Boat Tour of Kekova Island
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This boat tour is among the best one-day cruises of Turkey!
You will be picked up from your hotel at 10 am and driven to Üçağız Village, passing open cisterns and shepherds tending their flocks among the rocky outcrops. Üçağız (Yuch-ah-uz or three mouths) is a small seaside town near Kekova Island, with old stone houses, simple cafes and a cluster of ancient Lycian and Roman tombs.
You will board the boat and cruise around the Kekova Island area to the picturesque village of Simena, which is a charming town that has not changed much for many years. The crusader castle above the town has a magnificent view of the Kekova area and there are gnarled olive trees, hundreds of years old, next to stone sarcophagi which are shaped like houses.
The ancient city of Simens was located on the peninsula of the Tristomos Bay and dates back to the fourth century BC. The castle was built on the fortifications of a much older citadel. Below the fortifications is a small seven-tiered theatre. There is an ancient tomb submerged in the water in the harbour.
Across the bay along Kekova Island are half-submerged ruins of the city sunk by earthquake in the second century AD. You will be able to see remains of stone foundations beneath your boat and on the land staircases seemingly going to nowhere, with remains of abandoned houses. There are also strangely shaped rock islands that have been hollowed out as they were used as stone quarries and later as dwellings. |
You will enjoy lunch and make various swimming and snorkelling stops to unspoiled bays in the area such as Aquarium Bay, Tersane Bay (an ancient shipyard and remains of a Byzantine Church), Gokkaya Bay and Burc Bay. Return to Kas in the early evening. |
- Duration: 8 hour(s)
- Location: Kekova
