“Danube Delta” From Siret. 82 Hectare Holiday Village With Zoo, Sport Fishing and Miles of Boating Canals

Moldovans often pass over Siret, in the area between Galați and Vrancea: it is one of the main routes connecting Iaşul with Bucharest, pending the completion of the A7 highway. Even then, in terms of number of kilometers, it will be shorter here by at least 70. It is a road that is hard to forget, as a driver: the road bridge goes under the railway bridge, it is very narrow and the area is frequented of TIRs and bulky trucks – there are always traffic jams there.

But on the right bank of the Siret, as soon as you come out from under the narrow bridge, one of the most interesting tourist projects in Romania has been developed in recent years: the “Zaga-Zaga” holiday village. Before 2010, locals remember that it was a marshy area, often flooded when the Siret swelled, with many naturally formed lakes. Until it was taken over and slowly transformed into what is today called the “Siret Delta”, the equivalent of the Danube Delta, but in Moldova, through a personal investment project, as well as European funds. An 82-hectare space containing tents, yurts, floating houses on man-made or naturally created canals, tree houses, waterside bungalows, restaurants, relaxation areas, children’s play areas, even a kind of zoo disguised as “animal farm”.

And the holiday village is right at the “border” between the counties: tourists staying near the big lakes wake up in Vrancea and walk 800 meters to the restaurant, to have breakfast, in Galati.

The accommodation is at a decent price only taken in time and out of season

Before we talk about the amenities, something needs to be said about the prices. In several presentation materials, the owners of Zaga-Zaga talk about the fact that the resort is intended for everyone, including families with children. And it may be true, but at different times. Because during the summer, prices start to accelerate from May and seem to forget to stop.

A bungalow on one of the canals created in the Siret Delta or located on the shore of a lake, a tree house or a houseboat arrive over the weekend at prices of 700 – 800 lei per night – as much as one night at a 3 or 4 star hotel all- including in Bulgaria or Greece. At times, it costs even more. Prices for tents with glamping accommodation start from 300 lei per night, but can reach over 500.

This money includes accommodation for two people, who benefit from a Swedish buffet breakfast every morning and, between June and September, free access to an 800 square meter heated saltwater swimming pool, recommended to be the most sea ​​from Vrancea county. What’s more, fishing enthusiasts can do it even professionally, with some dedicated bungalows, the rate being included in the accommodation.

Concerts in the barn or on a stage in a refurbished truck

The accommodation is four-star: most of the cabins are over 40 square meters, a large plasma on the wall, mini-bar refrigerator, coffee maker, a gazebo built in front of the entrance along the entire length of the house, a table with a bench in front. Apart from yurt or glamping tents, all have en-suite bathrooms. And all of them are built relatively recently: development works began in 2010, from 2016 the own fish farm was opened in the area, and the first accommodation units were inaugurated in 2018.

Staying over the weekend must also include Saturday night, in addition to Friday night, the price also includes a Swedish buffet lunch for two people, and during the summer there are periodic concerts on specially arranged stages: a huge barn with decorations from hay bales or an adapted old truck. Those who are accommodated do not pay a ticket, but a large part of the public at Zaga-Zaga does not come from among those who are accommodated. On the first Sunday in April, for example, when the new season was inaugurated, there were more than 300 cars in the parking lot, while all the accommodation spaces fit around 150 people.

Lots of fun options, but expensive

The secret to a weekend not costing you at least 1,000 lei for accommodation is to go off-season. During April-May or September-October, with advance booking and for four-night packages, costs reach 320-350 lei / night during the week. 20% more on weekends. Breakfast is also included. As a rule, until the middle of February, the resort also has an early booking program with a 20% discount on accommodation prices, but as these are variable, it is not always certain that the best price can be obtained then.

For example, those who want to go on the weekend of July 26-28 will today pay 806 lei for two nights in a deluxe tent, 1,452 lei for a houseboat, 1,502 lei for a bungalow or a tree house, and 1,602 lei for a bungalow on the small or large lake.

Two hours in Aventura Park costs 55 lei for a child and 70 lei for an adult, renting a hydrobike costs 80 lei/hour or 250 lei/day, and an electric boat costs 150 lei/hour. Tennis courts can be rented, including at night, as well as guided canal boat tours. People are encouraged to bring their own bike and ride the routes of up to eight kilometers or for the ride to the restaurant and back to the accommodation. Who wants to rent from there, the prices are 35 lei/hour or 65 lei/day.

However, entry is free for those who want to enter and walk in the areas available to everyone, except on the islands where tourists are staying.

Advantage: sport fishing, disadvantage: expensive food

I met in one of the visits to Zaga Zaga with a team of professional fishermen who were with the owners when they inaugurated and started to build the Siret Delta as it looks today. They told, being locals, that there was an area with 13 large and small lakes, which communicated with the Siret only when the river flowed outward. The lakes were dredged, deepened so that the connecting channels were at least one meter deep, and in areas with deep water at least three meters. The entire stretch of water was joined and a network of canals was created on which you can, today, ride for hours on a hydrobike without going through the same place twice.

It was also then populated with fish, brought from the Danube Delta, of different sizes, in addition to the species that developed naturally. Today, those who fish have the chance to catch large carp, specimens over 20 kilograms, which is also a special fishery, because the fish often behaves like the wild ones found in the Delta or on the rivers.

“It’s a good place for kids to burn off their energy,” said a bungalow neighbor who discovered the holiday village for the first time in the summer of 2023. And there are many options for the little ones – a park with ziplines and all kinds of climbing on routes that do not touch the ground in the naturally grown forest at the entrance, a farm with all kinds of animals, almost like a zoo, a forest with deer located right in the middle of the complex, rides by hydrobike or motor boat, but also by bike, on the arranged routes.

But to all the costs for fun or relaxation, for a couple or a family with children, food is added. The options are diverse: a standard restaurant and a cherhana open in season, where only fish from the fish farm in the holiday village is cooked. However, the prices are those of a restaurant in the Old Center in Bucharest.

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Photos: Cătălin Hopulele / Facebook

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