have to get home in the evening. If you go out in Sunny Beach, the journey back after midnight is by taxi.
The fish restaurants
Sveti Vlas has a deserved reputation for fish, and that is the main reason people come up from Sunny Beach for dinner. The restaurants are around the marina and along the streets running into the centre.
A few practical points that head off unpleasant surprises:
- Fish is often priced per 100 grams. Ask how much the fish you have chosen weighs before it goes on the grill. This is the single commonest source of arguments along the whole Black Sea coast.
- Ask what is fresh and what is frozen. A decent restaurant will answer without hesitating.
- The small Black Sea fish — horse mackerel, sprat, goby — are both cheaper and far more characteristic than imported salmon. Bluefish and turbot appear in season.
- Book for evenings in August, especially for a table looking out over the marina.
Nearby
- Elenite — about 4 km north, a gated complex with a waterpark. There are more ideas for water attractions in the waterparks guide.
- Kosharitsa — the village above the resort, with taverns and a view over the whole bay.
- The road up the hillside — even a short drive uphill gives you a panorama from Nessebar to Emona.
Sveti Vlas works best as a change of pace: sleep in Sunny Beach, where everything is, and come up here for an evening, a walk along the marina and some fish. The reverse — a whole week in Sveti Vlas with daily trips down the coast — only makes sense if quiet matters more to you than choice.
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.