Barguzin Bay (or Barguzinsky Bay) is a branch of Lake Baikal, in the Republic of Buryatia; part of it lies in the Zabaykalsky (Trans-Baikal) National Park. The bay is named after the Barguzin River that flows into it from the eastern side of the lake. Geography Barguzinsky Bay is bounded by the mainland on the southeast, the main landmass of Svyatoy Nos Peninsula (the "Holy Nose") on the northwest side, and the Chivyrkuisky Isthmus (that connects the two) on the northeast side. The isthmus separates it from the Chivyrkuisky Bay further to the northeast. The bay is roughly diamond-shaped, almost square, with diagonals measuring about 38 km (north-south) and 32 km (east-west). The entrance at the southwest, between the southwest tip of Svyatoy Nos (Cape Lower Head (Нижнее Изголовье) and Cape Krestovy on the mainland, is about 23 km wide. Just beyond the entrance, the bay widens towards the southeast to about 29 km, and then gradually narrows to about 25 km near the isthmus. The water is relatively deep at the entrance, but in the northeast half the bottom is relatively flat at about 50 m or less. The east side of Cape Krestovy is Krestovaya Bay, with a 1 km long beach. Continuing counterclockwise around the perimeter of Barguzinsky Bay, about 2 km due east there is Cape Buchenkova. Another 2 km to the southeast there is another cape, with Krutaya Bay between the two. Another 1.5 km southeast there is Cape Maksimin (or Gromotukhin). Another 4.5 km due east is Cape Dukhovy; between the two is a broad curved bay with mostly sandy beach, where the town of Maksimikha is located. From Cape Dukhovy the coast runs mostly northeast for a total of about 16 km, with four major capes: Bilyutinsky (4 km from Dukhovy), Zelenyy or Green (3 km from Bilyutinsky), Chernyy or Black (3.5 km from Green) and Kholyanki or Kholodyanki (4.5 km from Chernyy). That part of the coastline is rocky and overlooked by hilly terrain. Cape Kholyanki is a popular ice fishing location because of the relatively colder and deeper water. About 5 km due east of Cape Dukhovy and 3 km southeast of Cape Bilyutinsky is a shallow 2.5 km by 1.2 km pond, Lake Dukhovoye, that has an outlet about 1.5 km northeast of Cape Dukhovy. At Cape Kholyanki the coast of Barguzinsky Bay changes direction and character. It runs due