From the mountains to the sea; Turkey!! FETHIYE

Fethiye (12th - 13th April)

Fethiye is surrounded by extremely tall and dramatic cliffs, which make for a beautiful backdrop against the beautifully clear ocean.

 

 

We stayed near Challis beach, which is a dark sand beach and has a promenade lined with touristy restaurants.

 

While visiting Fethiye, we went on a day trip around some of the beaches and islands the city has to offer. We paid 40TL ($20AUD) per person through our hotel. We had a mini bus pick us up from our hotel, and take us to nearby Ölüdeniz beach. This beach had nice yellow sand, crystal clear water and was very quiet when we arrived (around 9.30am).

Many people visit this beach to try out paragliding. We however weren't too keen on this, and decided to stay on land – or on water on this particular day!

Our boat was quite big and had a downstairs seating area and an upstairs area with loungers to catch the sun from. We had around 30 people on the boat and it included lunch.

On the way to our first stop, we passed beautiful beaches, sailed through beautiful clear waters and stopped for photos at a lovely cave.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first stop was Butterfly Valley. We only saw 3-4 butterflies, however the water here was beautiful. We had our first swim in the Mediterranean on this trip and had a lovely time here. We only had a 45 minute stop here, so made our swim short and then headed back to the boat. (Apparently the waterfalls here aren't anything special so we decided to skip these and spend our time in the water).

 

 

 

Next, we made our way to St Nicholas island.  On the island are the remains of several churches built between the fourth and sixth centuries AD, along with a variety of associated buildings. Archaeologists believe it was the location of the original tomb of Saint Nicholas.  We had lunch here and were free to explore the island and relax for an hour or so. Interesting ruins skirted the island and sea urchins were in abundance along the shore. The cliffs here were spectacular.

 

 

Our third stop was at a beautiful freshwater lagoon. The area here was beautiful and peaceful and the water was once again, unbelievably clear.

 

Last stop was Camel Beach, named for the rock formations which look like a camel. The beach was unfortunately nothing special, with dark coarse sand and not too impressive water. We stayed here a while, lying in the warm sun.

 

We caught the shuttle back from Ölüdeniz beach via the beautiful marina lined with large boats.

 

The tour ended and we arrived back to our hotel at around 6pm after a lovely day.


We found a local market just a short walk from our hotel, selling fresh fruit and vegetables, and locally made cheeses and cured olives.  All products were extremely cheap and fresh and we made a lovely meal with the ingredients.

 

 

The tour we went on was fantastic, however we found the rest of Fethiye to be very touristy and lacking the charm of the other seaside cities we visited. If thinking of visiting Fethiye, we would definitely recommend the day trip, and to only stay 1-2 nights here, or to stay in nearby Ölüdeniz if possible.