Anton Kudelin, Shutterstock A reader of The Subtleties of Tourism under the nickname sssr27140 left a review about her vacation in a small resort village of Abkhazia in June 2023. In short, there are more minuses than pluses, and next time she will not visit this country will go. We had a lot of rest on the Black Sea coast, in particular, in the Crimea and in the Krasnodar Territory. So, for me, the difference is palpable. But I'll start in order. We went to Abkhazia for the first time, so we didn’t know what, where and where is better. Let's go, so to speak, “finger to the sky”: on the site we found inexpensive housing in the village of Grebeshok, I really liked the photo – the view from the room directly to the sea. True, the amenities are on the street, but this did not bother us. The hostess immediately said that there was a steep descent to the sea, but I could not even think that it was so steep: I was able to go down, but it was very difficult to go uphill for 10 minutes. And the beach itself is not very good: large stones and it is not very convenient to go into the sea. In Grebeshka itself there is no shop, no canteen, no cafe. Therefore, we decided to go to Gagra to the beach, because sitting hungry all day on the beach or climbing a mountain for lunch is not for me. The owner, for an additional fee, agreed to take us in the morning and pick us up in the evening. The miser pays twice, as they say. 
There is something to compare with
4–5 km to Gagra
The beach is nice, small pebbles. I'll tell you about the Gagra park – be careful, scammers are on every corner. For example, ladies with a monkey, an owl and some other bird. They impose “acquaintance with the monkey”, and then present an invoice of 1000 RUB. If there is no cash, you can use a translator. I was shocked by such impudence, my husband gave 300 RUB, and insults rained down on us, the day was ruined.
Roman_Efimovich, Shutterstock/75/ow/75owc4acvbk800800kggs8o8g.jpg
About Gagra market
The next day we decided to go to the market in search of cherries, since in Gagra they are sold only in packages of 300 g. The market is a huge territory with a very meager selection of fruits and seafood. All packaged and, again, exorbitant prices.
We found cherries, I asked to weigh a pound, the saleswoman took a handful and at first I did not understand why her hands were flowing juice…
I asked if I could look at the scales? Since I was embarrassed by the amount of cherries per pound, to which she rudely replied that we should go buy somewhere else. The day was ruined again.
At the end, at the exit, we wanted to try the cheburek, they gave 1000 RUB, and the seller said that he had no change, and defiantly turned away. To say I'm shocked is an understatement. I know there are different people, but at the resort, on the contrary, they try to please a person so that he comes back to you again, and even recommends your shop to someone. And then just boorish behavior literally at every turn.
Photo by formstock/3b/io/3bio3ld85wo4sw4o8g8k44088.jpg
From pluses
We can say that it is much more beautiful here than in the Crimea, the mountains are closer and, accordingly, more, otherwise I don’t see any pluses. Yes, special thanks to the owners, very good people: they met, fed, showed, told. That's all.
Summary: if you have to choose between Abkhazia and Crimea, then it will definitely be Crimea, namely, the village of Rybachye. Let me tell you about our vacation there.
What else to read on the topic
- I read horror stories – nothing has been confirmed: a review about a vacation in Abkhazia
- It's a pity for the money spent: a review of “all inclusive” in the Moscow region
- I doubt that at least one “five” here justifies its stars: review about Egypt