Anzali Lagoon

A large coastal lagoon separated from the Caspian Sea by a narrow spit of land, connected to the sea by the channel that runs through the centre of the city. The lagoon stretches several kilometres inland, its edges fringed with reeds and lotus plants and its surface covered in water birds — herons, cormorants, ducks, and waders are all common. The green, misty quality of the landscape here is distinctive and unlike anything else in Iran.

Boat trips into the lagoon can be arranged from the harbour area. Early morning is the best time — the mist lies low over the water and the birdlife is at its most active. Fishing boats operate throughout the day, and watching them bring in the catch at the channel mouth is worth an hour of your time.

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The Anzali Lagoon is designated as a Ramsar wetland — one of the internationally important wetlands protected under the 1971 Ramsar Convention. Migratory birds use it as a staging post on the East Atlantic Flyway, and in winter the reed beds hold species that are rare elsewhere in Iran. The lotus flowers that bloom across the shallower sections each summer have made the lagoon a minor tourist attraction within Iran.

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