Alakol

Alakol — state nature reserve (zapovednik), Zhetysu and Abai Regions.

Key figures

Category

State nature reserve (zapovednik)

A zapovednik is the strictest category. There is no free entry: permission and prior arrangement are required, usually along marked ecological trails and with an escort.

Entrance tariff

0.15 MCI per pedestrian, 0.6 MCI per car. In 2026 that is 648.8 ₸ and 2,595 ₸.

The tariff is set by appendix 28 to Order No. 232 of 2 October 2024.

The tariff is set in MCI units rather than tenge, so the amount changes with each January budget.

What to see

• relict gull
• Alakol islands
• seabird colonies

Alakol in one minute

Alakol Nature Reserve is not the whole of Lake Alakol. It is a set of protected sections straddling Zhetysu and Abai regions: the Tentek river delta, the Araltobe islands with their relict gull colony, the Sasykkol shore and others. The reserve covers about 657 km², while the lake alone spans 2,696 km². The beaches at the resort villages of Akshi, Koktuma and Kabanbay are outside the reserve: people go there to swim, and to the reserve only by arrangement, for the birds.

Reserve versus resort lake

This is the main source of confusion, so it is worth clearing up before you go.

According to Wikipedia, the reserve was created on 21 April 1998 by Government Decree No. 355 and consists of six sections:

1. the northern shore of Lake Sasykkol and the Thousand Lakes system;
2. the Tentek river delta;
3. the Araltobe islands on Lake Alakol;
4. the Emel and Shagantogai river deltas;
5. the Maly Alakol bay;
6. the eastern shore of Lake Zhalanashkol and the Kyzylkayyn tract in the Dzungarian Gate.

None of the resort villages is on this list, so the reserve fee on the card above has nothing to do with a beach holiday. For how a strict reserve differs from a national park, see our guide to protected area categories.

The relict gull and the Araltobe islands

The relict gull (Ichthyaetus relictus) was long treated as an eastern race of the Mediterranean gull and was recognised as a separate species only in 1971. The IUCN lists it as Vulnerable; the world population is estimated at 10,000 birds or fewer, breeding at a handful of sites in Mongolia, China, Russia and two in Kazakhstan. Protecting its colony on the Alakol islands is one of the reasons the reserve exists.

How the gull was “discovered” at Alakol

The species’ story runs straight through Alakol. It was described from a single bird collected in 1929 in Inner Mongolia and for decades was treated as a subspecies of the Mediterranean gull, or even a hybrid. In 1968–1969 Kazakh ornithologists ringing birds on the Alakol islands found a colony of unusual gulls; comparing birds collected here with museum specimens allowed E. M. Auezov to make the first case for a separate species in 1970–1971.

According to the ornithologist A. F. Kovshar, the colony on Middle Island held 25–30 nests in 1969; in early June 1970 there were 108 nests plus 8 more nearby, and a year later 32 pairs nested 300 m from the previous site. The colony shifts around the island and reacts strongly to disturbance, which is why the seasonal bans are so strict.

The Araltobe islands lie in the north-eastern, deepest part of the lake:

Rules for anyone with a boat:

• from May to September visiting the islands by any transport is banned, as the reserve announced in 2024;
• a 2 km buffer zone (5,130 ha) around the islands bans hunting, fishing and mooring.

If someone on the beach offers you a “boat trip to the gull islands”, it runs directly against the reserve’s rules.

Birds and what you can see legally

The reserve has recorded 324 bird species, 158 of them breeding and 108 wintering. The Tentek delta and the Sasykkol system are wetlands rich in waterbirds.

For an introduction without entering closed zones, the reserve has a nature museum (opened on 15 October 2000) and an arboretum set up in 2004 for educational visits.

Lake Alakol: facts and getting there

Figures from Wikipedia. The water is salty, of the chloride-sodium type. Akshi and Koktuma sit on the west shore, about 60 km from the Chinese border. The Barlyk-Arasan spa is about 15 km east of Kabanbay.

From Almaty it is about 9–10 hours by bus or car. Wikipedia also mentions a seasonal train to Koktuma (June–August, about 16 hours); check whether it is running with the operator.

Border zone and practical tips

Alakol is a border district (the frontier with China; the Dzungarian Gate lies south-east of the lake). Decree No. 356 explicitly waives the Interior Ministry pass regime for foreigners throughout Alakol District and on the Alakol shore in Urdzhar District (an 8 km section). Carry your passport regardless; more in our page on border zone permits.

• Beach and birds are separate trips. Swimming at the resort villages needs no paperwork; a visit to the reserve is planned separately and in advance with the administration.
• Binoculars beat a boat: you can only watch birds legally from outside the islands’ 2 km buffer zone, and approaching the islands in the nesting season is banned.
• The reserve fee is on the card above; the park fee calculator converts it into tenge.
• Another bird-rich protected area is Korgalzhyn, also a strict reserve.
• Before you go, run through the pre-trip checklist.

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