FETHIYE.NET [All About Fethiye & Oludeniz]

* Introduction	* 12 Islands	* Dalyan
* Geography	* Kayaköy	* Outdoor
* Ölüdeniz	* Saklıkent	* History Of Fethiye
* Photo Gallery [_1_] [_2_] [_3_]

12 ISLANDS

Daily 12 Islands Boat Cruise in Fethiye

Once you come to Fethiye, you have to go on 12 Islands Boat Cruise. The hundreds of double-Decker boats you see in Fethiye as you wonder around the marina and the harbour, are ready to take you to this tour. Each has a capacity from 50 up to 150 people and all of them has toilets and a self-service bar; and most of them are built in the dockyards in Fethiye. They depart between 10:00-11:00 every morning and come back to Fethiye harbour about 17:30 - 18:30 in the evening. The lunch is included in the tours which is usually pasta -meatballs (sometimes chicken or fish)- salad and fruit (water melon) (a good menu if you think that you're on water). If you want to enjoy the sun, then your place is upstairs; but be careful because, the sun burns you a bit too much and you don't feel it since it will be quite windy on the sea. You'll feel it at night after the shower, which usually ends up with the creams and lotions the doctor gives. But if you want to enjoy the tour in the shade and watch around, you'd better stay downstairs drinking your tea, coffee, or a cold drink (maybe playing backgammon with the crew).

I suggest you to look around carefully in this tour. Because you have the chance to see the dolphins, flying fish, and even the sea turtles!

The tour is usually made up from five stops, which are nearly as the followings:

Gobun Bay or Cavy Bay
Cleopatra's Baths
Dockyard Island
The Flat Islands
Red Island or Samanlık Bay

Gobun Bay

The first stop, Gobun bay, is placed in the south-western coast of the Fethiye Gulf, and is a very calm bay with the crystal clear water, 7-10m. depth, and the quietness of a lake; just like all the other bays in the Fethiye Gulf. In this bay. There is also a small cafe-restaurant which is run by a local family, and the bay is one of the certain places where the sailors stop for an overnight. Gobun has another alternative called the Cavy Bay which is just next to the Gobun Bay. Here is also a fascinating place with its pure waters, and calm sea which will charm everyone who sees. On the shore, there is a small cave in the rocks, and a stairway leading the cave the strange thing is both of them are natural. So, you can now understand why they called here the Cavy Bay.
Cleopatra'a Baths

Cleopatra's Baths, (actually The bay of Cleopatra's Baths), is a large bay full of lots of pine trees, and has a dark blue sea which goes to light blue, as you reach the shore. In the south western part of the bay, there are some ruins which came down because of the earthquakes in Fethiye. According to the myth, in one of the visits of Cleopatra to Anatolian coasts, her close friends decided to build a Roman Bath for Cleopatra as a present. Because, they found a hot water spring in this part of the bay. The water here was very good for the skin, with the minerals and elements it contained like Calcium, Magnesium, etc. Some say that the mystery which lies behind the beauty of Cleopatra is the water here (however, it may be true). The water here, was coming from a crater lake (dry now) which was behind the mountain you see at the northern side of the bay. Even today, if you look at the bottom of the sea, where the ruins are, before the wind starts very early in the morning, you can see the sands at the bottom are still a bit moving. This means that there is still a bit amount of hot water coming out today. If you want to try your chance to be as beautiful as Cleopatra and to look 10 years younger, you are allowed to swim around and in the ruins!
Dockyard Island

The next stop, Dockyard Island, is the first Island you'll see in the tour which is called the 12 Islands Boat Cruise (the ones before were semi-islands). Here is a shallow bay where the water comes towards the land, just like a lake, and you can not realize that there's bay in the island unless you approach. On the land, there are some ruins which belong to the early Greek people lived here in peace during the Ottoman Empire times. The bay on the island was used to build ships by the people lived here (also Turkish), because the shallow waters were very suitable for this purpose. That's why this island is called the Dockyard Island.
Flat Islands

Flat Islands, are a group of islands so close to each other, ocated just at the opposite of the Gocek town. The property here, is the salty lake in the middle of the long sandy part of the biggest island in the group. Here is also a charming place with the clear, dark blue, and very deep waters. But there's a passing from the biggest island to the smallest, which you can easily walk (1.5m depth). On the biggest island, further to the north, there's a long, sandy beach leading to the lake. On the shore, there are two families selling pan-cakes and pastries, who come every morning from the Gocek town, and leave in the evening. And there's a big boat used as a restaurant on this island. And if you want, banana, ringo and water skiing is available.
Red Island - Samanlik Bay

On the way back, your captain will choose one of the two suitable bays. If he chooses the Red Island, enjoy the clear sea and the clean shore of this red ground of the island. Anyway, you won't be able to resist its attraction. here, you can swim to the shore, which is only a few meter to the boat; and after getting on again, you can enjoy the sunset with a Nescafe or Sunset Cocktail. If you go to the Samanlik bay, it won't be more different than this. Again, you can jump (or dive?) from the top of the boat, and let the other watch you under the water just like an aquarium. Don't forget that this one is your last chance to swim, and you'll be back in the Fethiye Harbour 30 minutes later!

KAYAKÖY

Fethiye, has a wonderful historical wealth. It's not only the far history I mean, but also the near history. In the far history, some of the civilisations which ruled Fethiye Region, are Lycian, Roman civilisations. They left lot's of wonderful remains all around Fethiye. In the near history, (before 1. world war.) in the village called Kaya or Kayaköy (Karmylassos), Greek people used to live in peace under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. There used to be about 3000 buildings, 5 doctors, 3 pharmacies, 1 school, 2 big churches, more than 10 small monastries. The settling of this village (the Greek settlement) date the 15th century. The small church downtown, dates 1888. The other church (the bigger one up the hill) said to be built before the small one.

In January 30 1923, there was a population exchange agreement between Turkish-Greek governments. According to this agreement, the Greek people living in Turkey would be sent to Greece and the Turkish people in Greece would be sent to Turkey. The Greek people here, by this agreement, went back to Greece; but the Turkish people living in Greece didn't want to come back to Turkey, because the Greek government did not want to pay the indemnity for any of the goods, lands, or the houses they owned in Greece. So that, the houses which were reserved for the Turkish residence, waited for a long time with allowing noone in.

Later on, the big earthquakes that shaked Fethiye Region (especially the one in 1957), really damaged the houses, and the local people used the damaged parts of the houses in their own buildings. That's why the old city is now looking like a ghost town. A long time noone allowed to use the houses, and the local people built their own houses, keeping the old ones empty. Kayaköy is not a far place from Fethiye. It's just 5 minutes from Hisarönü village, which is on the way to Ölüdeniz. Only 15 km. from Fethiye!

SAKLIKENT

Another day in Fethiye, (if you had enough of Ölüdeniz) you can choose a different place to see. This may be Saklikent. I advise you to be on your way in the morning time, because the roads really become bad with the sun above, and you may sweat as you never did before. Saklikent, is a huge valley and a canyon which goes inside 14 km. It is unbelievably high and narrow between two mountains. You'll have to walk through an ice cold waters to get to the other side of the river, if you want to see the beauties inside the canyon. You can also drink this ice cold water if you want to, because it is a very cold natural spring which comes out just where you walk through! It is so cold that you feel like you are loosing your feet inside the river, even in Summer time. This place was found about 15 years ago by a goat shepherd. And rented the place from the government for 49 years. Now, he runs the cafe-restaurant in Saklikent. On the way back to Fethiye, you can have a small break to taste the home made pancakes of the local villagers with the Ayran (a mixture of yoghurt, cold water and salt), and experience the Turkish village life. When you are leaving, do not forget to leave some tip for the children helping you to be in comfort in their houses, because they really show the best hospitality you may ever see.