# Gura Portiței

[Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Dobruja](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/dobrogea) › [Tulcea County](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/tulcea) › [Jurilovca](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/locality/jurilovca)

> A strip of sand between the Black Sea and Lake Golovița, in the Danube Delta, reached only by boat from Jurilovca: a wide beach with reed sunshades and a single resort.

**At a glance:** Seaside in Jurilovca, Tulcea County. Opening hours: daily open 24 hours. Ticket: Free. The visit takes 5 – 5½ hours. Information verified on 28 September 2026.

## Key facts

- **Opening hours:** daily open 24 hours — The beach is freely open, but the only way there is by boat. The resort's boats leave Jurilovca at 10:30, 14:00 and 18:00 and return from Gura Portiței at 12:00, 16:00 and 18:30; the crossing takes about 20 minutes and no booking is needed. Departures depend on the weather and on the decision of the head of the landing stage. Private boats also cross from the port of Jurilovca around the clock, at much higher fares after 18:00.
- **Ticket:** Free — plus 50 lei each way by boat
- **Visit duration:** 5 – 5½ hours — out at 10:30, back at 16:00
- **With kids:** Yes — a 20-minute boat crossing
- **Parking:** Yes, free — in Jurilovca, 120 spaces
- **Best season:** May – September — the sea is warmest in August
- **Address:** The sand strip between Lake Golovița and the Black Sea; reached by boat from the port of Jurilovca, ~15 km across the water, Jurilovca, Tulcea County
- **Coordinates:** 44.6893, 29.0041
- **Phone:** +40 371 230 865
- **Website:** https://guraportitei.ro/
- **Wikipedia:** https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gura_Porti%C8%9Bei
- **Wikidata:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12729642
- **Categories:** [Seaside](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/litoral), [Deltas](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/delte)

## About Gura Portiței

Gura Portiței is a strip of sand a few dozen metres wide, caught between the Black Sea and Lake Golovița, in the southern part of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. No road reaches it: the car stays in Jurilovca, and the rest is a crossing of some 20 minutes by boat, over the lake.

The name comes from the *portița*, the "little gate" through which Golovița once opened into the sea. Hydraulic works in the 1970s closed it, and the lake was left with no outlet, its water growing steadily less salty. Far earlier, the whole Razim–Sinoe lagoon complex was an open gulf of the Black Sea, sailed by ships travelling between the Greek cities of Argamum and Histria. Lipovan fishermen settled seasonally on the sand strip, with reed huts and a fish-processing station.

Today the place holds a single resort and the beach around it. The sand is fine and full of shells at the water's edge, and a few hundred metres beyond the reed sunshades the beach is all but empty. From the same strip you can watch, on the same day, the sun rise over the sea and set over the reed beds of the lake.

### What you can see

The wide beach on the seaward side, with sunshades woven from reeds and, at its far end, the concrete tetrapod breakwater that takes the waves. Past it the shore runs on untouched, with nothing built. On the other side of the strip lies Golovița, with reed beds, fishing boats and waterbirds — herons, egrets and, on passage, pelicans. Boat trips leave Gura Portiței for Lake Sinoe, and longer ones follow the Dranov and Dunavăț channels towards Murighiol.

### Good to know

Access is by water only, and the boats leave only if the weather allows the crossing. As this is inside the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, you need the visitor access permit issued by the reserve administration. Open fire of any kind is banned along the whole strip: this is a place of reeds and dry vegetation, with a high risk of fire.

## Don't miss

- Sunrise over the sea and sunset over Lake Golovița, seen on the same day from the same strip of sand.
- The concrete tetrapod breakwater at the end of the beach, open sea on one side and sand on the other.
- The boat crossing of Lake Golovița, 20 minutes through the reed beds between Jurilovca and Gura Portiței.
- The wild beach beyond the resort, where the sand is full of shells and nothing has been built.
- The boat trip on Lake Sinoe, among channels and reeds, with herons and pelicans in flight.

## Good to know before you go

### Getting there

**By car:** you drive as far as Jurilovca and no further. From Bucharest it is about 3 hours, on the A2 and then north on the DN22 through Babadag, from where the DJ222 runs ~26 km down to the village. Tulcea is ~60 km away, Constanța ~100 km, and Iași about 5 hours. In Jurilovca you leave the car in the resort's car park, where the boat departs.

**Public transport:** minibuses run from Tulcea to Jurilovca, with only a few services a day; from Constanța you change at Babadag. Beyond that there is no transport other than the boat.

### Where to park

The resort's private car park at the Jurilovca landing stage: 120 spaces, free and monitored by CCTV. The reception where the boat transfer is paid for is on the same site. In high season it is worth arriving 15–20 minutes before the boat leaves.

### Fees & discounts

The beach is free; what you pay for is the boat and the reserve access permit. The transfer run by the resort costs 50 lei per person each way and is paid at the reception in the Jurilovca car park, with no booking. Private boats cross from the port around the clock, but after 18:00 the fares rise sharply because of night navigation. The visitor access permit for the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, bought online at ddbra.ro or from the reserve's ticket machines, costs 5 lei for one day, 15 lei for seven days and 30 lei until the end of the year; it is free for pupils, students, pensioners, people with disabilities and residents of the reserve and the neighbouring communes. If you come in your own boat, the boat permit is 20 lei for seven days. Loungers and the swimming pool are included only for guests staying at the resort.

### Rules

You need an ARBDD visitor access permit, valid for the whole of your stay. Open fire is banned along the whole strip: gas bottles, hotplates, cookers and barbecues may not be brought in or used, because the reeds and dry vegetation catch light easily. Perishable food may not be brought in, and rubbish goes only in the bins provided. When boarding, the landing-stage staff decide how passengers are assigned to the boats, and the crew's instructions must be followed. On the beach, a blue flag means good conditions, yellow means take care and red means no swimming; do not swim beyond the buoys. Pets must be kept on a lead. Commercial photography and filming inside the reserve need an ARBDD permit costing 100 lei, and flying a small drone one costing 50 lei.

### Facilities

Restaurant serving Lipovan fish cooking · beach bar · swimming pool and loungers, for resort guests only · playground and sports pitch · rooms, apartments and reed-thatched bungalows · heliport for private flights · outside the resort there are no roads, car parks or shops

## Details

- **Beach type:** wild, with shells
- **Departure ports:** Jurilovca
- **Access by boat only:** Yes
- **Bird season:** spring, autumn
- **Fishing allowed:** Yes
- **Access permit:** Yes

## Frequently asked questions about Gura Portiței

**How much is a ticket to Gura Portiței?**

Admission to Gura Portiței is free (plus 50 lei each way by boat). The beach is free; what you pay for is the boat and the reserve access permit. The transfer run by the resort costs 50 lei per person each way and is paid at the reception in the Jurilovca car park, with no booking. Private boats cross from the port around the clock, but after 18:00 the fares rise sharply because of night navigation. The visitor access permit for the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, bought online at ddbra.ro or from the reserve's ticket machines, costs 5 lei for one day, 15 lei for seven days and 30 lei until the end of the year; it is free for pupils, students, pensioners, people with disabilities and residents of the reserve and the neighbouring communes. If you come in your own boat, the boat permit is 20 lei for seven days. Loungers and the swimming pool are included only for guests staying at the resort.

**What are the opening hours of Gura Portiței?**

Opening hours at Gura Portiței: daily open 24 hours. The beach is freely open, but the only way there is by boat. The resort's boats leave Jurilovca at 10:30, 14:00 and 18:00 and return from Gura Portiței at 12:00, 16:00 and 18:30; the crossing takes about 20 minutes and no booking is needed. Departures depend on the weather and on the decision of the head of the landing stage. Private boats also cross from the port of Jurilovca around the clock, at much higher fares after 18:00.

**How long does a visit to Gura Portiței take?**

A visit to Gura Portiței takes about 5 – 5½ hours (out at 10:30, back at 16:00).

**Can you visit Gura Portiței with kids?**

Yes, Gura Portiței is suitable for children (a 20-minute boat crossing).

**Where can I park at Gura Portiței?**

There is free parking at Gura Portiței (in Jurilovca, 120 spaces). The resort's private car park at the Jurilovca landing stage: 120 spaces, free and monitored by CCTV. The reception where the boat transfer is paid for is on the same site. In high season it is worth arriving 15–20 minutes before the boat leaves.

**How do I get to Gura Portiței?**

Gura Portiței is located at The sand strip between Lake Golovița and the Black Sea; reached by boat from the port of Jurilovca, ~15 km across the water, Jurilovca, Tulcea County. By car: you drive as far as Jurilovca and no further. From Bucharest it is about 3 hours, on the A2 and then north on the DN22 through Babadag, from where the DJ222 runs ~26 km down to the village. Tulcea is ~60 km away, Constanța ~100 km, and Iași about 5 hours. In Jurilovca you leave the car in the resort's car park, where the boat departs. Public transport: minibuses run from Tulcea to Jurilovca, with only a few services a day; from Constanța you change at Babadag. Beyond that there is no transport other than the boat.

**When is the best time to visit Gura Portiței?**

The best season for Gura Portiței: May – September (the sea is warmest in August).

## Nearby attractions

- [Histria Citadel](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatea-histria) — Fortresses and fortifications · Istria, CT · 32 lei · 1½ – 2 hours · Top 100 · 32 km
  The ruins of the oldest city on Romanian soil, a Greek colony founded by Miletus in the 7th century BC on the shore of Lake Sinoe, with the site museum alongside.
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- [Lake Razim](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lacul-razim) — Lakes · Sarichioi, TL · Free · 39 km
  Romania's largest lake, a lagoon of about 415 km² south of the Danube Delta, with Lipovan fishing villages on its shores, protected islands and the ruins of Enisala and Argamum above the water.
- [Vadu Beach](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/plaja-vadu) — Seaside · Vadu, CT · 5 lei · 3½ – 4 hours · 41 km
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- [Corbu Beach](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/plaja-corbu) — Seaside · Corbu, CT · 5 lei · 3½ – 4 hours · 55 km
  The last wild beach at the southern edge of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve: shell-strewn sand, dunes and a low earth cliff, with no hotels, sunbeds or lifeguards.
- [Năvodari – Mamaia Nord Beach](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/plaja-navodari) — Seaside · Năvodari, CT · Free · 3½ – 4 hours · 69 km
  Six kilometres of wide sand north of Mamaia, split between the beach clubs of Mamaia Nord and the roomy, quieter town beach of Năvodari, with shallow water for hundreds of metres.

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Last updated: 28 September 2026
Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania