Thank the heavens above, I did not choose SB as a destination with which to explore this coastal area. I took a long walk this morning, more than three hours. I explored the beach for half of that time and the main strip for the other. Here are my first impressions of Sunny Beach Bulgaria.
The Beach
The best part of Sunny Beach is the beach. Not only is the sand nice and soft, the water was clear and shallow. I had read that there might be issues with the water and bacteria, but today, it is lovely. True it is absolutely slammed with loungers on top of loungers, but if you are visiting the beach just for a swim it is alright.
In-between the clubs and hotels that have their sun beds out by the thousands, are spaces for the public who do not want to rent one of these beds. I walked the beach for one hour, from the furthest end to the pier at flower street. All of my photographs were taken between 8am and 9am. You can already see how crowded it is going to be and its not even the weekend.
Flower Street
Awful. OMG, the worst parts of tourism you can imagine. I had the impression it was going to be full of fun vibes, fun shopping and beachy coolness. Nope. It is dirty, slimy and feels so gritty. Everywhere you look there are gambling places, sex shops, cheap fast food and carnival type games.
Flower street is unkept, litter and debris laying about, rusted and broken benches and sidewalks. If I never go back, I will be perfectly content.
Main Street
This is the large road that parallels the beach. It is one long wide traffic artery lined with huge rusted billboards and unattractive hotels. One side has a wide sidewalk which was nice for pedestrians. When I got to the end however, and saw all of the tourist trains lined up, I realized that within a matter of minutes, this wide path will become the roadway for these trains.
I saw nothing attractive about Sunny Beach what so ever and I have been fortunate enough to experience many beach towns around the world. There must be some nicer areas, but I certainly did not see them on this first visit. If you are coming to Sunny Beach to party every night in a highly touristic and cheap carnival type atmosphere, this is your place. For me, it was a complete disappointment. I have to agree with Matt here, Sunny Beach is abysmal.
