Message for Strawbs please

Sorry I opened a new post but cant find what I'm looking for anywhere, I'm convinced I read it before on here. We've decided to go to Fethiye in August for 2 weeks yay! I just want to know how hot it is there then and what the best beaches are like? Thanks in advance.

Hi Yohan,

It depends on where you're staying in Fethiye. Most people either go to Hisaronu, Ovacik, Oludeniz, Calis or occasionally Fethiye Town.

Fethiye Town has no beach, it only has the harbour. Though there is a hotel in Fethiye Town (totally forgotten the name, I'm afraid!) which is a little way out from the harbour and which does have its own private beach (quite small, though)

Calis does have a beach, but it's quite narrow and not particlarly nice (though it's a hundred times better than the beach in Marmaris) Calis is not very nice in my opinion, but you can see wonderful sunsets from there.

Ovacik and Hisaronu are right next to each other up the mountainside - so there's no beach there at all!

The main beach that everyone refers to in Fethiye is in Oludeniz (Turkish for 'Dead Sea') and the view of it as you drive down from Hisaronu is beautiful. As you come into Oludeniz you will see a main beach in front of you, which is called Belcekis Beach. It's the surroundings (mountains etc) which make it so spectacular. It isn't a sandy beach (it's all shingle) and the sea there does shelve deeply quite quickly - which is why a couple of big boats are able to anchor next to the beach to take people out on trips for the day.

When you arrive at Belcekis Beach by dolmus, you can't mistake it as that is where the dolmus finishes - right opposite the beach. Most dolmus' end their journey there, but some carry on to the Blue Lagoon and will drop you off at the top of it. When you're on the main Belcekis beach (say the centre of it) to your left is the promenade behind the beach, where all the restaurants and shops are. To your right is a continuation of Belcekis Beach, and behind that part of the beach is a tollgate where you pay a small fee to enter the lagoon. Be careful though! Some people go through the tollgate and then TURN LEFT and plonk themselves on the far end of Belcekis Beach thinking it's the lagoon!! It doesn't look like a lagoon (the open sea is in front of you with waves coming in) - it's not shaped like a lagoon - so you'd think most people would twig that it wasn't a lagoon - but you'd be surprised how a few dopey twats think it is! There is one cafe on that far end of Belcekis Beach, that serves snacks and drinks etc, and it is very pleasant there - but it's not a lagoon.

If you want to go to the lagoon itself there's no charge to get on it. The dolmus driver will drive to the top of the lagoon and you just walk through to it. Once you're in the lagoon itself there are several sandy beaches with sunbeds for hire, and there's a few restaurants in the lagoon too (there's about 5 in all) Sugar Beach is very nice, but further round is an even nicer one than that which has a lovely little platform floating in the water where you can have lunch - I think I mentioned that before

The water in the lagoon doesn't have waves (obviously ) and you can hire a peddleboat or canoe on there. The water is VERY warm in the lagoon, but obviously it isn't as 'fresh' as the sea on the main beach.

A vitit to Oludeniz without going to see the Blue Lagoon is a bit like going to DisneyWorld - and not going on any of the rides! It's one of the most photographed beaches in the world (and rightly so) so do make sure you pay a visit there (we always used to go there in preference to the main beach) Oh, before I forget - if you do stay on the main part of the beach and fancy a cold drink, instead of buying one from the beach boy or one of the restaurants on the promenade - tucked away on the corner of where the road leads back up to Hisaronu is a little military shop with a soldier sat behind a glass window. You can go there and buy cans of cold drinks and nibbles etc for about one quarter of the price in the shops! Not many people know it's there, but Ertie knew straight away what the place was (it doesn't look like a normal shop so is easy to miss) - but Ertie is Turkish, which comes in very handy when you're holidaying in Turkey!

The other 'must see' beach in Fethiye is Gemilar Beach. You can take a dolmus there (though they go quite infrequently) or you can reach it by boat - we hired a speedboat one day and went there that way - but most times we either drove by car or took the dolmus. Gemiler Beach is stunningly beautiful, and due to it being a bit 'trekky' to get to it never gets busy. We've been the only people on there some days - though boats do stop off early afternoon for half an hour and it gets invaded for a short time - but then they all have to sail off again. There's a lovely restaurant/bar there too (no idea how they survive!) and they do delicious freshly caught sea bass with salad and chips etc. I've even subjected myself to an ice cold bottle of Angora when having a long lazy lunch there (Angora's the most palateable white wine in Turkey, in my opinion) and the colder it is the better!



Hope that's helped!

And don't forget - turn RIGHT to the lagoon!

Strawbs










Belcekiz

You dont say...you made yourseld drink some cold turkish wine...you slush LOL.....cant believe anybodys thick enough to think belcekiz beach is the lagoon! LOL...

Turkishheartdrop wrote:You dont say...you made yourseld drink some cold turkish wine...you slush LOL.....cant believe anybodys thick enough to think belcekiz beach is the lagoon! LOL...

Who the hell thought that bellend beach was the lagoon? , I've been on the lagoon loads of times and grazed in most of the taverna's there.

Rubes

Turkishheartdrop wrote:You dont say...you made yourseld drink some cold turkish wine...you slush LOL.....cant believe anybodys thick enough to think belcekiz beach is the lagoon! LOL...

Hi THD,

Well, most people wouldn't mistake that end of the beach for a lagoon - but some button-eyed walnut could do!

I think where the confusion might lie for inexperienced travellers is that they wronly believe they're entering the Blue Lagoon when they pay a couple of lira at the tollgate. But you're not paying to enter the Blue Lagoon - you're paying to enter a National Park. So for people who aren't particlarly learned about these, they assume the far end of the beach is the lagoon. Though I have to say - you'd need to be incredibly unknowledgeable to think the open sea is a lagoon!!!!!

Strawbs

ruby wrote:

Turkishheartdrop wrote:You dont say...you made yourseld drink some cold turkish wine...you slush LOL.....cant believe anybodys thick enough to think belcekiz beach is the lagoon! LOL...

Who the hell thought that bellend beach was the lagoon? , I've been on the lagoon loads of times and grazed in most of the taverna's there.

Rubes

Hi Ruby,

Yes, we tried all the restaurants/tavernas on the lagoon, too. They were all nice, actually, but our favourite one had the tiniest private beach with a lovely hammock between two trees (I think I have a photo on my album of me in it!) and they also had a wooden platform on the water where you could have your dinner brought to you. VERY romantic - especially at night....

The tavernas on the lagoon also occasionally have barbecue nights, Turkish nights etc, and it's incredibly romantic the way it's all lit up by flames and candlelight. They tend not to advertise the events - it's more word of mouth and invitation.

Strawbs

Oh, before I forget!

Another 'must-do' in Fethiye is the White Dolphin. Ertie and I went there several times (we were even pictured on their website! ) but that was in its old location - they relocated to a small island just off Fethiye Town in about 2007 (I think?).

They've now turned the old one into a boutique hotel, which is supposed to be lovely. It is expensive (no dearer than London prices, though) and I loved it there. They used to collect you from home free of charge - and take you back - and the setting was to die for. It really was beautiful. I always had the lobster for main course, but all the food (mainly seafood, of course) was beautifully cooked and presented - and obviously the freshest you could find.

Everything about it - from the service to the food - was impeccable. The waiters and manager treated everyone like royalty - no chitty-chatty waiters there!

Sadly, that's now closed, but its new location sounds even better! Situated right on top of a little island - and right where you can see the sunset proper - you can never see a good sunset from Oludeniz due to the mountains. So how romantic must THAT be - and if that wasn't lovely enough - you can arrange for them to collect you by SPEEDBOAT if you don't want to go by their little water-taxi; though a water-taxi would still be nice!

So I'd highly recommend the White Dolphin (even though it's not a beach!)

Of course, it is a bit pricey, but I'm sure all your partners/husbands treat you on holiday, and make things special for you I don't think any of us on here have got a tight, little, stingy meanie for a man!

Strawbs

I'm just wondering what other people's experiences are with Turkish men and their spending habits?

I'm often hearing how some Turkish men send money back to Turkey (thereby depriving their wife over here) or they keep their savings a secret - or women have to extract extra money out of them with a wrench and tin-opener.

So, are many Turkish men mean?

If so - then Ertie's in the minority. He's the most generous man you could find. Mind you, I couldn't be with a mean man - I can't think of anything worse than a mean, tight-fisted man who counted his pennies! I heard of one mean little Turk who actually whipped some of the tip his wife had left for a waiter, telling her he thought she'd left the waiter a few pennies too much! You can just imagine the beady little eyes clocking the pennies on the plate.....eeew! What a turn off!

Of course, mean tight-fisted men are usually mean of spirit, too, and you'll find they often lack depth of feelings and sympathy. They're mean with everything. Yuk!

So I'm just wondering what your experiences of Turkish men are regarding their generosity of parsimony!

Strawbs

Admin wrote:

Turkishheartdrop wrote:You dont say...you made yourseld drink some cold turkish wine...you slush LOL.....cant believe anybodys thick enough to think belcekiz beach is the lagoon! LOL...

Hi THD,

Well, most people wouldn't mistake that end of the beach for a lagoon - but some button-eyed walnut could do!

I think where the confusion might lie for inexperienced travellers is that they wronly believe they're entering the Blue Lagoon when they pay a couple of lira at the tollgate. But you're not paying to enter the Blue Lagoon - you're paying to enter a National Park. So for people who aren't particlarly learned about these, they assume the far end of the beach is the lagoon. Though I have to say - you'd need to be incredibly unknowledgeable to think the open sea is a lagoon!!!!!

Strawbs

Definition of lagoon......

lagoon (l-gn)
1. A shallow body of salt water close to the sea but separated from it by a narrow strip of land, such as a barrier island, or by a coral reef.
2. A shallow pond or lake close to a larger lake or river but separated from it by a barrier such as a levee.



........how can anybody mistake that LOL.....

Cheers strawbs you're a star, I will print that off and take it with me when I go. You come up trumps babe Thanks for the heads up about the lagoon, not sure we can afford any flashy restaurants can you just drink in the Dolphin?

[quote="


Hi THD,

Well, most people wouldn't mistake that end of the beach for a lagoon - but some button-eyed walnut could do!

I think where the confusion might lie for inexperienced travellers is that they wronly believe they're entering the Blue Lagoon when they pay a couple of lira at the tollgate. But you're not paying to enter the Blue Lagoon - you're paying to enter a National Park. So for people who aren't particlarly learned about these, they assume the far end of the beach is the lagoon. Though I have to say - you'd need to be incredibly unknowledgeable to think the open sea is a lagoon!!!!!

Strawbs[/quote]



Thats true. the odd person does think the national park end is the lagoon but the lagoon is in the national park round the other side. V.Hard to see how they think that end is the lagoon

You said in your first post you pay to get into the lagoon but I think you mean you pay to get into the national park and the lagoon is free. So what you mean is its free to get into the lagoon if you go in the dolmus or car but if you walk through the tollgate way you pay?

Pol x