You're reading: Beachgoers opt for private fun at Sun City

Ukraine is not exactly known for being politically correct.

Take Sun City, for instance, the newest private beach and recreation complex set smack dab in the middle of Kyiv’s Hydropark. Between the name and the African-style theme, it can’t help but call to mind the once-infamous South African resort denounced so vociferously by the international community during the apartheid era.

Sun City, run by Richelieu restaurant owner Oleksandr Kosabi, opened as a fenced-in beach with minimal amenities last summer. This year Kosabi is piecing together an entire self-enclosed entertainment complex – with lots of options for haves, have-nots and have-somes. Judging by the crowds on a recent sunny Saturday, Sun City is already helping to fill a niche.

Patrons have the option of paying Hr 3 for access to the large beach area, which has a snack bar offering ice cream, soft drinks and beer at kiosk prices. A covered pavilion includes one Russian-style and two American-style pool tables – priced at Hr 6 per game or Hr 24 by the hour – and a trio of poker machines in a corner. By beach standards, the facilities are respectable – with a trip to the toilet going for 50 kopeks and a shower costing Hr 1.

Sun City also offers patrons seeking a more exclusive Hydropark experience the chance to shell out Hr 15 for access to a smaller stretch of beach with two small swimming pools, beach umbrellas and a patio grill.

This option appears to be popular with young families, since the above-ground kids’ pool comes with a deck and lounge chairs, from which mom and dad can sit, sun, sip and watch their little ones splash about.

Meanwhile, adults get their own chance to splash around in the slightly larger, 10-meter pool just down the deck. Hardly suitable for swimming laps, its purpose is for sunbathers to take a quick plunge to cool off as an alternative to dipping in the Dnipro. It will doubtless prove popular on hot summer nights too.

Sun City soon will operate 24 hours, providing both day and night entertainment choices. In the works is a beach volleyball court as well as a beach soccer field and even “aqua-soccer” played in an inflatable wading pool.

But the owner said the jewel in the Sun City crown is to be the restaurant-nightclub. Still under construction, it’s due to open soon, and splashes of the African-esque theme are already evident. Kosabi said by day the space would serve as a restaurant and then turn into an all-night lounge and dance hall once the sun goes down. There is plenty of room for both – with one whole side of the building opening onto the swimming pools and river. There are also plans for live music as well as a DJ.

Sun City is a work in progress. The touches of Africa are found mainly in the brown-green-khaki color schemes, lettering style and occasional paintings and carved masks. There’s a bit of a hodgepodge mixture of stone and brick, and most of the place doesn’t exactly have that brand-spanking-new feel to it – at least not yet.

Sun City represents the ongoing transformation of the enormously popular Hydropark. Most of Hydropark’s green spaces and beaches remain free, but more prime locations are being parceled out to private developers.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The usual chain-link fences dividing the sites may not always be the most attractive, but the cleaner sand, canteens, garbage cans, toilet and shower facilities certainly represent a marked improvement over the trash-strewn stretches that make up the most of the public park.

And so far, at least, admission charges have remained within reason. The most well known of the private beaches, Uni Oasis, is charging Hr 5 while most others fall in the Hr 1 to Hr 2 range.

Time will tell how Sun City fares, but with the crowds already showing that they’re willing to go the extra mile to Uni Oasis, they’ll likely also stop into Sun City – just over the bridge on the way from the metro.