You know them from your town. No matter if it’s a small town somewhere in Bavaria or a metropolitan city like London or Paris, there is a city beach. This phenomena originated about 3 years ago in Paris and from there it went around the world. Now you’ll find sun bathing citizens and sand with fake or real palms almost everywhere. Of course Moscow has his city beaches as well. Unfortunately most of them are a bit further out of the city in the North East of Moscow on the Moskva or on one of its side arms. There is even a nude beach and you’ll find some lake like sidearms where people are swimming, although the river Moskva is considered to be very polluted.
Those of you who don’t want to drive 30min to an hour to visit one of these beaches, can visit one of the numerous pools or check Park Kulturi. The famous park, formerly known as Gorki Park, currently offers a bar/club with a pool and since a few weeks a new attraction, the Kak na Kanarah pool bar. The name refers to the Canary Islands, but it has just nothing to do with the Canaries. There is no relation in terms of style, drinks or food and I wonder how the owners came up with that name. There is not even sand. Anyway, this new pool bar/lounge is basically a tent built on some pontoons with 2 little pools attached and an area for sunbathing. There is also another pontoon as a chillout and sunbathing area and a screen where they seem to show films at night. We went during a hot Sunday afternoon and the place was moderately packed until 7 PM. After that there were free tables with couches, but I recommend to make some table reservations, if you are a bigger group, just to be safe. For those of you, who want to swim. Bring some shorts and a towel. There are showers and cabins to change your clothes.
Photo: Alex Korthäuer
As far as I know, the bar/lounge is even open at night and you can swim in the pool and hangout on the Moskva river. Be aware that the whole thing moves everytime a boat passes and it can get quiet disturbing, if you are easily getting sea sick or you have too many drinks. The service of Kak na Kanarah is not very good and the staff pretty unfriendly, but then again it had just opened 4 weeks ago and hopefully it will still change to the better. It is also typical for Russia, that they ran out of (Mexican) Corona and any other bottled beers, during our stay, on a hot Sunday late afternoon. Still, I think we’ll come back and check the place at night. It must be nice to be here on a warm summer night, sitting on the Moskva, slurping some cocktails and listen to dance music. Of course, I’d prefer lounge music Suzy Wong Style, but … Hey its Russia, as so often they don’t seem to care about the details, which would make this place VERY special.
I found this video on Youtube. You can’t see much, but at least you get a little of the clubs atmosphere at night.
You can either walk there from Metro Park Kulturi or Oktybarskaya. If you come by car, tell the driver to drop you on Leninsky Prospekt, right after the hospital or pass the guards (Just tell them you want to go to Kak na Kanarah and most likely they will let you in) and you can park your car down on the river banks just near the club. If there is a line, just line up and be a little aggresive with the guard, otherwise he won’t let you go, even if there are free parking lots. Enjoy your summer in Moscow.
Address:
Как на Канарах
Pushkinskaya Naberezhnaya of Neskuchnyi Sad near Andreevsky Most
Metro: Park Kulturi or Oktybarskaya
By Car: Leninsky Prospect outbound - turn onto Titovsky Proezd after Pervaya Gradskaya Bolnitsa (Hospital)
Tel. (495) 2231758
