Lake Koyashskoe - pink lake of Crimea

Koyashskoe Lake is located in the Eastern Crimea on the Kerch Peninsula in the Opuk Reservoir, else it is called the Opuk Lake. It has a small area (only 5 km2), and its depth is only 1 m, but a more unusual place is difficult to find in the Crimea. 

Everyone who has visited here, the question arises: Why Koyashsky Lake is pink? The fact is that in its place once upon a time there was a mud volcano in which alga Dunaliella Salina developed. It is because of it that water and salt become pink and the smell of violets, which differs from algae.

Koyashskoe Lake is salty and even resembles the Dead Sea in Israel. By the way, in Crimea there is another pink lake - Sivash near Evpatoria in the west. It is also very beautiful, there often come for therapeutic mud procedures.

The peculiarity of this place is that its color changes throughout the year.

In April and early May, the water acquires a pink tinge, and meadows bloom around Lake Koyashskoe. This is an amazing time, which happens only a few weeks a year. Around the lake grass is green, flowering flowers, wild tulips. The color of the water may not be very bright, but nature at this time is the most beautiful.

In summer, the water evaporates, leaving salt on the sand, which spreads across the steppe, making it unfit for processing. Its deposits create real icebergs on the surface.

What do tourists need to know?

Koyashskoe lake has become the abode of many rare waterfowl, only in summer most of them leave salty waters. If you are interested in observing them, it is better to go to the lake in spring or early autumn.

Salt, mud and brine of the lake are medicinal, so you can arrange yourself cosmetic procedures on the shore of the lake.

A visit to the lake is not free-it will be necessary to pay entrance to the Opuksky Nature Reserve.

In the area of ​​Lake Koyashsky there is something to see: besides the reserve there are also the rocks of Elken-Kaya and the ruins of the ancient city of Kimmerik.