The Aral Sea Ship Graveyard is a reminder of one of the biggest environmental disasters in living memory.
The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest body of inland water in the world, covering a staggering 67,000 square kilometres.
As a result of Soviet policies to bolster cotton farming in the region, from the 1950s onwards water was diverted away from the Aral Sea at an unsustainable rate. Over the coming decades, the Aral Sea would shrink a tenth of its original size. This disaster has had devasting impacts on local communities and climate in the region.
While there is some successful restoration work in Kazakhstan bringing the northern parts of the Aral Sea back to life, the southern shores in Uzbekistan still feel the impacts of these short-sighted environmental policies. The once booming fishing industries of towns like Moynaq have completely disappeared, leaving entire communities unemployed.
The Aral Sea Ship Graveyard is located pretty far from most of the other major sites of Uzbekistan. In the far west of the country and in the middle of a desert, it is a bit of a commitment to visit.
Before visiting, I didn’t know a lot about the Aral Sea disaster. The little that I had read didn’t give me a very good understanding of the scale of it. I think it is something that you really have to see to be able to conceptualise. Huge ships abandoned in what is now the middle of a desert, with sea shells and tumbleweeds dotting the sand.
While it might not be the dazzling Silk Road that people come to Uzbekistan to experience, the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard at Moynaq offers a different layer of insight into this desert land. It is truly sobering.
If you are only in Uzbekistan for a short period of time, I would say it is OK to miss the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard. However, if you do have the time, the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard is worth a visit. I definitely feel like it deepened my understanding of Uzbekistan and the catastrophic man-made disaster that has shaped this region.
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How to visit the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard
In all honesty, I very nearly missed a visit to the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard. I underestimated the time it can take to travel around in Uzbekistan and almost ran out of time. Then I met another traveller who had organised an epic day trip to Moynaq from Khiva and back and I decided to tag along and split the costs.
Here are a few different options to visit the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard in Moynaq.
Visiting the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard from Nukus
Nukus is the closest major city to where the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard is located in the far west of Uzbekistan. Nukus has a few points of interest such as the Savitsky Art Museum, so some travellers choose to spend a night or two here.
Unfortunately there are no trains to Nukus. To get to Nukus from Khiva, you first need to travel to Urgench. You can take a shared taxi from Itchan Kala north gate in Khiva to Urgench bazaar. There is a once-daily bus from Urgench bazaar to Nukus which departs at 9am. Alternatively, we were quoted $60USD for private car to Nukus, which can be split with other travellers. Most hotels or guesthouses can organise this.
Independent trip from Nukus
There is a bus that leaves once daily from Nukus to Moynaq at 8:50am. The journey takes 3 hours so you will arrive around noon. Bear in mind that the ship graveyard is located outside of the town of Moynaq, about a half hour walk. The same bus returns to Nukus at 3pm making it a feasable day trip.
If you are a group, the better option is to organise a shared taxi. This will take you to directly to the graveyard and you can be more flexible with your schedule.
Take a tour from Nukus
The easiest option to visit the Aral Sea Graveyard is to take an organised tour. I don’t typically like to take tours when travelling but in Uzbekistan they are usually very lowkey and local. Taking a tour generally means you hire a car and a driver and can split the costs with other travellers.
The good news is there are some great tour options from Nukus that include a visit to the shore of the Aral Sea. I didn’t have the opportunity to do this as the current shore of the Aral Sea is 150km away from Moynaq. If you take a two day tour, you can visit Aral Sea Ship Graveyard, stay in a yurt overnight and visit the Aral Sea shore the next day. If I could do it again, I would take this option.
Visiting the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard from Khiva
We did a day trip from Khiva to the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard in one day. But I’m going to preface this by saying this was a VERY long day. Although totally doable, if you have time to split this trip over two days, I would recommend it.
There is an option to take a 2 day tour from Khiva similar to the ones that depart from Nukus. You drive to Moynaq, visit the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard, spend the night in a yurt camp in the desert, visit the Aral Sea shore and then return to Khiva. This can be organised through most hotels and guesthouses in Khiva. There are also a few travel agencies inside Itchan Kala that advertise these tours.
We hired a private driver for our one day trip return from Khiva. It cost $100USD split between 4 people in the car which seemed pretty reasonable considering the 6 hour drive each way.
What is there to see at the Aral Sea Ship Graveyard?
Apart from the rusting abandoned ships covered in graffiti and the endless desert, there is not a lot to see. The complete desolation is kind of the point of visiting.
There is a small museum to enter near the carpark which plays a short documentary. There are some boards with information to read and a monument to the disaster.
Apparently in the past there were a lot more ships. Most of the old ships have been removed and sold for scrap metal. There are a few boats near the old shore line and a few more scattered through the desert.
Moynaq today
The town of Moynaq has seen some very rough times. With the collapse of the fishing industry, it was left like a ghost town. Severe dust storms from the drying up of the seabed have led to respiratory problem and other severe health issues. Increased salinity of the soil has created food insecurity and malnutrition.
Just visiting for a short time, you can tell the area is poorer than other parts of Uzbekistan.
However, in recent years it looks like there might a turn around for the town of Moynaq. There is a noticeable amount of construction in the town. Programs to plants local shrubbery are underway, with local university programs getting involved. Read more about efforts to revive Moynaq here.
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