Olu Deniz, Turkey

I have never been to Turkey and my clients and friends always seem to enjoy their holidays there so I thought I would have a relaxing break in the sun and I chose Olu Deniz as my first visit. The transfer from the airport is approx 1 hour 40 mins as you drop other people off at their hotels so a private transfer would reduce this by about 30 mins or so.

Olu Deniz is a bustling compact resort, it has a pedestrian shopping area, a nice beachfront promenade where paragliders land after jumping from the mountains and lots of good seafront restaurants. The resort is packed full of restaurants, bars, shops and is really aimed at the British holidaymaker - there aren’t any big night clubs so it doesn’t really attract the 18-30 crowd. The prices in resort were approx £2-£3 for a large beer and evening meals started from £5, the food and drink is relatively cheap and you can see why people go self-catering or B&B.

The accommodation we stayed in was a 3 star hotel and we were lucky enough to be put in one of their best rooms which had a sea view from the balcony and had been completely refurbished this year (2014). It had a walk in shower, flat screen TV and the furnishings were completely new. The hotel does have free WIFI but it has its limitations to around the reception area. The hotel is under a 10 min walk to the shops and sea front so it was an ideal location.

We stayed on a Bed and Breakfast basis and I have to say the breakfast was quite limited. I do not eat meat so my only choice was boiled eggs or omelettes as the cheeses and salad didn’t look that appealing. For meat eaters, the only other choice was these small sausage type things. I would recommend room only here or eat breakfast at one of the many cafes, they only charge around £3 for a full English breakfast.

Olu Deniz is famous for its Blue Lagoon, which is a 15 min walk from the main beach. There is an entrance fee to pay, £1.50, as it is a UNESCO Heritage Site. The food on site was quite limited so we tended to stay on the main beach so we had more of a choice for lunch.

Sunbeds and Parasols are £2 each in any part of Olu Deniz. The sea on the main beach can be quite rough and gets deep quickly whereas the water at the Blue Lagoon is calmer but it is still deep, you didn’t see many children being able to play in the water but perhaps it is different at different times of the year. We went in late September with temperatures of 32c plus and the sea temperatures were perfect for swimming and cooling off.

The bus services to surrounding towns is really good, they run every 5 minutes and start around 7am and finish at 1am, you can get anywhere really for a £1 or under a trip.

There are many excursions you can do, such as boat trips to the Blue Caves, cruises around the Island, sea kayaking amongst many others plus the Fethiye Market every Tuesday. We went there and it is huge, selling everything from fruit/veg to T-shirts. We bought 3 bags worth of fruit consisting of plums, apples, bananas, nectarines and it didn’t even come to £3 and the quality was amazing.

One of other things we did was Paragliding, you see them every day, sometimes up to 60 in the air at one time. You drive 2000m up the mountain which takes about 40 minutes, then your instructor and you literally run off the top of the mountain and float in mid-air. The coastline from up high is an incredible sight and looks really beautiful, you can then have a go at steering yourself and making some manoeuvres before the instructor sets you down on the ground.

It is a nice cheap week away and with only a 3.5 hour flight time from Gatwick, it is an ideal destination to get some late summer sun.