The New Year 2008 will be remembered for a long time not only by the more than four hundred zhizhists who chose Koktebel as the place to celebrate the holiday, but also by local residents. In LiveJournal you can find dozens of stories covering the topic of a mass invasion of cheerful people in red caps on a small resort village in the south-eastern part of Crimea. The topics of Santa Clauses and Snow Maidens, the general use of strong drinks and their abuse, as well as other revelry and revelry are covered in some detail in numerous behind-the-scenes reports from the koktebel_2008 community. I myself contributed by publishing the gallery “Faces of January Koktebel” (of course, also under lock and key, only members of the Koktebel community can read).
Now I propose to look at winter Koktebel from a slightly different perspective. This report will not contain a single “fawn” photograph, only general pictures, views, landscapes. It won’t be possible to do without people completely, but I promise not to overuse pictures from the series “I’m riding on a fountain” and “drunk Mishgan is trying to obscure Mount Echki-Dag, but a piece of it can still be seen.”
So, a report for those who for some reason missed it, didn’t have time, didn’t notice, didn’t get there, couldn’t find the strength to leave the room. For those who, on the contrary, like to get out of the hotel and take a walk around the surrounding area. For those who, looking at the photographs, remember capricious, but still lovely and picturesque places. And, of course, for everyone who is interested.
See, behold, know - Another Koktebel.
To begin with, a lyrical digression that you can safely skip.
<лирическое отступление>
Predicting the weather in Crimea is a thankless task. Even at the height of summer, the weather can play some unexpected trick, for example, changing the layers of cold and warm water in the sea in places so that in July, at an air temperature of +30°C, the water temperature drops sharply to +8°C. The phenomenon is, of course, rare, but it does happen. It is even more difficult to predict the weather in winter. There can be either habitually warm weather up to +15°C, or completely unexpected, rare and catastrophic, according to local standards, frosts down to -20°C. Why am I telling all this? When going to Crimea, you need to be prepared for anything. In winter, take two extra warm sweaters with you, and in summer, take an umbrella. A well-chosen wardrobe (several layers, like cabbage) allows you to fully enjoy the Crimea in any weather.
It seemed that Kara-Dag did not want to be disturbed, so he greeted those arriving reluctantly, wrapping the snow-dusted peaks in a gray haze of clouds in order to appear even larger and more inaccessible than they really were. The cold sea was measured, but menacingly, wave after wave rolled onto the shore, rustling with tons of pebbles and warning of its strength.
Compared to the dank and windy embankment, the territory of “Primorye” seemed like an island of comfort and tranquility: carefully laid out flower beds, Christmas trees decorated with garlands and balls, fairy-tale gnomes with lanterns in their hands.
Opposite "Primorya" there is another boarding house - "Blue Bay". Boarding houses compete with each other in everything. For example, in the size of aircraft installed on the territory.
If you go deep into the village, then on the central street, which, like in any self-respecting village, is called Lenin Street, you can see a market and several shops. At Gastronom, this cute rat with a bottle of Koktebel wine will wish you a Happy New Year.
However, if you need something urgently, you don’t have to go to the center of the village. At the pharmacy kiosk on Desantnikov Street you can buy all the essential goods: sunscreen, condoms, wine.
Okay, we’ll still have time to continue walking around the village; we can do this in the evening. In the meantime, let's go for a walk along the seashore towards Chameleon. This is the side opposite to the one in which Kara-Dag still frowns.
Along the way, we’ll take a closer look at Koktebel, and Kara-Dag at the same time.
Clicking will open a larger image.
If you climb onto the Chameleon, you can see the sea on both sides. East of Chameleon there is another resort village - Ordzhonikidze. Also in the haze, in clear weather you can see it, of course much better.
Now let's stop our walks for a moment. It's New Year after all. Fireworks, fireworks, wine! Very briefly, literally in two photographs.
After a short break we go for a walk further. 1st of January. The village is leaving New Year's Eve, on the square in front of the Voloshin house-museum there are remnants of the holiday, a few vacationers and souvenir sellers:
The door of the Jasmine cafe with a broken handle. Probably someone wanted to celebrate the New Year there, but they didn’t let him in.
Well, we’ll escape from Koktebel to Feodosia. Let's take a walk around the city. And let's start with the station, where there is a reminder not only of today's holiday, but also of one of the next ones. I never thought that there are 45 days between these dates.
It's also cloudy in Feodosia. Seagulls fly over the embankment.
But swans swim in the sea near the shore. Usually in pairs. We were probably lucky and saw a Swedish swan family.
Evening Feodosia is also very beautiful. Mysterious port and alluring streets.
After the walk, it’s nice to have a tasty meal and go home to the hotel in time.
Unfortunately, there is less and less time left for walking. Therefore, the next day we leave early and head to the other side of the Kara-Dag. If you can come to an agreement with the rangers, you can try to organize a hike along the Kara-Dag. If we fail, the Biostation, Resort and Fox Bay are waiting for us.
The walk along Kara-Dag was ruined. Well, okay, it’s still cold and foggy there. You can take an absolutely wonderful walk in the opposite direction. We go west and find ourselves in the village of Kurortnoye. Unlike Koktebel, there is not a single person on the embankment. A completely deserted place.
Usually people go to Fox Bay along the seashore. But the sea is stormy, and we are afraid that we won’t be able to get through the shore. We decide to go through the mountains. It's quite difficult to walk - at the top the wind literally knocks you off your feet. But how beautiful!
Here is Fox Bay. It's windy here, although not as windy as above.
We discover the remains of scenery for some film. Surprisingly, there is a shortage of stones in Crimea, and they are made from plywood, rags and polyurethane foam. We play Hercules and Sisyphus.
In Lisya Bay we warm ourselves up with warmed wine and head back along the road to Shchebetovka.
From Shchebetovka we take a bus to Koktebel.
The next day is the last full day in Koktebel. We decide to take a walk to Mount Voloshin. The sky cleared up a little.
On the way back we had lunch at the Popeye cafe. Very original: the cafe was opened for a day or two. The room is unheated, the door does not close. We sat, wrapped in blankets, ate borscht and admired the paintings on the walls.
We left Koktebel on the morning of January 4th. One last walk along the snow-covered embankment. Icicles on the pier.
Finally, two pictures illustrating the changeability of the weather.
Goodbye, Koktebel! So different and so unforgettable!
I went to Koktebel with you
Lyrics are lyrics. Here's a short practice.
1. Get there (from Symfi)
Minibuses are running, taxi drivers are bombing. You can get there without any problems, although more often through Feodosia. Travel time - 2 hours.
Minibuses run from Koktebel to Symfi approximately like this: 9.00, 12.00, 15.00 (I don’t remember then). People show up for the nine o'clock hour from somewhere, and you might not even fit in. But there is an option - take the next minibus to Feodosia, and then to Simferopol (they run there at intervals of half an hour to an hour).
2. Live
This winter (and probably other winters too) you can live comfortably for relatively little money. They work exactly:
The private hotel "Koktebel" (I highly, highly recommend) is a house with balconies on Lenin Street, without any identification marks at all, behind a fence with lanterns. You can get there if you walk along the Literary Fund park from the embankment - you will directly come across the hotel gate. Or from Paratroopers Street. A double (triple) room with all the amenities like a hot shower, refrigerator, TV, air conditioning and balcony costs $20 per night (per room). In summer - 50-60.
Hotel "Karagol". Works exactly. The room, according to local alcoholics met on the morning of January 3, costs 80 hryvnia/day.
Boarding house "Primorye". It looks like it works. I don't know about prices.
“Blue Bay” is a blue bay for that. There is an administrator on duty who doesn’t know anything and doesn’t want to earn money. The boarding house is completely empty. But they don’t let you live there :)
3. Food
We wandered around the deserted Koktebel and met two equally wandering comrades who asked a stunning question: “Have you seen any food here?”
We saw it. The following establishments are open in winter:
"Camelot". They feed. In the evening they even play live music. Judging by the repertoire, they are the same comrades as in the summer. Summer prices.
"Monte Cristo". We didn’t go inside the establishment with the face of a ship, next to the Camelot, but they probably serve food. In the evening - ping-pumping sounds can be heard.
Unnamed cafeteria. Not far from Voloshin's House. They didn’t go inside either, but people were sitting and eating. Silence and TV.
And the best part is that for the first time (according to the host) “Bohemia” is open in winter. This is where the soul rests. They feed, they feed. In the tape recorder - Vertinsky. They greet and rejoice. They sit you down at the “hit table” under the warm air conditioning to warm up.
4. Shops
There are two stalls on Paratroopers Street and all the necessary shops on Lenin Street.
Local residents hide somewhere in winter, although in “Shanghai” the lights are on in the houses in the evenings. But Koktebel is quite alive in winter, that is, there is no way to die there or die of hunger. Only at the beginning of five - it was already pitch dark, and not a single lantern. Although no - the House, as it began to be illuminated in the summer, continues to do so in the winter. And the sea... The sea.
All roads lead to the land of blue peaks.
Who goes to such a blessed region of Crimea as Koktebel in winter? Let's get acquainted with the main groups of tourists.
Glider pilots.
Koktebel is the center of gliding sports. The mesmerizing view of balloon tulips, parachute canopies, soaring hang gliders and all kinds of flying structures will turn the head of even the hardest heart. Balloonists from all over the world come to Koktebel to soar over the famous suede mountains.
Romantics.
Thanks to the amazing romantic landscapes and beautiful nature, Koktebel and its surroundings are depicted in many films: “Scarlet Sails”, “Kings and Cabbage”, “The Man from Capuchin Boulevard”, “Amphibian Man”, “Pirates of the 20th Century”, “9th Company” .
Nature connoisseurs.
At the foot of the Kara-Dag mountain range is the resort town of Koktebel. This mountain was once a volcano, but now it has calmed down, overgrown with rare plants, and currently this mountain range is a nature reserve. Having quickly found a hotel based on a recommendation, you can go for walks in the picturesque surroundings and capture the landscapes of Kara-Dag with a camera and video camera
Newlyweds.
An unusually picturesque place, like a magnet, attracts newlyweds. Starting your life's journey in such a magical land, among pristine nature and clean air - isn't this a great start to family life?!
Creative people.
Koktebel is a great place for people with rich creative potential. This resort village has a bohemian image thanks to such powerful people as the poet, translator, literary critic and landscape artist Maximilian Voloshin, who lived in this land of blue peaks. Koktebel will give creative people an unusually peaceful working atmosphere - it is in this cradle of peace and quiet that all masterpieces of art are born.
People with pulmonary diseases.
Sea and mountain air is extremely beneficial for health, and it is especially healing for those suffering from pulmonary diseases.
Cognac lovers.
The city has a factory that produces excellent cognacs (the first-class Koktebel cognac is especially famous) and high-quality wines. Among the tourists there are many gourmets from different parts of the world, and everyone brings home a bottle or two of wonderful cognac from Koktebel.
They say there are two ways out of depression: the train station and the airport. I always go to Koktebel for new strength and always fly away from there refreshed and on wings,” writes Galina Uskova in LiveJournal.
The editors of the site are delighted with the magical Crimean region and wish all the lucky ones who found themselves there at an unconventional time for a vacation in Crimea to experience a rainbow of emotions: from peace and bliss to delight and adrenaline.
Winter in Koktebel
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen
Koktebel in January January 30th, 2016
How nice it is in Koktebel in January! Warm, quiet, salty air; the sea rustles quietly, rolling in waves over the pebbles...
Actually, yesterday we went not to the sea, but to the Koktebel factory for cognac. There is a company store there. 
But it turned out that the store was not open; there were locks and seals on the doors. And it also turned out that this store has nothing to do with the factory, the guard at the factory gate told us this, it’s just that someone does a good business in the summer, selling cognac and wines right at the entrance to the cognac factory. And in winter there are no tourists, so the store closes.
Well, we couldn’t leave without having a lot of slurp, so we decided to go to the sea. Here it is, very close, right at the foot of the Kara-Dag. 
Tender January sea in Koktebel Bay. 
It’s winter and winter, and some bush has already bloomed outside... 
Koktebel is rapidly being built. The closer to the sea, the higher the palaces. 
I look at all these maxi- and mini-hotels, restaurants and cafes, and I think: will all this really take place in a short holiday season? 
The embankment is cleanly swept, not a speck of dust, and completely empty, just my wife and I, these two women and two children. And dogs and cats, by the way, coexist peacefully on the Koktebel embankment. 
At the Voloshin house-museum. 
The only working cafe on the entire embankment. The menu is attractive, but we didn’t go to the cafe, although we would have liked to try the rapana chop... 
Local dogs were dozing on the veranda of the cafe, waiting for compassionate visitors. 
We sat on the shore for a while and listened to the sound of the surf. 
Geographical signs on the Koktebel embankment were installed recently; this was not the case even in the fall. The pigeon, by the way, was alive and sat there the entire time we were walking along the embankment. 
And I bought Koktebel cognac at home, in the city of Old Crimea, on the central Lenin Street. A bottle with a capacity of 0.7 liters, aged five years, costs 783 rubles.
Most people strongly associate holidays in Koktebel with the sea, sun, sandy and pebble beaches. Merging with nature allows you to forget about the problems and stress of everyday life. However, you shouldn’t think that you can only have a great rest in Koktebel when it’s hot outside and the sea is warm, like fresh milk.
Koktebel for the New Year is no less beautiful than in the summer. Here you can plunge into the atmosphere of a real holiday, waiting for a miracle. The combination of sea, snow, mountains with fireworks and garlands of lights will bring both adults and children the feeling of a fairy tale.
The microclimate in Koktebel is very favorable due to its favorable location. In winter, the mountain range closes the resort from cold winds and bad weather. This region tends to be cooler and drier than its neighbors.
Weather in Koktebel in December
December in Koktebel is quite warm, but humid. During the day, the air temperature stays at 3-7 degrees beyond the “+” sign, at night it drops to zero. Frosts also happen, but extremely rarely. The sea water is warmer than the air, about 11 degrees, and some daredevils even go swimming.
The sky in December is usually cloudy. It is foggy on the coast and there is snow.
Weather in Koktebel in January
January is a colder month than December in Koktebel. There are even fewer sunny days. Snow and fog become frequent guests in January. During the day the air temperature averages 8 degrees. The water in the sea is about the same. Frosts down to −3 °C occur at night.
Weather in Koktebel in February
The coldest and windiest month in Koktebel is February. During the day the temperature drops to zero, and at night there are slight frosts. Fogs, snow, dampness are the same as in January. February in Koktebel is characterized by frequent winds.
What to take with you to Koktebel in winter
In December, Koktebel is similar to our October, only windier. At this time of year, a windbreaker, windproof trousers and comfortable shoes will come in handy when traveling. January and February are colder, with frosts. To travel to Koktebel for the New Year, prepare warm sweaters, a hat and waterproof shoes. Even if the forecast promises positive temperatures, it can be quite cold due to the dampness and wind.
