Baku Beaches: A Practical Guide to the Coast

Once you understand that swimming in Baku Bay is prohibited, the practical question follows: so where do you actually go. The answer lies north and east of the city, along a chain of coastal settlements on the Absheron Peninsula. This is a visitor's guide - but those same settlements are also Baku's second-home belt, which makes "which beach" and "which village" the same question in practice.

Getting there

Most of the good beaches sit roughly 30 to 40 kilometres from central Baku. Two practical options:

Taxi - about 30 minutes in reasonable conditions. The simplest choice, especially for the return trip at the end of the day.

Bus - services to the coastal settlements leave from Koroğlu metro station. The journey takes a little over an hour. Considerably cheaper, but it requires planning your return.

At the height of summer, and especially at weekends, double your travel time estimate. The road out to the coastal villages is a well-known bottleneck.

Why a "public" beach charges admission

This is what confuses visitors most, and it is worth understanding before you set off.

Azerbaijani law prohibits private businesses from owning land within 20 metres of the waterline, and the official position is that the beaches of the Absheron Peninsula are open to the public and that installing toll gates at the entrance to a beach area is not permitted.

In practice, many operators lease the land rather than buy it, and run managed beach facilities on it with paid entry. Reported admission prices span a wide range - from ten manats up to several tens per person, depending on the venue, the day of the week and the season. Weekends cost more than weekdays.

The practical upshot: along the very same stretch of coast you will find sections that are entirely free and sections fenced off behind a gate, sometimes a few hundred metres apart. It is worth establishing in advance which one you are heading to.

The beaches, one by one

Bilgah - about 30 km from Baku, and perhaps the best known of them all. It combines a free public stretch with paid beach clubs and hotels, which makes it a good choice if you want the option of either in one place.

Buzovna - on the northern shore of the peninsula, and a long-standing local favourite. The atmosphere is more village than resort, which is precisely its appeal for a quiet day by the sea.

Mardakan - about 35 km out. Known for being relaxed and unhurried, with access generally free, though organised sections offer better facilities for a fee.

Novkhani - on the north-western coast, roughly a 50-minute drive. Along the main strip you will find both free public stretches and managed sections with basic services. Note: despite having no direct sewer outfall, Novkhani was found unsuitable for use in the Ministry of Ecology's July 2025 monitoring. Worth checking before you go in.

Amburan - the upmarket option, and unambiguously a paid venue. Entry typically runs around 20 to 40 manats per person depending on season and day, and the beach is known for its imported white sand, which is filtered and cleaned daily.

Shikhov - the closest to the city, and the most problematic. It sits beside the Bibi-Heybat oil field and is declared unfit for bathing in most years. We covered this in detail in the article on the bay swimming ban.

Beach	Distance	Entry	Suits
Bilgah	~30 km	Free and paid	Wanting the choice of both
Buzovna	~35 km	Mostly free	A quiet, local day out
Mardakan	~35 km	Generally free	Families, unhurried pace
Novkhani	~50 min	Mixed	Check first - failed 2025 monitoring
Amburan	~35 km	Paid, 20-40 AZN	Full service
Shikhov	~10 km	Free	Not advised for swimming

Prices and arrangements change from year to year and season to season. Treat the table as a starting point, not a timetable.

A few things worth knowing in advance

The Caspian is not as saline as the Mediterranean, and the water feels softer as a result. There is no significant tide, and the beaches are generally shallow a good way out - an advantage for families with young children.

Shade is scarce on the free stretches. If you are heading for a public section, bring your own umbrella.

And as covered in the water-quality article, since 2026 the Ministry of Ecology has run a Telegram bot for checking bacteria levels at beaches. It is the most current check available, and it beats any guide - including this one.

Why the beach belt is also the property belt

The list above is not only a list of beaches. Bilgah, Buzovna, Mardakan and Novkhani are whole settlements, and they have long formed Baku's dacha belt - the summer houses city residents decamp to in the hot months.

That explains a pattern which repeats itself: the better and more accessible the beach, the denser the construction in the settlement behind it. Twenty minutes' difference in the drive from Baku, and a stretch of shore where you are allowed into the water, is what separates a village that is developing from one that stays rural.

The fact that private operators are willing to lease land and charge tens of manats for a single day's access says something simple: there is real willingness to pay for access to clean water in this area. That is the same demand that drives the summer short-term rental market and the new construction along the northern strip.

Property types along this belt vary enormously - from an old summer house to an apartment in a new resort development - and anyone trying to work out which category fits can start with the property type finder.

Related articles

• Why you can't swim in Baku Bay - and where you can
• Buzovna neighbourhood guide: Baku's coastal district
• Mardakan guide
• The Absheron Peninsula: Baku's suburbs