Diving, boat tours, canyons and beaches — all of it within reach of the front door.
Kaş is one of the best diving locations in the Mediterranean, with around twenty sites to choose from, dived in the morning or the afternoon. A Second World War cargo plane lies on the sea bed among them. If you have never dived before, a discovery dive takes you down to five or seven metres with an instructor after a short briefing.
Boats leave Kaş harbour at ten. The first stops are İnönü cove and Aquarium cove, for swimming or snorkelling, and lunch is served on board from the barbecue. In the afternoon come the Dockyard cove and the Sunken City, then an hour ashore at Simena — the castle above, the sarcophagi standing in the water below, and ice cream in the village. The boat calls at Üçağız, where the Lycian tombs are, then Yağlıca cove, and is back in Kaş at six.
Two routes: one over the sunken city at Kekova, seen from a metre above it, and one around Kaş, Liman ağzı and Big Pebble with snorkel stops along the way.
The jeeps leave from in front of the hotel at nine. First Patara and its ancient city, then the Gizlikent canyon — seven hundred metres of it, on foot, ending at a waterfall where lunch is eaten. After that Saklıkent, the longest canyon in Turkey, walked with a guide and finished with a stretch of body rafting. Kaputaş beach on the way back.
Twenty minutes by road up the mountain, then the flight down over Kaş, the island of Meis and the sea. The pilots here have been flying tandem in Kaş since it started.
Meis — Megisti in Greek, Kastellorizo elsewhere — is twenty minutes away by ferry and small enough to walk round in a couple of hours. Coloured houses along the waterfront face Kaş, and the restaurants on the front serve the usual Greek things, from frappé to fish. Turkish is widely spoken and lira are usually accepted. A Schengen visa is needed, though a visa at the border gate is also possible — ask us and we will tell you how it works.
Most of these can be arranged at reception once you arrive. If you would rather book before you travel, here are a few of the tours running from Kaş.
The beach the hotel sits on, a few steps from the door and five minutes from the centre of Kaş. Cafés and beach clubs run along it, and the water is cold from the fresh springs coming out of the rock.
Fifteen minutes on foot, or a short drive. Fresh water comes out of the rocks here too, so the sea is cooler and less salty than elsewhere.
Eighteen kilometres towards Kalkan, where the canyon meets the sea. The underground current that surfaces there gives the water its colour and its cold. It is 187 steps down the cliff to the sand.
Twenty-two kilometres long, the longest beach in Turkey, and protected — one of the main nesting grounds of the caretta caretta turtle. The ancient city of Patara is behind it, birthplace of St Nicholas.
Two and a half kilometres from town, on the narrowest part of the Çukurbağ peninsula — a beach on each side of it. The open-sea side catches the wind and the waves; the side facing the marina is sheltered and warmer. Shingle, so bring beach shoes, and shallow enough for children.
Also on the Çukurbağ peninsula. Shallow, calm water, free parking and cheap sunbeds, which suits families, and a café the municipality runs.
Named after the man who once lived there. One business on the cove, no entrance fee, and sunbeds to rent. It fills up at weekends.
Three kilometres out on the Fethiye road, near Yeniköy. Two hundred metres of fine shingle, shallow and calm, with a blue flag every year since 2010. It is run by the Kaş tourism school, so the café is cheap, and parking is easy.
Fifteen minutes by shuttle boat from Kaş harbour, leaving every half hour. Sand rather than pebble, a blue flag, and four or five beach cafés to choose from. The Lycian Way passes above it, and the ancient site of Sebeda and the Hıdırellez cave are both a short walk.
