Turkish Beaches: Where to Swim on the Turkish Coast

The best Turkish beaches lie on the Turquoise Coast between Fethiye and Antalya. Ölüdeniz, Patara and Kaputaş are the famous names there. The Aegean adds windy bays, island beaches and small coves of its own. Some Turkish beaches are long and wild, while others are tiny coves under cliffs. A few you reach only by boat or on foot. Here is how to choose.

What are the best Turkish beaches?

For a first trip, start with three. Ölüdeniz gives you the Blue Lagoon with paragliders overhead. Patara, by contrast, offers kilometers of wild sand with no hotels. Finally, Kaputaş is a small cove of bright blue water under the coast road.

Ölüdeniz and Kaputaş on the Turquoise Coast

The Turquoise Coast holds the Turkish beaches you see on postcards, such as Ölüdeniz and Kaputaş. At Ölüdeniz, a white beach curves around a calm lagoon. The lagoon lies inside a specially protected area. Above it, paragliders drift down from the mountain of Babadağ and land among the swimmers. Further east, Kaputaş Beach sits at the foot of a canyon on the road between Kaş and Kalkan. Plan for some steps down, and come early in the day.

Turtle beaches: Patara and Iztuzu

Two of the longest and wildest beaches on this coast are nesting grounds for loggerhead turtles. Patara runs for about 18 kilometers (11 miles). Behind the sand, dunes and pine trees hide the ruins of a Lycian city. It is protected for the turtles, so it stays free of hotels. Iztuzu Beach, on the other hand, is a thin spit of sand about 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) long. On one side lies the sea, and on the other, the calm river delta. You reach it by river boat from Dalyan. In the nesting season, both beaches close at night, when the turtles come ashore.

Wild Turkish beaches you reach by boat or on foot

Some of the loveliest Turkish beaches have no road to the sand. Butterfly Valley, near Ölüdeniz, is a pebble beach between tall cliffs. Since no road reaches it, you arrive by boat or by a steep path from the village above. A little further south, Kabak is a small bay that you still reach on foot, down a path through the pines. Southwest of Antalya, the village of Çıralı sits on a long beach next to the ancient ruins of Olympos. So you can swim and explore on the same day. Our Fethiye to Olympos blue cruise ends here.

Turkish beaches on the Aegean

On the Aegean, the beaches feel breezier and greener. Below the stone town of Alaçatı, near Çeşme, windsurfers fill the bay. Further south, the Datça peninsula, between two seas, hides coves of clear water under pine-covered hills, and our Bodrum Datça gulet charter spends a week among them. In the north, the island of Bozcaada pairs small beaches with vineyards and a harbor castle.

When is the best time for Turkish beaches?

The best time for Turkish beaches is summer and early autumn. June and September are good beach months, and the sea still feels warm. See Turkey in June for the weather by region. During the Bayram (a religious or national holiday) holidays, families from across Turkey also head for the coast. So we book early if your dates fall on one. Read more in our guide to the Bayram holidays in Turkey.

• Look for the Blue Flag. Many beaches fly the Blue Flag for clean water and good services; the Blue Flag Türkiye list names them, and we pick beaches from it.
• Respect the turtles. On nesting beaches, keep away from marked nests and leave before dark.
• Go early. Small coves fill up by late morning in high summer.

Would you like to find your own favorite Turkish beach? Turtle beaches, coves by boat or Ölüdeniz itself: send us your dates and we will plan the coast by car, by boat or both. Start with a blue cruise or a tailor-made trip. For a private day on the water, see our Fethiye 12 Islands boat tour.