Intro

Mamaia is the largest summer resort on the Black Sea shore. It is actually a neighbourhood of Constanta, situated in the northern part of the city. 

The resort has few full time residents, most of the people working here during the summer coming from Constanta itself or other cities nearby such as Navodari or Ovidiu.

Given its status as a neighbourhood of Constanta, all the administrative duties in Mamaia are subordinated to the mayor of Constanta.

Location

Mamaia is situated, as stated above, in the northern part of Constanta, Dobrogea, southeast Romania, almost 250 km away from the capital Bucharest. The resort spans over 8 km in length and 400 m in width on a strip of land situated between the Black Sea and Lake Siutghiol.

Getting to & around

Reaching Mamaia will have to be done through Constanta. For reaching Constanta, check our page on the city here.

Once you’re in the Constanta train station, you can take bus #40 that’ll take you right to the entrance in Mamaia. Another choice would be bus #41 that only runs during summer, has the same route as #40 except that it goes all the way to the end of the resort. You may also want to take bus #100 that has a different route and will leave you west of the Vacation Village, a small area packed with restaurants and entertainment venues at the southern entrance of Mamaia between the Tabacariei and Siutghiol lakes. Choose your bus choice depending on where you’d like to land. 

The main public transportation operator in Constanta and Mamaia is RATC, administered by the City Hall. Tickets can be bought at the “Telegraf” kiosks, newspaper stands or RATC offices near the stations. A ticket includes two trips (there are also one trip tickets but they’re rarer) and costs 2.4 RON (~ 0.9 USD). 

If buses aren’t your thing you can choose one of the maxitaxi (minibuses) lines reaching Mamaia. The main line of minibuses going to the resort from the train station is line #301. Beware that the minibuses can be awfully crowded during summer since drivers are paid proportional to the number of clients and they’ll neglect any need for personal space and breathing for an extra buck. A ticket costs 2 RON (~0.6 USD) per trip.

Attractions

Beaches are Mamaia’s biggest attraction. They’re arguably the widest and smoothest in the country. As a personal note, the best beach place in Mamaia is “la butoaie” (“at the barrels”), near the northern exit. The beach is the widest there and at the entrance from Mamaia boulevard there’s a small shop serving delicious donuts. If you take the maxitaxi there then just tell the driver to nofity you and leave you “la butoaie” in Mamaia.

Water is warm enough for you to enjoy it since late May to mid September. Average temperatore varies between 25 to 30 degrees Celsius with peaks of up to 35 degrees Celsius in some July and August days.

There have been major developments after the year 2000. One of the most important has been the reconstruction of the Casino Square in the resort. It is highly recommended you give it a look, especially during summer.

Another major development has been the installation of a telegondola, a cable car going up to 50 meters in altitude, crossing half of the resort from the southern entrance until after Casino Square. Tickets cost 5 RON per person (~1.6 USD) and queues are to be expected during summer, which is the only period the gondola is functioning (from early May to late September, to be more precise).

The Vacation Village, situated between Tabacariei Lake and Siutghiol Lake is another attraction. The small area is packed with traditional Romanian restaurants and entertainment venues.

Aquamagic is an important landmark as well. The thematic water park is situated in southern Mamaia, not too far away from the entrance in the resort. The entry fee is close to the equivalent in RON of 10 Euros and that covers a full day but no consumption. You’ll have to pay for your drinks.

Mamaia hosts plenty of restaurants and pubs with good drinks and fine cuisine as well as major 4 and 5 stars hotels such as the Iaki hotel owned by none other than Gheorghe Hagi, renowned worldwide as one of the best footballers ever.

Accommodation

Please visit our page of Mamaia hotels to get further information on Mamaia accommodation or to comment or rate a specific hotel.

Sports

There are a lot of tennis clubs in Mamaia, most of them located on the shores of Siutghiol Lake. Just as numerous as the tennis courts are the football pitches enhanced with floodlights and artificial grass available for rent all over the resort.