About Agigea Marine Dunes Reserve
Between the port of Constanța Sud and Eforie Nord, on the high shore above the sea, survives a patch of sand dunes of the kind the rest of the coast has lost to hotels, groomed beaches and roads. It covers just over 10 hectares and lies inside the "Prof. Dr. Ioan Borcea" Marine Biological Station, the country's first marine research station, founded in 1926 by the University of Iași. Professor Borcea fenced off the dunes as early as 1928, and in 1939 they were declared a reserve, one of the oldest in Romania.
The sand was carried here by the strong northerly winds that blow across Dobruja in winter, and settled on the high shore of the former Agigea bay. In the 1960s the building of the port cut off the wind from the sea, the sand stopped moving, and the dunes began to be covered by moss, steppe grasses and planted trees. For some years now, university teams have been clearing the foreign vegetation so the dunes can return to open sand.
The reserve is a Natura 2000 site and holds fixed grey dunes and white dunes, habitats rare in Europe. It is home to the country's largest population of sand alyssum, a plant discovered on the Romanian coast in 1923, alongside hundreds of insect species and the spur-thighed tortoise.
What you can see
The themed trail in the station grounds runs past dunes covered in rare grassland, with sea grape, a plant with barely any leaves, sand bindweed, sea kale and sand wild rye with bluish leaves. Along it are panels with QR codes and models of shelters for birds and insects that you can build at home. With luck you will see a tortoise crossing the sand, or one of the five mantis species found in Romania, all of them present here. In spring and early summer, when the plants are in flower, the reserve looks its best.
Good to know
You enter through the station gate, after signing in at the guard post; there is no marked tourist path through the reserve, only the themed trail. In summer the sand heats up to over 50 °C. In 2026 the university secured funding to strengthen the station's central pavilion, with works planned over 30 months.
- Sand alyssum, a rare plant with hair-covered leaves, whose largest population in Romania grows at Agigea.
- Sea grape, a shrub with green stems and almost no leaves, adapted to the scorching sand.
- The spur-thighed tortoises, which feed, overwinter and lay their eggs in the reserve.
- The panels with QR codes along the themed trail, with models of shelters for birds and insects.
- Bird Day, in early April, when the station's biologists lead free guided walks.
Good to know before you go
- Getting there
By car: from the DN39 (E87) Constanța–Mangalia road, turn into the commune of Agigea and head towards the sea along Strada Nicolae Titulescu to the station gate at the end of the street. Central Constanța is ~13 km away, about 20 minutes; Eforie Nord is ~4 km. From Bucharest it takes about two and a half hours, on the A2 and then the Constanța bypass towards Mangalia.
Public transport: minibuses and buses between Constanța and Eforie pass through Agigea on the DN39; from there it is about 3 km to the station gate, on foot or by taxi.
- Fees & discounts
Visiting the themed trail is free, after signing in at the guard post. Events open to the public, such as Bird Day, are also free.
- Rules
Sign in at the guard post before going in. The station is a research site and the reserve a protected area: keep to the themed trail, do not pick plants and do not disturb the tortoises, a strictly protected species. Groups of children and pupils are guided by the station's researchers and teachers. Bring water, a hat and closed shoes: in summer the sand gets very hot.
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