Novy Svit Beach

Although 7km outside Sudak, the beach at Novy Svit Beach is very much part of the same experience. In high season, buses and marshrutky wind regularly across the slightly hairy but breathtakingly gorgeous mountain road connecting Sudak with this popular satellite. Each bus is jam-packed with day-trippers coming to water-ski, jet-ski, scuba dive, hire pedalos and swim.

Whether in the high season or the more relaxed and arguably more amenable shoulder period, Novy Svit bay is generally considered to have some of the best beachfront in Crimea. And that's not just because there's sand, albeit of a greyish complexion; it's also because of its scenic setting between the 474m Mt Sokil (or Kush-Kaja in Tatar, meaning 'Falcon Mountain') to the east and the much lower Mt Orel (or Koba-Kaja, 'Eagle Mountain') on its western cape. Coastal and cypress pines only serve to improve an already beautiful picture.

To cap it off, Novy Svit is also famous for its (overly sweet) champagne. Buying a bottle of bubbly and drinking it on the beach, or in the sometimes lengthy queue for buses back to Sudak, is another favourite activity.

Once you alight at Novy Svit, most amenities are clearly signposted or easily apparent.