For the current season, the national operator lists 26 beaches and six ports under the Blue Flag, a national record of 32 sites. They run from a lagoon beach between Balchik and Kavarna in the north to Butamyata near Sinemorets in the south, with clusters at Sveti Vlas, Sunny Beach and Sozopol. The award lasts one season only.
The 2026 list, resort by resort
The Bulgarian Blue Flag Movement, a Pomorie-based non-profit founded in 1993, publishes the list. The operator does not group beaches by municipality, so the third column follows ministry and municipal pages.
| Resort area | Blue Flag beaches in 2026 (operator list) | Municipality on an official page |
|---|---|---|
| Kavarna coast (Ikantalaka) | The White Lagoon | Kavarna |
| Albena and Kranevo | Albena, Kranevo North, Kranevo Central | Balchik |
| Golden Sands | Golden Sands | Varna |
| Near Varna | Slanchev Den, Hizha Chernomorets | Not confirmed |
| Byala | Byala South | Not confirmed |
| Obzor | Obzor Central | Not confirmed |
| Elenite | Robinson | Nessebar |
| Sveti Vlas | Sveti Vlas East, New and Central | Nessebar |
| Sunny Beach | Sunny Beach North, Central and South | Nessebar (South confirmed) |
| Nessebar | Nessebar South | Nessebar |
| Pomorie | Pomorie East | Pomorie |
| Burgas | Burgas North | Burgas |
| Sozopol area | Sozopol Central, Sozopol Harmanite, Camping Chernomorets, Duni, Duni South | Sozopol (Duni only) |
| Primorsko | Arkutino | Primorsko |
| Sinemorets | Butamyata | Not confirmed |
Six ports also fly the flag: Karantinata in Varna, Marina Dinevi at Sveti Vlas, Pomorie fishing port, Sarafovo, Kraimorie and Chengene Skele.
Changes since 2025
The 2025 list held 25 beaches and five ports, 30 flags in all. For 2026, Kranevo Central, Burgas North and the Karantinata port were added, while Kozluka, in Nessebar municipality, dropped off.
What the award checks on the beach
The operator groups the criteria into four blocks: environmental education and information, water quality, environmental management, and safety and services. The 2024 criteria still apply this season.
Water samples
- EU beaches must hold the official Excellent bathing-water class.
- Coastal limits are 250 cfu/100 ml for E. coli and 100 cfu/100 ml for intestinal enterococci, at the 95th percentile.
- At least five samples per season, the first within 31 days before opening, taken by an authorised independent person where bathers gather most.
- No industrial, wastewater or sewage discharge may affect the beach zone.
Lifeguards and rescue kit
Busy beaches need enough qualified lifeguards, with two every 200 metres recommended where no risk assessment exists. Lifeguards may not double as sunbed renters or cleaners, and they must patrol a marked area.
A low-hazard beach averaging fewer than 50 users a day in high season may use public rescue equipment instead. Bulgarian rules add first aid, drinking water and pollution emergency plans.
The information board
At least one board is required, with roughly one every 500 metres recommended on long beaches. It shows the season length, current water results against the limits, local ecosystems, a code of conduct and a beach map marking the patrolled zone. If the flag is withdrawn, the board must say so and why.
What a Blue Flag does not tell you
It is not a crowd score, a sand grade or a hotel award. A flagged resort beach can still have sunbeds in tight rows, and the criteria above say nothing about noise or space.
It also expires. The certificate is annual, so a flag from last summer counts for nothing now, as Kozluka shows. A missing flag is not a warning either: the programme is voluntary, and the European Environment Agency's 2025 factsheet rated 93 of Bulgaria's 96 official bathing waters excellent and none poor.
The legal monitoring run by health inspectorates
The legal layer is the EU Bathing Water Directive, applied through Ordinance No 5 of 2008. Regional Health Inspectorates test official bathing zones for E. coli and intestinal enterococci: one sample just before the season, then at least twice a month, with classes based on four seasons. The ministry stresses that this covers those two indicators, not overall water quality.
Where to look before swimming
- Ministry of Health: the bathing-waters register, which the EEA names as the national portal.
- Varna inspectorate: 23 zones; the season it monitored was 1 June to 30 September 2026, and results in mid-September were excellent or good.
- Burgas inspectorate: the sampling calendar, zone categories and profiles, plus a 12 August notice on seawater at Sveti Vlas.
- Dobrich inspectorate: covers Kavarna, Balchik and Albena; the oblast had 20 zones in 2023.
Beaches beside top-category hotels
Most hotels below do not name the exact concession beach unit, so matches are by resort, not by sunbed area. For beach set-ups in more depth, compare hotels with their own beach sections.
Golden Sands
The Golden Sands concession beach in Varna municipality is flagged. Meliá Grand Hermitage states a private beach 0.1 km away, and Grifid Noa a wide first-line private beach with two sunbeds and one umbrella per room.
HVD Riviera Beach has a wide private beach in Riviera Holiday Club, which has no separate flag. International Hotel Casino & Tower Suites is steps from the shore, and its SKYFALL Terrace Beach is a pool terrace. None of the four says its beach section lies inside the awarded unit.
Sunny Beach and Nessebar
All three Sunny Beach units are flagged, though neither hotel here says which unit it faces. Barceló Royal Beach is 50 metres from the sand, and Helena Resort notes Sunny Beach's Blue Flag on its own site.
In Nessebar, Sol Nessebar Palace has a private beach 0.1 km away but does not say it fronts the flagged Nessebar South.
Sveti Vlas
East, New and Central beaches in Sveti Vlas are all flagged, as is the Marina Dinevi port. Voya Beach Resort sits directly on the beachfront, and Grand Hotel Sveti Vlas has a private beach in the Yurta area, 1.5 km from Marina Dinevi. Neither hotel names which of the three units its beach belongs to.
Sozopol and Primorsko
Blu Bay sits on the marina in Sozopol Old Town, a 5-minute walk from the nearest sandy beach according to its booking page. Sozopol Central and Sozopol Harmanite are both flagged, but the hotel does not say which is closer.
Perla Royal is the honest trade-off. It stands on the first line of Primorsko's South beach, which is not flagged, and does not state its distance to Arkutino, the municipality's flagged beach. If swimming under a flag matters, it does not suit.
Albena and Kavarna
Maritim Paradise Blue Albena has its own beach section on the sandy beach of Albena Resort. Albena beach is on the 2026 list, but the hotel's site does not use the words Blue Flag.
The White Lagoon beach near Kavarna received the flag for the 10th year in 2026. The White Lagoon hotel's own site does not say which beach unit its guests use, so ask the hotel.
Checking the flag on the day
- Look at the pole when you arrive; if the flag is down, the board should give the reason.
- Read the season dates on the board, and do not count on a lifeguard patrol outside them.
- Swim inside the patrolled zone marked on the beach map.
- Compare the posted water results with the inspectorate's latest sampling.
For the wider calendar, see when to visit the Black Sea coast, and the coast overview for how the resorts line up.
Questions
Does a hotel's private beach section carry the flag?
Only if it lies within the beach unit named by the operator, such as Golden Sands or Sveti Vlas Central. The award belongs to that unit, not to a sunbed area. Most hotel sites do not name their concession beach, so ask reception which unit you are on and look for the board.
Can a beach lose its flag in mid-season?
Yes. A Blue Flag beach must keep meeting the criteria through the whole award period, not only when it applies. If it falls short, the flag can be withdrawn, and the information board must then state that it has gone and explain why. That makes the board worth reading each morning.
Who samples the water on a flagged beach?
Two systems do. The Regional Health Inspectorate samples official bathing zones under national law, at least twice a month after a pre-season sample. Blue Flag adds at least five samples per season by an authorised independent person, the first within 31 days before opening, with results posted on the beach board.
When did Bulgaria raise its first Blue Flag?
On 4 July 1995, at 11:59:25, on the Sunny Beach shore in front of Hotel Evropa. The national operator says the award has been given in Bulgaria every year since then. Its 2026 total of 26 beaches and six ports is the highest it has recorded so far.
