Balaklava is rapidly changing from being primarily a working port and (in Soviet times) a secret submarine base for the Russian navy, to a leisure destination for tourists, lured by the history of the place and the drama of the rugged coastline. Period houses along the waterfront are being restored, a new hotel, the Golden Symbo
l, with its own harbour has opened and the place has an air of fresh prosperity.
The harbourmaster at the Golden Symbol, himself an ex-submariner, will tell you about the maze of tunnels within the hillside, that allowed large numbers of Soviet submarines to hide unobserved. It is an indication of the way things are moving that you can now take a tour inside the previously secret base, and the large floating dry dock which used to be used for submarine repairs is to be moved to the naval harbour in Sevastopol this year. Crewing a submarine was a dangerous business, and the town has several memorials to sailors and commanders who are remembered for acts of bravery.
