Kayaking in the Danube Delta
The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve is the official name of a well-known tourist destination
Călin Coțoiu and Ana-Maria Cononovici, 19.05.2026, 14:53
The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve is the official name of a well-known tourist destination: the Danube Delta and Tulcea County, destinations that offer slow, sightseeing tourism, harmoniously combined with biodiversity, multiculturalism, traditions and local gastronomy, visitors can enjoy what is called “deltaic tourism”.
Today we propose to explore the possibilities of spending a holiday in the Danube Delta, on the canals and lakes bordered by vast areas of reed, where we encounter many species of birds and animals. In addition to kayaking or stand-up paddle boarding and water bikes, there is the option of boating, curated by someone from the area. It should not be forgotten, however, that access to the Biosphere Reserve territory is only allowed based on tourist access permits, car access, or boat access, and that all of these can be purchased online, from the DDRBA website (Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration), or via SMS.
Călin Ene is an outdoor activities guide, and told us that kayak tours are starting to make their way into visitors’ schedules:
“The creation of a structure for rural tourism has begun, with overnight stops in the second stage, and with visiting points. The project was initiated by the Ivan Patzaichin Mila 23 Association, our partners, many of whom are tour guides. Permits are already being purchased online, there are seven overnight stops between Sulina and Tulcea.”
Between Mila 1 and Mila 3, the standard land posts in the Delta, you can start on a channel known by several names, none on the map, however. Călin Ene described to us this approximately 4-kilometer experience:
“This canal has no name on the map. Some call it the Lovers’ Canal, it’s beautiful, romantic, we have the Willow Canal, the Mila 3 Canal, it’s a canal that, although it’s very close to Sulina, is a wild canal. It’s exactly the Delta as it used to be. It’s clogged, you struggle through, it’s wilderness right at the city gate. That’s why I like it a lot. In the fullness of the greenery it also has forget-me-not flowers and a few water lily bushes, birds, a tit’s nest on a fence, there are stilts on that canal, there are herons, many night herons. It’s a veritably spectacular canal, and it’s exactly what you need. If you want the Delta and wilderness, but you don’t like tent camping, you don’t want to leave your comfort zone, this canal is what you need. You go at a leisurely pace, no need to hurry. This is the second part of the 6-hour tour: from our base we go out into the Musura Bay, and at around 10:00, when it is already hot, we just have to go under the willows and it fits very well into that short 3-4 hour tour, because it is more shaded and greener. Usually, the wind starts later, at 7:00-8:00 in the morning it is calmer, and at around 10:00-11:00 AM the wind starts, and it is exactly what we need as a continuation.”
In the area, the gastronomic offer abounds in fish, so a gastronomic experience could include sport fishing from a boat, and then a stop at one of the guesthouses in the area, where the housewives prepare traditional recipes. You can have fish soup, made with several kinds of fish from the Danube, storceag, which is a fish soup dressed with cream, once made from sturgeon, now a strictly protected species. In the diverse gastronomic offer we also find ciorba de perișoare, which is sour soup made with fish balls, or fish steak, so called because it is baked with potatoes, sausages or fish cakes, and fish ciorba, sour soup with vegetables. Fishroe salads, fish zacusca, fish meatloaf, smoked or marinated fish, are also appetizers not to be missed.
