# 2 Mai [Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Dobruja](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/dobrogea) › [Constanța County](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/constanta) › [2 Mai](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/locality/2-mai) > A Lipovan fishing village between Mangalia and Vama Veche, with a beach set in a small bay, a fish station at its southern end and the waters of the 2 Mai – Vama Veche marine reserve. **At a glance:** Seaside in 2 Mai, Constanța County. Opening hours: daily open 24 hours. Ticket: Free. The visit takes 3½ – 4 hours. Information verified on 28 September 2026. ## Key facts - **Opening hours:** daily open 24 hours — The beach is open and free at all hours. Lifeguards are on duty only during the summer season: for 2026, Limanu town hall contracted the service for the beaches of 2 Mai and Vama Veche. The sand replenishment work resumes in the autumn, so out of season some stretches may be closed. - **Ticket:** Free - **Visit duration:** 3½ – 4 hours — a day on the beach - **With kids:** Yes — lifeguards in season - **Best season:** June – September — quieter than Vama Veche - **Address:** DN39 (E87), between Mangalia and Vama Veche; the beach lies east of the village, 2 Mai, Constanța County - **Coordinates:** 43.7878, 28.5806 - **Phone:** +40 241 858 204 - **Website:** https://primarialimanu.ro/ - **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Mai - **Wikidata:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q222854 - **Categories:** [Seaside](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/litoral) ## About 2 Mai 2 Mai is a village in the commune of Limanu, on the Black Sea shore between the breakwater of the Mangalia shipyard and Vama Veche. It was founded in the late 1880s (sources give 1887 or 1888), on the site of an old Turkish settlement called Kecege, on the initiative of Mihail Kogălniceanu, who owned an estate nearby. The name recalls 2 May 1864, the day Alexandru Ioan Cuza dissolved the Legislative Assembly so that he could push his reforms through. The first inhabitants were Russian Skoptsy, a sect of Old Believers who had fled Russia. Around the First World War their place was taken by Lipovan fishing families from Tulcea County, and after the land reform of 1921 Romanian settlers arrived too. The Lipovans stayed fishermen, and sea fishing, with the boats hauled up on the sand beside the fish station, is still part of village life. From the 1950s, 2 Mai became the holiday spot of writers, actors and intellectuals from Bucharest, who lodged with local families or in tents on the beach, far from the official resorts. The village was hard to reach, and once the shipyard cut the direct road to Mangalia, the detour through Limanu isolated it even more. That sense of freedom also left behind the tradition of naturism on the southern beach. ### What you can see The beach lies in a bay facing east: to the north it is closed off by the breakwater protecting Mangalia harbour and shipyard, to the south by the breakwater beside the fish station. In the north the sand is wide and the water shelves gently; further south the beach narrows below a clay bluff, and a wartime concrete bunker sits on the sand. Beyond the fish station the shore turns rocky, with stone shelves covered in seaweed and a high clay cliff you can follow on foot towards Vama Veche. The waters off this shore belong to the 2 Mai – Vama Veche marine reserve, protected since 1980. ### Good to know The beach is in the middle of a coastal protection and sand replenishment project run by the Dobrogea-Litoral Water Basin Administration, with new breakwaters that widen it. Work stops for the summer and resumes in the autumn, with completion due in 2027; in summer 2026 the old naturist beach and the footpath to Vama Veche were closed off as a building site. ## Don't miss - Fishermen's Bay beside the fish station, with the fishing boats hauled up on the sand. - The concrete wartime bunker on the southern beach, below the clay bluff. - The seaweed-covered stone shelves south of the fish station, at the edge of the marine reserve. - Sunrise over the bay, watched straight from the beach. ## Good to know before you go ### Getting there **By car:** 2 Mai is on the DN39 (E87), ~5 km south of Mangalia and before Vama Veche, ~50 km from Constanța and ~290 km from Bucharest (the A2 to Constanța, then the coast road south). On summer weekends the road down from Mangalia gets congested. **Public transport:** the nearest station is Mangalia; the line from Constanța was closed at times in 2025–2026 for engineering work, so check that trains are running before you set off. Minibuses to 2 Mai and Vama Veche leave from Mangalia, more frequently in summer. ### Fees & discounts Access to the beach is free. You pay only for a sunbed and umbrella where there are leased sections, at the rates displayed by each operator; in summer 2025, because of the work, the beach had no sunbeds at all. There is no entry fee for the marine reserve. ### Rules The waters between 2 Mai and Vama Veche belong to the 2 Mai – Vama Veche marine reserve (Natura 2000 site ROSCI0269). Zone A, strictly protected, may be entered only for research, rescue and official missions; zone B allows swimming on the equipped beaches, traditional and sport fishing, diving and small leisure boats. Spearfishing, trawling and taking anything from the seabed are banned. The village has a tradition of camping in tents by the beach; in 2026 campers were still allowed in, but on a smaller area because of the work, so ask on the spot where you can pitch a tent. Do not cross the fenced-off areas of the sand replenishment site. ### Facilities Lifeguard posts in season · sunbeds and umbrellas only on leased sections, which vary from year to year because of the work · terraces and bars on the beach · the fish station restaurant, serving fish and mussels, at the southern end · guesthouses and houses to rent in the village · difficult access on the sand with a pushchair or wheelchair ## Details - **Beach type:** developed - **Lifeguards:** Yes ## Frequently asked questions about 2 Mai **How much is a ticket to 2 Mai?** Admission to 2 Mai is free. Access to the beach is free. You pay only for a sunbed and umbrella where there are leased sections, at the rates displayed by each operator; in summer 2025, because of the work, the beach had no sunbeds at all. There is no entry fee for the marine reserve. **What are the opening hours of 2 Mai?** Opening hours at 2 Mai: daily open 24 hours. The beach is open and free at all hours. Lifeguards are on duty only during the summer season: for 2026, Limanu town hall contracted the service for the beaches of 2 Mai and Vama Veche. The sand replenishment work resumes in the autumn, so out of season some stretches may be closed. **How long does a visit to 2 Mai take?** A visit to 2 Mai takes about 3½ – 4 hours (a day on the beach). **Can you visit 2 Mai with kids?** Yes, 2 Mai is suitable for children (lifeguards in season). **How do I get to 2 Mai?** 2 Mai is located at DN39 (E87), between Mangalia and Vama Veche; the beach lies east of the village, 2 Mai, Constanța County. By car: 2 Mai is on the DN39 (E87), ~5 km south of Mangalia and before Vama Veche, ~50 km from Constanța and ~290 km from Bucharest (the A2 to Constanța, then the coast road south). On summer weekends the road down from Mangalia gets congested. Public transport: the nearest station is Mangalia; the line from Constanța was closed at times in 2025–2026 for engineering work, so check that trains are running before you set off. Minibuses to 2 Mai and Vama Veche leave from Mangalia, more frequently in summer. **When is the best time to visit 2 Mai?** The best season for 2 Mai: June – September (quieter than Vama Veche). ## Nearby attractions - [2 Mai – Vama Veche Marine Reserve](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/rezervatia-marina-2-mai-vama-veche) — National parks and reserves · 2 Mai, CT · Free · 2 km The only marine reserve on the Romanian coast: the waters between 2 Mai and the Bulgarian border, with stone reefs, brown seaweed beds and mussel banks to see with a mask or on a dive. - [Mangalia Beach](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/plaja-mangalia) — Seaside · Mangalia, CT · Free · 3½ – 4 hours · 4 km The town's own beach, running from the marina breakwater towards Saturn below the promenade rebuilt in 2022; since autumn 2026 it is being widened with sand, behind four new breakwaters. - [Callatis Citadel](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatea-callatis) — Fortresses and fortifications · Mangalia, CT · 10 lei · 4 km The ruins of the Greek city from which Mangalia grew: the circuit wall with its towers and the Syrian-type basilica on the clifftop promenade, steps from the beach, plus the town's archaeology museum. - [Vama Veche](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vama-veche) — Seaside · Vama Veche, CT · Free · 3½ – 4 hours · Top 100 · 5 km The last village on the Romanian coast, a kilometre from the Bulgarian border: two kilometres of fine sand, terraces open until dawn and the waters of a marine reserve. - [Saturn](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/saturn) — Seaside · Mangalia, CT · Free · 3½ – 4 hours · 6 km The resort that runs straight into Mangalia from the north: 1970s tower hotels, a beach in the middle of being widened, a public spa sanatorium and, behind it all, the Mlaștina Hergheliei nature reserve. - [Mlaștina Hergheliei Nature Reserve](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/mlastina-hergheliei) — National parks and reserves · Mangalia, CT · Free · ½ – 1 hours · 8 km A 98-hectare former lagoon between Saturn and Venus, with reed beds, open water and sulphur springs where swans, egrets and black-winged stilts stop over; you watch it from the surrounding roads. --- Full page: https://peplaiuri.ro/en/2-mai Other languages: Română: https://peplaiuri.ro/2-mai.md · Deutsch: https://peplaiuri.ro/de/2-mai.md · Italiano: https://peplaiuri.ro/it/2-mai.md Last updated: 28 September 2026 Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania