DESTINATIONS

Kaş & Kekova

LYCIAN COAST

THE REGION

Kaş is the part of the coast that takes effort to reach and that’s exactly what keeps it the way it is. A small harbour town with narrow streets, bougainvillea on every wall, and a Lycian theatre that looks out over the Greek island of Meis. No resorts. No rush. East of Kaş, the coastline breaks into islands, submerged ruins, and bays that belong to a different century. Kekova; the sunken city is the anchor point: an ancient settlement half-swallowed by the sea, visible through the water on a calm day. We’ve been bringing guests here long enough to know which approach reveals the ruins best, and where to anchor when the afternoon boats have left.

WHAT MAKES IT WORK

Kaş

A town small enough to walk end to end in twenty minutes. Fishing boats in the morning, gulets by evening. The backstreets hold the best of it quiet tables and a theatre at the edge.

Kekova

The sunken city sits just below the surface walls, stairs, and harbour stones visible through clear water. We bring guests in by yacht and let them see it at their own pace.

Kaleköy

A hilltop castle above a waterfront village, reachable only by boat. Lycian tombs rise from the waterline. At the top, a theatre carved into rock — one of the quietest ancient stages on the coast.

Üçağız

A small village at the entrance to the Kekova region. Stone houses, a few boats, not much else. We use it as a starting point and sometimes as an overnight anchorage when we want quiet.

WHAT'S ON SHORE

A walking tour through the old town

The ancient theatre, rock-cut tombs, the long market street. Someone who knows the town leads the walk not a guide with a microphone, but a local who understands the layers.

Faces carved into the cliff

Rock tombs carved high into the cliff face, a Roman theatre still intact below. Myra was one of the great cities of Lycia a short drive inland, best visited before the heat.

Diving in deep water

Visibility reaches forty metres on good days. Canyon walls, caves and an underwater museum with hundreds of Lycian replicas on the seabed. We arrange it for every level.

A beach that disappears between the cliffs

A strip of turquoise between two rock walls, reached by a staircase from the road above or suddenly from the sea. We stop when the conditions are right. Most days, they are.

The church where the legend began

The church of St. Nicholas — the original Santa Claus — still stands in Demre, a short drive from the coast. The story behind it is quieter and stranger than expected.

A beach with no end in sight

Eighteen kilometres of sand backed by dunes, with an ancient city at one end and nothing at the other. Rarely crowded, even in high season. Not a beach you leave early.

An ancient city after dark

When the day visitors leave and the lights come on, the ruins take on a different character. A night visit here is one of those things people remember years later.

A sunset from the amphitheatre

The ancient theatre in Kaş faces west, straight over the water toward Meis. No tickets, no guards just stone seats and the sky. We time the visit for the last hour of light.

The trail above the sea

A short section of the Lycian Way enough to feel the altitude and see the coast from above. We choose the stretch by season. The walk takes a few hours. The view stays longer.

Planning

BEST MONTHS

This part of the coast faces south, into the Mediterranean the water is warmer, the season longer, the light different from the Aegean side. We place guests here from May through October, with the best weeks in June and September. Getting here takes longer than Bodrum or Göcek the nearest airport is two and a half hours by road but the places worth reaching are rarely the easiest to get to.

TYPICAL DURATION

7 to 10 nights

COMBINES WELL WITH

Göcek & Fethiye, Bodrum Bays

BEST FOR

Experienced travellers, Divers, History lovers, Couples seeking quiet

DEPARTURE PORT

Kaş Marina