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BOAT TOUR OF COVES AND ISLANDS AROUND KAS |
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We set sail by boat from Kas at 10:00 to enjoy
swimming,sunbathing and snorkeling near
different bays and secluded coves between
the mainland of Turkey and the island atolls
near Meis (Kastellorizo). You may visit the
protected bay of Limanagzi which has Lycian
tombs cut into the sheer rock face, or
cruise to Ufakdere and Kovan Island. You may
be lucky enough to see a shy octopus,
colorful fish and sponge growing on the
seafloor. The famous Uluburun Bronze Age
shipwreck, which is |
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housed in the Bodrum Museum was discovered
near here. Although we will not visit the
Island of Meis (Kastellorizo) on this tour
you will be close enough to get a view of
the charming harbor area, and you may just
consider a separate trip by ferry to
discover more of the Greek Island’s charms.
This is an enjoyable day cruise including
lunch, which ends around 17:00 back in the
harbor of Kas. L. |
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Canoeing on the Esen River in Patara is a
mild adventure for kids and adults alike. We
pick you up from your hotel in Fethiye, Kas
or Kalkan and transport you to a point 15 km
upstream from the famous Patara Beach. You
will be provided all the necessary equipment
and start canoeing down the river with your
experienced guide, who will insure that you
have plenty of stops enroute to rest and
observe the local wildlife. The Esen
river is moving slowly and this is a
leisurely fun day which |
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also incorporates a visit to the mudbaths,
which are known for their curative
properties. You will also enjoy a BBQ lunch.
We finish the canoeing at Patara Beach where
you can enjoy sun and surf. Patara is known
as one of the finest beaches in Turkey and
is also the home of the Loggerhead Turtle
“Caretta Caretta”. Transfer back to your
hotel. We advise bringing your swimsuit,
plenty of sunscreen and a towel with you. L. |
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KAS TO MEIS (KASTELLORIZO) FERRY |
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Departure from the harbor at 10:00
and board the Meis Ferry. You
will arrive in about 20 minutes and
will be free to discover this small
Dodecanese Island that is located
only 7 km off the Turkish coast with
a population of around two hundred.
Most of the houses along the
promenade are inhabited but behind
and above them are romantic narrow
alleys, goat trails and fragile
ruins of old houses overgrown with
flora. |
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Kastellorizo Island (Megisti, or
Meis in Turkish) has an interesting
history of its own, governed by Rhodes,
Egypt, the Venetian Doge and the Ottoman
Turks and until the second world war
approximately 10,000 people lived on the
Island but the island was evacuated
because of bombing by the Germans and
Italians. You can take advantage of the
duty free shop and have a cool drink and
a meal in a restaurant or tavern along
the quay. The two main churches in town
are St George and the cathedral church
of St. Constantine, which has gothic
arches and columns, which are rumored to
have been taken from the temple of
Apollo at Patara. The old schoolhouse is
also of interest, and there is a bust of
the famous “Lady of Ro” (Despina
Achladiotu), who was the last inhabitant
on the smaller island to the west and
kept the Greek flag flying on this
isolated outpost. Meis is also a
convenient place to renew your Turkish
visa if needed or you may continue to
Athens by ferry from here.
The ferry returns from Kastellorizo at
15:30 to Kas.
The ferry service between Kas and
Kastellorizo departs frequently in the
summer and usually once a week in the
winter.
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This boat tour is the best one day
cruise of Turkey!
Pick up from your hotel at 10:00 and we
will drive to Ucagiz Village,
passing open cisterns and shepherds
tending their flocks among the rocky
outcrops. Ucagiz (three mouths) is a
small seaside town near Kekova Island
with old stone houses, simple cafes and
a cluster of ancient Lycian and Roman
tombs. |
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Simena |
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We will board our glass-bottom boat
and cruise around the Kekova Island
area to the picturesque village of
Simena which is a charming
town that has not changed much for
many years. The crusader castle
above the town has a magnificent
view of the Kekova area and there
are gnarled olive trees hundreds of
years old next to stone sarcophaghi
which are shaped like houses. |
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The ancient city of Simens was
located on the peninsula of the
Tristomos Bay and dates back to the
4th century BC. The castle was built
on the fortifications of a much
older citadel. Below the
fortifications are a small
seven-tiered theater. There is an
ancient tomb submerged in the water
in the harbor. |
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Across the bay along Kekova Island
are half-submerged ruins of the city
sunk by earthquake in the 2nd
century AD. You will be able to see
remains of stone foundations beneath
your boat and on the land staircases
seemingly going to nowhere with
remains of abandoned houses. There
are also strangely shaped rock
islands that have been hollowed out
as they were used as stone quarries
and later as dwellings.
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We will enjoy lunch and make various
swimming and snorkeling stops to
unspoiled bays in the area such as
Aquarium Bay, Tersane Bay
(Ancient shipyard and remains of a
Byzantine Church), Gokkaya Bay
and Burc Bay. Return to Kas
in the early evening.
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KAS – KEKOVA – APERLAI BOAT TOUR |
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Departure from Kas at 10:00 for
about a 30 minute drive to the
charming seaside town of Ucagiz with
its picturesque rock tombs. We board
our boat for a visit of Tersane
Bay, which was once an
ancient shipyard and has ruins of a
Byzantine church. We will explore
the Kekova Island are in
depth and be able to see foundations
from the city sunk in the 2nd
century under water. We continue to
Sicak Penninsula and then
arrive in Aperlai for
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a walk to the ruins and a swim.
Aperlai was an ancient Lycian city
that goes back to the 4th – 5th
centuries BC and was once the head of
the Lycian league. |
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We have lunch on the boat and then
continue to Simena, where you can
enjoy the small town set upon the slopes
or do some hiking up by the Crusader
Castle that has a magnificent view
of the Kekova Island area. Kekova Island
is the largest island of Mediterranean
Turkey. |
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We return to the village of Ucagiz where
we are transferred back to the hotel in
the early evening. L.
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MYRA ROCK TOMBS, CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS AND
ARYCANDA TOUR |
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This is truly a spectacular tour of the area
with a visit to three very special places.
We depart from Kas at 9:30 and arrive in
Demre where we drive to Myra to see
the impressive rock tombs carved into the
face of the mountain and the well preserved
amphitheater. It is general thought that
Myra was first inhabited by the 5th century
BC. The name of the place in fact comes from
the word “Myrrh” Myra was once the capital
of Lycia and was also a very important
seaport during Roman |
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times. St Nicholas (Santa Clause)
lived here during the 4th century AD and
after he passed away it became an important
religious site. There is a festival in his
honor on 6 December every year. The area is
rich in agriculture and you will see citrus
orchards and many greenhouses with tomatoes,
peppers, cucumbers and legumes. Beautiful
beaches are also found in the area. |
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We will have lunch in a local restaurant in
Demre town and then depart for Arykanda
which is one of Lycia’s most unique cities.
Arycanda is built on a very steep slope on
five terraces overlooking a magnificent
valley. From below it was nearly invisible
to potential invaders. The site is still
being excavated new finds are being
unearthed every day. The city survived until
Byzantine times. We return to Kas around
18:00. L.
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SEA KAYAKING AROUND KAS AND KEKOVA |
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It is possible to do Sea Kayaking
all year round in the area of Kas
and Kekova. Most of the
sea kayaking is done from the base
of Ucagiz Village near the
beautiful Kekova Island area with
its sheltered coves, ancient ruins
and crusader castles. A variety of
tours, expeditions and courses for
the complete beginner to the most
experienced paddler is offered.
Click here for
Daily Sea
Kayaking Tours
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TOUR OF ELMALI VILLAGE AND SHRINE OF
ABDAL MUSA |
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We depart Kas at 9:30, continuing to
Gomuce Village for a tea
break, then visit the town of
Elmali, which is located in a
small plateau at the start of a long
upland valley in the Bey Mountain
Range of the Taurus Mountains. It is
surrounded by high peaks.
Elmali has a number of mosques and
medreses (religious schools) dating
from the period of the Beylik of
Teke and Ottoman times. Also a
library containing a |
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collection of Ottoman writings and
and the mosque of Omer Pasa (1602) who
was a student of Sinan, the greatest of
Ottoman architects. There are also some
earlier works from the Selcuk period. |
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Elmali is also known because of the
famous Elmali treasure which
consisted of horde of around 1900
coins found in nearby Bayindir
Village by a band illegal treasure
hunters in 1984. The rare silver
dekadrahmi coins were minted in
commemoration of the Greek victory
over the Persions. Around half of
the coins belonged to city-states
located around the Lydia area,
including coins belonging to
dynasties that were previously
unknown to historians, so they are
extremely valuable also from a
historical standpoint. |
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The Elmali treasure was smuggled
abroad and it took years to bring most
of it back to Turkey. Some of it is now
displayed in the museum of Elmali. |
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The Elmali plain was subsequently
controlled by the Ancient Romans,
Byzantines, and the Seljuk Turks.
The town was the headquarters of
Beylik of Teke clan of Anatolian
Turkish Beyliks when it was brought
into the Ottoman Empire at the time
of Sultan Bayezid I. It remained a
key mountain stronghold in the
Ottoman period and through the early
years of the Turkish republic.
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These highlands of the “Teke”
Peninsula are still a stronghold of
the Alevis, which are an Islamic
religious sect. We will visit the
Shrine of Abdal Musa, who was a
dervish and an important philosopher
of the 14th century in Anatolia. He
established the dervish lodge in the
village of Tekke, which was the
fourth largest lodge of the Ottoman
Empire. Here you can visit his tomb,
the old cemetery and make your wish
by tying a piece of cloth to the
wishing tree. Return to Kas in the
early evening. L. |
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WALKING AND TREKKING IN LYCIA |
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Lycia is a mountainous land on the
western fringes of the Toros
Mountain Range. The melting snow
from the Akdaglar (White Mountains)
and Beydaglar (Bey Mountains)
Create narrow gorges and canyons
that provide water and alluvial soil
to the rich fertile plains of the
Xanthos Valley, Demre and Finike.
Lycia has over seventy ancient sites
with sunken ports and hill top forts
and castles. |
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Springtime sees an abundance of wild
flowers with meadows carpeted with
poppies and daises and the rare Lycian
orchid hiding in the undergrowth. Wild
boar (nocturnal) roam the forests while
deer and wild goat graze on the mountain
slopes. The ‘Lycian Way’ Turkes first
long distance footpath covers 500 km of
marked trails around dramatic coasline
and mountain terrain using a network of
ancient roads, shepherd’s paths and
forest tracks. The climate is ideal for
walking except for high summer. |
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DAILY WALKS AND TREKKING FROM KAS |
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KAS TO LIMANAGZI VIA BUYUK CAKIL – 5
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Trekking starts from Kas. Walk on
the seaside road running from the
harbour. Past Kucuk Cakil Beach, up
a rise and then down to the beach of
Buyuk Cakil. The road is tarmac up
until this point and gravel from
here on, passing through some houses
on the cliff top. The path continues
through olive trees and maki, it
emerges at a pylon on the cliff top.
Here are some sargophagus tombs and
the great view of Limanagzi from
high. Walk down
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the cliffs via
steep natural limestone steps and
arrive to the calm and clear waters of
Limanagzi for a refreshing swim. It is
possible to return to Kas by taking a
small boat across the bay. |
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PHELLOS TO KAS VIA CUKURBAG - 11 KM
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Trekking starts from Phellos with
the visit of the ancient ruins.
Looking South from Phellos you can
see the sea and the Greek island of
Meis with some other smaller islets,
but no sign of Kas. This is because
the shore is hidden by a lower ridge
which forms the edge of the plateau
below you. The route leads down from
the Phellos ridge, goes through the
village of Cukurbag. Walk across the
long flat plateau and arrive to the
edge of the cliffs with its amazing |
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view. Walk down from the cliffs on
steep and well-used hairpin turns
arriving in Kas. The path was the main
route from the winter pastures around
Kas and Bayindir to the summer pastures
above. |
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UFAKDERE TO APERLAI VIA ULUBURUN –
14 KM |
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Trekking starts from the shore of
Ufakdere. We will walk by some
shepherd’s houses and and old water
cisterns. The path passes over a
natural bridge over an inlet where
the sea gushes beneath you and runs
along a cliff face. İn front of you
is the triangular mass of Uluburun,
where an ancient shipwreck was
excavated (now located in the Bodrum
Museum). More islands raise their
dark shapeless bulk above the
rippled water. |
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The path goes parallel to the shore
most of the way and finally arriving to
the ancient ruins of Aperlae. This
historical town was also one of the main
ports of Lycia. |
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TOUR OF XANTHOS – TLOS – LETOON AND
PATARA |
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This is one of the best daily land
tours that you can take from Kas. A full
day of touring some of the best ancient
sites of Lycia!. |
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We depart from Kas at 9:30 or Kalkan
at 10:30. We will first drive to
Xanthos, which was the capital
of Lycia. Located near the village
of Kinik on a hillside over the Esen
River, Xanthos has a fine Roman
amphitheater and impressive Lycian
pillar tombs. The site of Xanthos
was discovered by Charles Fellows in
the 19th century and is thought to
originally have been a Bronze or
Iron age site, but the existing
remains date |
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back to around the 8th century BC.
The people of ancient Xanthos were twice
decimated, first by the Persions and
then by the Romans and will go down in
history as being one of the most brave
and fierce people of ancient times,
choosing to set fire to their women and
children and the whole town rather than
surrendering to the enemy. The following
is a poem translated from a tablet in
the Xanthos excavations: |
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We made our houses graves and our
graves are homes to us
Our houses burned down and our graves
were looted
We climbed to the summits and went deep
into the earth
We were drenched in water and they came
and got us
They burned and destroyed us, they
plundered us
We, for the sake of our mothers, our
women and for the sake of our dead
We, in the name of our honor and our
freedom,
We, the people of this land, who sought
mass suicide left a fire behind us
Never to die out... |
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You will walk on the ancient
Roman-Byzantine market street on your
way to visit the basilica of a great
church, built over a Roman temple.
Xanthos was the seat of an important
archbishopric during Byzantine times. On
the hill above the church are tombs and
the necropolis. |
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We will also visit Letoon,
part of which is filled with water
for a good part of the year, and
addition to being an ancient site is
also a haven to a variety of aquatic
life such as turtles, small fish and
toads, as well as brightly colored
dragonflies. Both Xanthos and Letoon
are registered as UNESCO World
Heritage sites. |
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In addition we drive to Tlos,
which was the home of the
mythological winged-horse Pegasus
and his rider Bellerophon, who
crashed to earth after boasting to
the gods. Bellerophon’s temple tomb
is picturesquely situated on the
cliff face. Other structures
remaining from Tlos’ early period
include the acropolis, the stadium,
baths complex, and theatre.
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We enjoy lunch in the mountains at
Yakapark, which is bursting
with cold mountain springs. You can
have fresh trout for lunch and enjoy
a cool break from touring under the
shady trees. |
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We end our Lycian adventure with
a visit of Patara with
its 17km long white sandy beach
and ruins half buried in sand
dunes. Patara was the birthplace
of the 4th c Byzantine bishop
known later as Santa Claus and
is also known as a breeding
ground for the Caretta Caretta
Turtle. Enjoy a refreshing swim
and return to Kas around 18:00 |
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CONTACT US |
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