Geographically, Shcholkine is located near the headland of Kazantyp, on a peninsula jutting northward out into the Sea of Azov from the Crimean mainland.

Originally the town was constructed in 1978 to house workers of the Crimean Atomic Energy Station (nuclear power plant).

The town's main attraction is considered to be its beach, a kilometer-long sandbar sandwiched between cliffs jutting out over the Sea of Azov to the south and Kazantyp to the northwest.

Major religions can be assumed to include atheism or agnosticism[citation needed], Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Islam, although there is only one church in Shcholkine's immediate vicinity.

The lingua franca in the town is Russian, while the Ukrainian language is natively spoken by a significant minority and in educational institutions, as well as by tourists from mainland Ukraine.