Reviewing Bulgaria's Sunny Beach

Sunny Beach runs along the Black Sea shore, and the sand is wide enough that you can usually find a clear stretch of it even in mid-August, when the umbrellas go up in rows by nine in the morning. The sun shows up daily. Sunscreen matters more than you'd think, because a relaxed mood doesn't make the light any gentler. Mornings here are good for lying on a towel doing very little.

Water is the main event, obviously. People float, paddle, and generally test how well they swim; a man near the third lifeguard tower spent twenty minutes perfecting a stroke that moved him almost nowhere. Paddleboards and jet skis are easy to arrange along the sand if floating isn't enough for you.

Walking around town feels a bit like wandering a theme park built by someone with a fondness for neon and karaoke that starts at two in the afternoon. Menus run from Bulgarian dishes to kebabs that seem to have arrived from three other countries. Bars stay open late, and the music rarely drops below a shout. I'm not sure how the regulars keep it up night after night, though they clearly do.

There's a quieter side too. A short walk takes you to calmer streets, small cafes, and a couple of parks where locals sit and talk instead of dancing under neon. Nessebar, a UNESCO World Heritage town a few kilometres down the coast, is worth the trip for its cobbled lanes and old churches. The Hotel Marina Palace, near the northern end, keeps a garden courtyard that stays cool through the hottest part of the day, and the staff there arrange cars to Nessebar without any fuss.

Getting about is simple. On busy days, walking often beats waiting for a cab. Bring a sun hat unless you fancy turning lobster-red by mid-afternoon. My own hat blew off into the surf on the second morning and I never did find it, which is a story for another time.

Sunny Beach doesn't take itself too seriously, and that's a large part of its appeal. You come for an ordinary beach holiday and leave with stories that sound a little wild when you tell them back home. Whether you're here to celebrate, rest, or watch someone try to dance in flip-flops, there's a corner of it that fits. A shallow shelf of rock just off the southern beach makes a good place to stand and watch the ferries come in.