As the annual UN climate conference (COP29) takes place in Baku, RFE/RL presents exclusive coverage of environmental issues that are often underreported from regions that are often overlooked.
It's a seaside resort without a sea.
Avaza was built at huge expense between 2007 and 2017 as a holiday destination for Turkmenistan's leaders and state employees but has now fallen victim to plummeting water levels in the Caspian Sea.
RFE/RL spoke to Mergen (not his real name), who traveled there with his wife and two children in June. It was the family's first vacation in three years, but it ended in disappointment.
"Part of the coast, where we bathed in the sea three years ago, was now just sand and stone. The sea was 25-30 meters away," he said.
Avaza is the only beach resort in Turkmenistan, with dozens of hotels, aquaparks, and other amenities. In August, it played host to President Serdar Berdymukhammedov and other top officials. State enterprises and institutions also send their staff there for vacations.
It's not clear whether they all felt as let down as Mergen.
"Even if you walk into the sea for dozens of meters, it doesn't come any higher than your knees," he said. "Three years ago, it was up to your neck."
The Caspian Sea has been retreating for years.
This has been largely blamed on reduced flows from the Ural and Volga rivers, owing to hydroelectric projects in Russia and decreased snowfall.
Turkmenistan is the only country on the Caspian that has not acknowledged the problem.
But it's clear to any visitor in Avaza, where you can walk to the end of a pier and still be far from the sea. Mergen said his family spent the holiday walking along the coast because the water was too shallow to bathe in.
A reporter from RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, who visited Avaza in July 2024, said hotels were trying to build artificial beaches further from what was originally the shore. But even then, after walking 100 meters into the water, it was only knee-deep.
Turkmenistan has never released figures on how much it cost to develop Avaza. A source inside the regime told RFE/RL that some of the luxury hotels cost $40 million-$50 million each.
The falling sea levels have also affected the port of Turkmenbashi, 15 kilometers away. Opened with fanfare in 2018, it is Turkmenistan's newest port. But it's now too shallow.
"They are deepening the seabed near the port. Hydraulic pumps are dredging sand," said a specialist involved in the work who wished to remain anonymous. "The dredging is not only by the port, but also further out to sea on the routes to Azerbaijan. Expensive machinery has been bought from Russia for the dredging work," he added.
Will Our Grandchildren 'See The Caspian Sea'?
In 2018, officials said that Turkmenbashi had a capacity for 17 million tons of cargo and 300,000 passengers a year. They have released no actual figures for cargo or passenger volume since then.
The claimed capacity would make it an important conduit to foreign trade for Turkmenistan, which the regime keeps largely isolated from outside contacts.
But now ships are being diverted to the old port, 2 kilometers away.
"They brought two cranes there from the new port," the specialist said. "Up until now, the old port was used for small passenger ships."
As they headed home from their Caspian vacation, Mergen and his wife were left pondering what the future might hold.
"We were thinking whether our grandchildren will see the Caspian Sea, if the problem is not addressed," he said.
"Will they vacation in Avaza, which could be hundreds, even thousands of meters from the sea? We returned home asking each other these questions."
