Bulgaria - Facts

Bulgaria Country Updates

We are not seeing users access Bulgaria information regularly. We are prioritizing and focusing efforts on keeping the most visited countries up to date.

If you plan to visit Bulgaria or believe that we have made an error, please send us an email at noonsite@noonsite.com. We will assign a team member to work with our contacts to update the formalities information that you are interested in. If you have visited Bulgaria on a yacht, we would love to hear from you, please send us an email or leave a comment about your experience.

If you aren’t already, please consider becoming a paid member to enjoy unlimited use of Noonsite, exclusive content, and other perks. Membership fees help to keep country information up to date in support of cruisers worldwide. Find out more about Noonsite Membership levels and benefits.

Thank you for your understanding and support of Noonsite. We value our readers and contributors and welcome comments and corrections to the data that we provide.

Bulgaria Facts for Sailors

• Bulgaria is changing and there are no longer any restricted areas to visiting yachts. It is not a common country for cruisers, though visitors have reported having a positive experience.
• Bulgaria and Romania became the newest Member States to join the Schengen area as of 31 March 2024.
• Once cleared in, there is no requirement to check in with any authorities at intermediate ports, except when clearing out again. Officials are reported to be very friendly and helpful. See Clearance for full details on entry and exit procedures.
• The best port to clear in coming from Turkey is Tzarevo, and coming from Romania is Balchik. Yachts can also clear-in at Varna and Burgas. Burgas is a large commercial harbor with limited facilities for private yachts, Sozopol would be a better place to stop.
• In recent years several good marina facilities have been built. On the north Black Sea coast, Rusalka, Tyulenovo, Balchik, Golden Sands and Varna are all good stopovers. On the southern Black Sea coast Burgas, St. Vlas, Nesebar, Sozopol, and Dyuni all have yachting facilities.
• The Bay of Burgas, between Sveti Vlas and Sozopol, is a real cruising ground where it is possible to find relatively isolated anchorages.
• On January 1 2007, Bulgaria joined the European Union (EU).