The Taman Bay is a shallow bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

 or gulf on the east coast of the Strait of Kerch

Strait of Kerch

The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula in the west from the Taman Peninsula in the east. The strait is to wide and up to deep....

 shaped by the Tuzla

Tuzla Spit

Tuzla is a long narrow peninsula, or sandy spit, in the southern part of the Strait of Kerch which extends from Cape Tuzla to the north-west in the direction of the city Kerch for almost 12 km....

 and Chushka spits. It dips into the Taman Peninsula

Taman peninsula

The Taman Peninsula is a peninsula in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia. It is bounded on the north by the Sea of Azov, on the west by the Strait of Kerch and on the south by the Black Sea. The peninsula has evolved over the past two millennia from a chain of islands into the peninsula it is...

 of Krasnodar Krai

Krasnodar Krai

-External links:* **...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 for about 16 km. The bay is 8 km wide at its mouth and is up to 5 meters deep. Fishing villages and the old townlet of Taman

Taman, Russia

Taman is a village in Temryuksky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the coast of the Taman Bay. Population: -History:Taman occupies the site of the ancient cities of Hermonassa and Tmutarakan...

afford fine views of the bay. It is full of islets. Freezing normally begins in mid-December and continues until March.