Kekova Island and the town of Kale nearby
Antalya make an idyllic daytrip for the
traveler looking for a combination of sunshine, swimming and fascinating historic
ruins.
Many operators run trips from
Kas but the journey is much shorter from
Cayagzi, the
Harbor of
Demre.
Along the stony coastline the boatman may stop at a cave, or point out the occasional goat or the smoldering pyramids of wood used by peasants to make charcoal, the product may sit in plastic sacks at the water's edge, waiting to be taken away.
Along the edge of the island facing the mainland lie the fascinating half-submerged remains of a
Lycian sunken city, and probably from
Byzantine times later on.
Signs warn against skin-
diving, so you can not swim here because many foreigners in the past took a piece of
ancient relics with them as a souvenir.
The boatman will allow the passengers on board off for a swim further to the west, where the remains of a
Byzantine chapel stand on the
beach and where further sunken remains can be explored at ease by the swimmer with mask and snorkel.
A fascinating
Lycian necropolis, with chest-type
tombs spread out along the coastline, lies at
Teimussa, near the present-day Ucagiz on the mainland across from
Kekova.
This can also be reached by track from the main road between
Kas and
Demre, where it is signposted.
The boat-tripper may be content with a sea-born view and pass to Kale, the
ancient Simena, which sits nearby below the crenellated ramparts of an earlier hilltop
Roman castle.
The
castle houses a small theater, cut into the rock, for just about 300 people, a sign that this was a minor settlement in
Roman times.
Down in the
Harbor the turquoise sea laps at waterside restaurants offering good
Turkish food including locally caught fish.
A lone
Lycian sarcophagus standing in a few centimeters of water at the western side lures visitors to pose beside it for photographs.
Today Kekova is a very popular anchorage for sailors who enjoy the history together with the nature.
Other interesting sites in
Turkey are:
Antalya,
Kemer,
Phaselis,
Olympos,
Demre, Kekova,
Simena,
Aperlai,
Kas,
Kalkan,
Patara,
Xanthos,
Letoon,
Tlos,
Pinara,
Oludeniz,
Fethiye,
Gocek,
Knidos,
Caunos,
Ekincik,
Gokova,
Marmaris and
Bodrum.
