Kabardinka – a resort of cozy beauty

In August 2022, Maria and Alexander and their daughter Nadezhda were vacationing in the village (previously it was an urban village) of Kabardinka, Gelendzhik district, Krasnodar region.

Below are their impressions of the holiday, an assessment of the living conditions, food and infrastructure of the village, as well as tips and secrets, knowledge of which will help you plan a family holiday economically.

Find out more about what to see in Kabardinka and where to take your child in the review of the main attractions and entertainment of the resort. And for those who have not yet decided whether it is worth going here, here is a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of various Black Sea resorts for families with children.

Kabardinka is located very close to Gelendzhik - perhaps you will find useful an article about holidays with children there (also based on personal experience), as well as about remarkable places in Gelendzhik.

Why Kabardinka

I have known Kabardinka for a long time: I vacationed there with my mother from 13 to 19 years old. Then I went with my husband to other places, but I definitely wanted to show my daughter the resort, which, it seems, “grew” with me.

Coming to Kabardinka from 2000 to 2006, I noticed how the beach was expanding, how the embankment was lengthening, how home mini-hotels were growing, how the entertainment infrastructure was developing. Every year the village surprised and delighted with new things.

In 2016, I didn’t recognize my beloved Kabardinka. It has developed to the level of a classy resort. Every day we discovered something new in a familiar place.

Transport

Kabardinka is a small resort village and all the popular places here are within walking distance. For a sightseeing tour it is more convenient to use a bicycle. You can rent this “healthy” type of transport everywhere. In addition to bicycles, scooters are very popular. It’s cheaper to rent “iron horses” for a period of three days or more - it will cost 500 RUB, while for an hour’s use you will have to pay 150-200 RUB. Vacationers with babies do not have to worry about strollers; they can also be rented - from 200 RUB per day.

From the Kabardinka bus station, commuter buses and minibuses run to nearby villages and cities - you can use them to travel around the surrounding area and go to remote beaches. A trip to Gelendzhik costs about 50 RUB, to Novorossiysk - about 100 RUB. Tourists can always use a taxi service both within the village itself and to travel to other places. The services of taxi companies will cost less than a trip with a private driver.

Season and climate: when is the best time to travel with children?

Kabardinka is decorated with distant blue mountains. It is located on the shore of Tsemes Bay, and the water in the bay heats up early and does not cool down for a long time.

You can relax in Kabardinka in any summer month, late spring and early autumn. It is quite warm there from mid-May (up to 26 degrees) until the 20th of September (24 degrees). Comfortable water temperatures (up to 26 degrees) and air temperatures (up to 31 degrees) for children are observed in August.

Those who vacationed in October claim that it was possible to swim in the sea even at this time of year. The village is protected from the winds by a cape, so there are no strong storms there, although when there are waves at sea, swimming is not recommended.

But the sea is clearest at the end of May-beginning of June , so it is better to go at this time with very young children.

According to mothers, children get sick less if they arrive at the seaside before the start of the high season, but June is the rainiest month this month . This should be taken into account when choosing clothes for walking and have a compact umbrella with you. True, the rains are warm and short-lived, so they do not spoil the holiday at all.

Rent a Car

Avid motorists who are not used to parting with the steering wheel even on vacation can indulge in this pleasure - as an option, rent a car. A car expands the possibilities of travelers - it allows you to visit places where group excursions do not take you, and stop in any place you like. Of course, during the peak season there is a problem of parking and traffic jams, but still not as acute as in Moscow. Most hotels and mini-hotels provide their guests with secure parking. To avoid hours-long traffic jams, it is advisable to plan your trip on a weekday - the route is especially congested on weekends, starting from 12 o'clock.

Tourists coming to Kabardinka will have to rent a car in Gelendzhik. You can get a car immediately upon arrival at the airport. The office of the international rental company Hertz is located directly in front of the arrival terminal. The all-Russian car rental network CarBooking and local rental companies also operate in Gelendzhik. For renting a car they ask from 1200-1500 RUB per day. We rent insured cars equipped with a DVR and radar detector, with child seats and GPS navigators upon request. A large selection of cars in good technical condition - from economy to business class. When renting a car for more than 5 days, a discount is provided.

Accommodation options: boarding houses, hotels, guest houses

You can relax in Kabardinka quite inexpensively, or you can organize a luxurious vacation.
A selection of hotels and guest houses with excellent reviews, prices for accommodation are indicated for July 2022

We stayed in the home mini-hotel “Summer Cool” on Mira Street. Rooms range from ultra-economical (there are two beds in the room, a table, a hanger, a toilet and a shower in the yard, from 600 rubles) to the “luxury” level with a bathroom in the room, separate beds, a wardrobe, a TV, air conditioning, a table, chairs and a clothes dryer, from 2500 rubles).

Of course, this “luxury” can be called that specifically in the home mini-hotel sector. In the courtyard there are comfortable benches, lush green spaces, kitchens with stoves, tables, chairs and a full set of dishes (many women comfortably cooked borscht and baked pancakes for their families).

What to try

You can feel like a real mountaineer if you start the day with khash. This is a Caucasian soup made from beef and tripe. It is served with herbs and garlic, and eaten as a bite with spicy radish. According to the rules, khash is supposed to be eaten for breakfast. They say that this is an excellent remedy for the consequences of yesterday's feasts. Mini souvlaki kebabs are a typical Greek food. The only deviation from tradition is that Kabardian cooks wrap them in lavash instead of pita bread. “Tzhvzhik” is not a set of letters, it is the name of an Armenian liver dish that is definitely worth trying with local wine. If you want something exotic at the resort, experts recommend ordering dishes made from Black Sea shark.

Food: cafes, shops, market

It is simply impossible to remain hungry in Kabardinka. Products for every taste and budget can be bought everywhere. We went to the Magnit store, where there were long lines, and to a tiny nameless store on Novaya Street not far from the house where we lived. In stores they bought bread, drinking water, and semi-finished breakfast products: porridge, sausages and instant noodles. We bought baby purees in soft packaging for our daughter.

The village has an excellent market with a wide selection of vegetables, fruits, berries, herbs, spices, dried fruits, honey, and teas. There we bought various souvenirs in the form of nuts and pine cones in honey, teas with fragrant herbs, sweets such as Turkish delight, churchkhela (who doesn’t know - these are nuts strung on a hard thread in congealed boiled grape juice, an incredibly tasty thing).

In addition, in the alleys and small streets far from the beach near the gates, the owners display their own products and fruits and vegetables from their own gardens and gardens. There you can buy homemade wine and other alcoholic drinks, different types of honey, handicrafts: crafts and souvenirs made from shells and stones, beads, children's toys, pictures and the like.

Cafes and canteens are located almost throughout the village. On the coast overlooking the sea you can have a beautiful dinner while listening to “live music”, the average bill is 1000 rubles per person . We ate dinner mostly at home, buying shish kebab by weight, lula kebab or other take-out food.

You can have a three-course lunch (first course, meat or fish with a side dish, salad and a drink) in numerous canteens . Price from 400 to 700 per person . A child can be asked to have half a portion for half the price.

We had breakfast at home with semi-finished products or tea with cookies.

What to bring

The signature Kabardian souvenirs are crafts made from juniper - boards, stands, boxes, toys. Ceramic dishes and clay figurines are also popular. As a souvenir of your visit to these places, you can bring books about the flora and fauna of the Black Sea, the sights and customs of the North Caucasus. From excursion trips to religious buildings of antiquity, dolmens, they bring their miniature sculptural images. You can buy original gifts by visiting the Art Glass Gallery, which tells about domestic glassblowers and their extraordinary works. The souvenir shop offers items with a wide range of prices - from glass “candies” with an unlimited shelf life to rock crystal items and glass paintings.

Beach

There is only one beach in the village - the central one. The beaches of children's health camps are separated by symbolic ropes, but vacationers settle there too, leaving only while their children are swimming. About half an hour away there is a “wild beach”, we haven’t been there, I can’t say anything about it.

The central beach is very well maintained, clean, with large pebbles. Umbrellas, sunbeds, trestle beds are rented, cold drinks, ice cream, boiled corn and boiled crayfish are sold, churchkhela, pies, belyashi and other food are sold.

Bins are installed along the perimeter of the beach and cleanliness is maintained. The temperature of water and air, a warning about the ban on smoking are constantly announced over the loudspeaker, services are briefly covered: rental of catamarans, jet skis, parachute jumping, glider flights, banana and tablet rides, boat trips.

The density of vacationers is always consistently high, but there is enough space for everyone. The water near the shore is a bit dirty, further away it is cleaner. A significant drawback for holidays with children is the sharp slope of the bottom: a step forward is 10 centimeters deeper. Children without armbands and inflatables do not swim, because they are already a meter from the shore with water in their heads.

Lifeguards regularly patrol the water area, returning swimmers from distant buoys.

Leisure

The road to the beach runs through a shady alley with tall old pine trees. Needles and leaves are regularly swept away. The trash cans are emptied as they are filled; there are no spontaneous landfills anywhere.

My daughter really enjoyed walking along this alley. There are numerous statues, fountains, and flower bowls of unusual shapes installed on it. Despite her young age, she happily posed next to them.

We went to the “upside down house”, where everything is really upside down. We visited an exhibition of Cossack art (my daughter really liked the outfits of the “Cossack women” who greeted us behind the fence).

We visited the old park - a luxurious garden with amazing buildings, magnificent fountains and various green spaces. My daughter ran along the bridges and looked at the mosaic tiles.

In Kabardinka there is a huge children's playground where you can play for free. There is also a paid platform. There aren't many children there and my daughter didn't want to go there.

We visited a crocodile farm and a dinosaur park. Of course, ticket prices are very high - 400 rubles per adult and 200 per child, but the impressions were favorable.

There are many kiosks in the village selling excursions. Excursions are conducted around the Gelendzhik region, as well as Sochi, Anapa, Abrau Durso and even Abkhazia.