A spit written into history

In 1925 fishermen cut a short channel across the spit to shorten the trip from one side to the other, and that autumn a violent storm widened the cut until a whole section broke loose — the detached piece became Tuzla Island, separated from the mainland end of the spit by a channel that in time grew kilometres wide. This single event is why a "peninsula" and an "island" now share the same name.

The spit saw hard fighting in the Second World War. In October 1943 a Soviet naval landing stormed the Tuzla Spit, held by a German garrison, and after fierce combat from the 6th to the 9th it was taken; the captured strip of sand was immediately packed with Soviet artillery that fired straight across the strait onto the Crimea-held shore, playing a key part in the Kerch–Eltigen landing operation that followed. A monument at the start of the spit remembers the defenders of the Taman Peninsula.↗

More recently Tuzla made world headlines. In 2003 Russia began building a causeway out from the Taman side to "reconnect" the eroded spit, stopping short at what Ukraine treated as the state border; the work triggered a tense territorial dispute and was suspended after an August-style meeting between the two presidents, and a 2003 bilateral agreement eventually made the strait and Sea of Azov shared internal waters. The argument over the spit and the island lingered until 2014, and a follow-up maritime delimitation settled the sea border by 2012. Today the question is moot on the ground, because the Crimean Bridge — the road-and-rail link between Krasnodar Krai and Crimea that opened in 2018 — runs right across Tuzla, using the spit and the island as its stepping stones.↗

What to see and do

For visitors the draw is the sense of standing on the edge of two seas. The spit was once a popular, almost secret beach and fishing spot, and locals still speak of the rare thrill of walking across the dam to swim first in one sea and then the other — with the caution that the currents near the end of the embankment run strong and swimming there is dangerous. Before the bridge works began, tent-camping and fishing along the sandbar were the standard ways to spend a day here.↗

The most reliable postcard view is from the observation deck near the head of the spit, the one famous for its bright blue bench framing the Crimean Bridge — a favourite photo stop that has come to symbolise the crossing — set beside the memorial to the defenders of the Taman Peninsula. From here you can take in the sweep of the strait, the line of the bridge vanishing toward the island, and the flat, luminous meeting of sand and water that makes Tuzla feel like the end of the land.↗

The brackish Lake Tuzla at the inner end of the spit, with its salty water and mud, adds a quieter, balneological note for anyone who likes the idea of a natural mud bath in a remote coastal setting — the same kind of liman mud that has drawn health-seekers along this whole stretch of shore.↗

Planning your visit

Be realistic about access. Following the construction of the bridge, entry onto the spit itself is restricted; in practice Tuzla is something you view from the designated observation platform rather than walk the length of, so build your trip around the lookout and the Taman shore, not a beach march along the sandbar. The nearest substantial base is the historic stanitsa of Taman, at the doorstep of the spit, with the big resort town and airport of Anapa roughly 75 km to the south. The highway A-290 leads to the area; you can reach Taman by bus from Krasnodar, Armavir, Kerch and other cities, but the last leg to the spit and the viewpoint is easiest by car, taxi or rental.↗

The coast here has a moderately continental feel: hot, dry summers and mild, not severely cold winters, so the warm months are the natural time to chase the beach-and-two-seas romance and the best light for the viewpoint. Given the open, windswept sand, check the forecast for the Taman area before driving out, and treat any mention of swimming beyond the safe, sheltered stretches with caution.↗