Siberian Lake Baikal is a phenomenal natural object, where the quality of water reaches benchmark levels. The transparency of the water column allows you to see the bottom at the depth of a five-story building, which surpasses many world resorts. The lake, which is over 25 million years old, is a unique natural laboratory. Its depth reaches 1,642 meters - this is the deepest lake on the planet.
Baikal water is so clean that you can drink it without additional purification, and transparency reaches record values due to endemic amphipods, which act as a natural filter.
Olkhon Island, stretching for 73 kilometers in length, is the geographical and spiritual center of Baikal. It is considered the pearl of Baikal and offers landscapes comparable to the best island resorts in the world. Its eastern coast is framed by marble cliffs that are reflected in turquoise water, creating pictures that are not inferior in beauty to the Maldivian atolls.
Every morning, the water off the coast of Olkhon takes on a special azure hue, creating an optical effect typical of tropical seas.
Unique sand dunes in the area of the village of Khuzhin shimmer with golden hues, and local bays hide beaches with fine white sand. Cape Burkhan with a through cave in the Shamanka rock, a sacred place of power for the Buryat people, is especially popular.
In summer, the water in the bays of the Small Sea warms up to +20°C, creating comfortable conditions for swimming. In winter, the lake is covered with transparent ice, through which the bottom is visible at a depth of many meters.
Until recently, many picturesque locations of Baikal remained inaccessible to most travelers, but the implementation of the state program for tourism development is radically changing the situation. As part of the federal project "Development of tourism infrastructure on Baikal", the Irkutsk region received funding in the amount of 538 million rubles for the creation of modern modular hotels, which will appear by 2027.
Specialized tourist zones are being created: the Goloustinsky cluster with Peschanaya Bay and the village of Listvyanka, routes along the Circum-Baikal Railway, ecological trails on Olkhon, as well as water sports centers. The unique nature of Lake Baikal with many endemic species makes the region promising not only for beach holidays, but also for the development of ecotourism.