The largest Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna finally has a place that can do justice to its reputation as the country’s sea capital. On August 8, Rappongi Beach celebrated its first birthday, more than enough to establish itself as the place to be in Varna this summer.

The first eye-catching thing in Rappongi – and what makes it a unique feature on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast – are its several dozen artificial massive palm trees. The green is so saturated that it creates a verdant island in the otherwise light brown promenade.

While all the other beach bars along the coast stick to fashionable white colours, Rappongi has bet on a pleasant mix of dark brown, yellow and green, which is not the only thing that makes it stand out. Rappongi’s concept is to stay open all year round, unlike all the other places that shut down for the winter. It has two sections separated by the beach alley.

A restaurant section has a wide and spacious design with massive glass windows, which can be lined up the minute rain starts, and there’s a beach bar section on the sand itself. The latter is where the palm trees appear and because of their large numbers (probably about 30) you really feel like you’re on a tropical palm-fringed beach.

The bar provides comfortable beach beds during the day (just six leva a person, which is probably one of the cheapest rates on the Black Sea) and as a place where one can have a few – or more – drinks at night with DJ’s playing their music depending on the theme of the party (the salsa music parties are extremely popular). Besides the standard beach beds and tables, the place also offers large beds that can accommodate eight people in one go. By the time you’ve had your fourth drink this comes in handy.

The establishment’s owners have also taken care of the beach itself. For years Varna’s central beach had a reputation for shoddy upkeep, hence many locals prefer to try the beaches in the many resorts a few kilometres north. Rappongi beach, however, shows that when an investor has a genuine interest, beaches can be maintained properly and that even though the beach is not that far from the route of cargo ships in and out of Varna’s port, swimming can still be enjoyable.

The other nice thing about the place is the service; staff are very attentive. Another pleasant surprise is that prices are pretty much the same as in any of the average bars and restaurants in, for example, Sofia, which is a nice exception from most Black Sea venues whose owners charge prices you would find on the French Riviera. And for those who like to drive to the beach and not engage in long walks there are enough parking places (all free of charge) around Rappongi thanks to the renovations that took place two years ago.

However, for those who prefer walking, getting to Rappongi from the central entrance of the Sea Garden takes 20 minutes.

Talking about investors’ interest, it is worth mentioning that Rappongi probably comes to serve as a hint of what Holding Varna plans to do with the beach alley of Varna. The company, linked to Varna based industrial group TIM, described by many as the most influential business group in the city, has already said it would invest 73.1 million leva in developing the entire beach area into a world class tourism destination with the backing of the city hall.

Notwithstanding all the media speculation about the activity of TIM, whose owners prefer to keep a low profile, the Rappongi project has so far proved successful in arousing the interest of Varna residents and the city’s guests, both of whom relish the opportunity to have a good time at a reasonable price on the otherwise crowded and poorly maintained central beach.