Révfülöp East Tour

Level of difficulty 1 |  Gastronomy 2 |  Distance 4.7 km |  Time 1 hour

---

Willkommen, Philipp Moser

On hot summer evenings, Lake Balaton exudes a very special charm. Gliding along the shore past belts of reeds and stretches of beach is especially relaxing at that time.

General information

• Balaton TravelPass
• Révfülöp Wikipedia
• Révfülöp tourist information
• Hungary tourist information
• Tour video
• Climate
• Wind, waves, weather

Navigation rules

On the northern shore of Lake Balaton, you may paddle no more than 500 meters from the shore toward the center of the lake on a SUP. On the southern shore, the limit is 1,000 meters due to the significantly shallower water. Crossing the lake from north to south or vice versa is prohibited, unless you are participating in the annual Balaton Crossing (Balaton-átúszás).

You're never alone along this route, as fishermen, swimmers, and other paddlers come and go. Please give everyone a wide berth.

For safety reasons, please keep a sufficient distance from the central pier and the sailboats anchored next to it. Passenger ships also dock at the pier. However, when these ships are further out on the lake, their gentle waves can still be felt along the shore.

Keep a safe distance from the reeds and the fishing piers, and watch out for boat traffic in the marina area. Boating in the yacht club's marina is also prohibited and reserved exclusively for guests of the yacht club.

Since the entire lake has been a nature reserve since 2004, please paddle respectfully and avoid littering and making noise.

Dangers and risks

Lake Balaton is a popular and well-established spot for windsurfing and kitesurfing, with winds of three Beaufort or higher occurring frequently, especially in the spring. The best time for stand-up paddleboarding, on the other hand, is midsummer, when wind speeds are significantly lower. Be sure to check the wind and weather conditions in advance, as strong winds can drive paddlers out onto the open lake, where they are then left unprotected.

The ground at the starting point of this tour is moderately rocky and can be slippery at times. Therefore, you should wade out onto the lake carefully with your SUP until the fin no longer touches the bottom. It’s a good idea to wear water shoes, at least when getting on and off the SUP.

In general, many paths to the lake are rocky and sometimes a bit slippery, which is something to keep in mind during any stops along the way.

Be especially cautious when paddling in harbor areas and at public beaches, as there are often many children in the water on nice days. Please be especially mindful of children jumping into the lake from the floating platforms and paddle far enough away from them. Even in the evening, there is often still a lot of activity in the water.

Directions

The starting point of this tour is easily accessible along Route 71 (Hungarian: 71-es főút), which runs from the Hungarian capital, Budapest, in the east to Tapolca in the west, largely following the northern shore of Lake Balaton.

Whether you're coming from the east or the west, drive past the railroad crossing at the eastern end of Révfülöp and park your car in the parking lot of the Szepezdfürdői public beach. Even if you're coming from the north or south, you'll always end up here via Route 71.

This spot is just as easy to reach by bus and train, since all trains and buses heading here stop at the Szepezdfürdő station. From there, it’s about a 500-meter walk to the water.

It's worth mentioning the great deals available to public transit travelers in Hungary. With the Balaton Sound TravelPass, you can ride the train around Lake Balaton as often as you like for a week.

The Balaton24 and Balaton72 tickets, on the other hand, are affordable one-day and three-day passes, respectively, for all public transportation around the Great Lake.

Parking

Parking at the Szepezdfürdői beach is free, and there's plenty of space to get ready for your trip. From here, it's just a minute's walk to the water.

Swimming

The water temperature in Lake Balaton averages 22°C to 24°C in midsummer, with maximum temperatures of around 28°C recorded on very hot days. The central and best-known beach in Révfülöp is Szigeti Beach, a spacious natural beach with a sandy bottom particularly suitable for families with children and featuring several playgrounds as well as gastronomy. During the peak season, open-air movie screenings are occasionally held here. In addition, there are the smaller beaches Manci vízisport kölcsönző Császtai and Révfülöp Napfény, as well as several freely accessible sections of the shore that often run along small footpaths.

Tour

From the reed belt at the eastern end of town to the central pier and back again.

Length

4.7 km

Time

1 hour

Start and landing

Take the narrow reed-lined path across from the railroad crossing.

SUP rental

Révfülöp Napfény Beach
Halász u. 5, 8253 Révfülöp
Phone +36 (0)87 563 031

Szigeti Beach
Halász u. 37, 8253 Révfülöp
Phone +36 (0)70 778 9296

SUP Rental Siófok
Mobile SUP rental on the southeast shore
Vadalma u. 6, 8600 Siófok
Phone +36 (0)30 575 4516

A short evening cruise on calm waters

I realize that Lake Balaton is a fairly shallow lake as soon as I launch my SUP into the water, because I have to wade out quite a few meters before I’m standing in water that’s even halfway deep. The turquoise-murky water isn’t dirty, though; it’s just murky because the lake is so shallow. This causes an enormous amount of silt and sand to be stirred up every day. With an average depth of just three meters and a maximum depth of 12 meters, it can take several hundred meters along some sections of the shore before you can no longer stand on the bottom.

I don’t try to figure out when this point is reached at this almost secret spot called A lyuk szepezden, because the sun is already setting and I probably have at most an hour before it gets completely dark on the water. So, with the temperature just under 30 degrees, I set out onto the mirror-smooth lake with its distinctive water color and take gentle paddle strokes to the right toward the marina. Behind almost every reed-lined promontory, fishermen sit on their high docks, enjoying the evening tranquility.

However, it must be said that fishermen on Lake Balaton fish differently than they do on other inland waters. After all, dozens of jetties isolated from the shore line the entire route. These special jetties are formally designated as fishing jetties with no connection to the shore, and reaching them requires wading through the water.

In Hungarian, they are known as horgászhíd (fishing piers), and their isolated location in the lake serves to take anglers out to deeper water without requiring a boat. At the same time, they restrict and regulate access for non-anglers.

After just 600 meters, I reach the small harbor of the local yacht club, where the seagulls seem to be having a wonderful time on the breakwater, while a teenager, with water up to his shoulders, takes photos with his cell phone. It’s completely understandable, because the pale orange of the sun blends with the darkening blue of the sky to create an indefinable, gentle, and soothing palette of colors.

Unfortunately, the small harbor is off-limits unless you are a member of the yacht club or are staying here. However, the Scruton Pelso restaurant, located right on the harbor, is open to the public.

So, completely unaware, I paddle past the harbor and turn right around a wide bend in the reeds, and suddenly it gets loud. Splashing, laughter, and voices full of fun come rushing toward me from ahead, because at Napfény Beach, it seems no one has noticed yet how late and dark it already is. No wonder — after all, the beach was awarded the Blue Flag in 2022, a mark of the outstanding quality of the water and the services offered here.

Young and old alike are enjoying themselves in droves in the water, jumping off the floating platforms or leisurely paddling on SUPs as the evening wears on. That’s only to be expected with today’s water temperature of 28°C — it almost makes you long for the refreshing late summer. In general, there’s a lot of paddling going on in the area, and it’s strikingly common to see people in pairs on a board or in a kayak-style setup. Either way, Lake Balaton and SUP are a perfect match.

The same scene unfolds a few meters further on at Szigeti Beach, and from there it’s not far to the pier in the town center. My route now takes me past public parks and open lake accesses. Here, in the area around the soccer field between the pier and the public beaches, you can start or end SUP tours just as easily as you can at the public beaches.

At the same time, quite a few sailboats are anchored here, and it’s fun to glide between them. The area around the pier is a popular destination for day trips, as there are a few nice restaurants, arcades for young people, and an adjacent park. Away from the lake, however, that’s about all the excitement you can expect in this charming vacation spot.

Since this evening outing was very spontaneous, I expected to make my way back across the dark lake, and I’m surprised to see that there’s still a constant bustle in and on the water. Many couples are paddleboarding together on a single board, while others are using their boards for fishing.

Anyone paddling close to the reed-lined shore is very likely to startle hundreds — if not thousands — of starlings hiding in the reeds. With a faint rustling and vigorous flapping of their wings, they leave the thicket in droves to settle down again in a safer spot further away.

I’m now using the lights of the marina to guide me and notice that the opposite shore is beginning to glow as well. It’s truly idyllic, but I have to be very careful not to overlook any fishing boats. The darker it gets, the greater the risk of paddling too close to a boat and getting caught on its line.

I manage to overcome this challenge — twice, in fact — and pretty quickly find my way back through the reeds to where the tour started. Now it’s time to quickly pack everything up before the mosquitoes realize I’m in their territory. But no matter how this turns out, I’m definitely coming back here — if only for the fish specialties served at the charming snack bar Kánya Zoli Halsütője next door.

Alternatives: This tour can be extended westward, for example, for 2.6 km past the outskirts of Revülöp (West Loop). But you can also explore the shore as far as you like to the east — toward the beautiful Tihany Peninsula.