Kuyalnik Estuary

Kuyalnik is a liman cut off from the sea by a sandbar, and because evaporation exceeds inflow the water is several times saltier than the Black Sea, salty enough to float in. Black sulphide mud on the bottom has been used medicinally since a sanatorium opened here in 1833, one of the earliest mud-treatment institutions in the region. The water level has fallen badly over the last century as the rivers feeding it were tapped.

What you actually see

• The hypersaline water - salinity several times that of the sea, dense enough to float in.
• The black mud - sulphide mud used in treatment since the 1830s.
• The sanatorium - one of the oldest mud-cure institutions in the region.
• The salt crust - white deposits along the retreating shoreline.

When to go

June to September is the bathing and mud season. The liman is at its saltiest late in summer. Winter is bleak and the shore is exposed.

Honest expectations

Water levels have dropped severely and the liman has come close to drying in bad years. The shore is muddy and there are few facilities outside the sanatorium. The salt and mud are harsh and rinsing afterwards is necessary.

Nearby

Odesa is south, and the Tuzly lagoons are southwest along the coast.