By Noah
“Is there something you really want to do while we are in Kas?”my parents asked me our first day in the little beach town located in southern Turkey. After hearing from a Dutch couple on the Lycian Way about their experience sea kayaking, I knew it was something that I had to do.
Our very first day in Kas (pronounced “kahsh” in Turkish) we headed over to Dragoman tour company to make a reservation. The woman there wasn’t sure the winds would cooperate so we had to check back with them each day. Luckily, we got the message that we could join a group on Wednesday, our last full day in Kas.
We woke up early on Wednesday to reach the marina by 7:00 am where we met our tour guide and the other people on the tour. They included two women from Germany and England and a family of four from France. The father works for the Laughing Cow company and filled us in on how they make Baby Bell cheese.
From there we hopped in a van and drove for 45 minutes to this little town where we launched the kayaks out into the sea. Kayaking across a bay over clear, blue water, we reached our first stop. It was a small cove on the island of Kekova surrounded by ruins where we went snorkeling and ate snacks on the beach.
Geared up and ready to go!
Romi can’t wait to get started
Our first stop, Kelkova Island
Getting ready to snorkel off of Kelkova
Because the coast guard comes at 11am to kick people off the beach, we had to hop back into the kayak and make our way to the next destination: a sunken Lycian city that slid into the water after a huge earthquake in 146 A.D. The water was crystal clear so as we kayaked over the ruins we could see really far down to former structures and foundations of this ancient city.
Out across the clear, blue water
Over the Lycian ruins
From there we proceeded back across the bay to my favorite part of the tour: a seafood lunch in the town of Kaleköy surrounded by an ancient castle, Lycian ruins, and a great beach where we went swimming and snorkleing. After a good 2 hours of eating, swimming, and relaxing we kayaked back to the van for the return trip to Kas. We were so tired afterwards we could barely walk home and it was only 3:00 pm!
Approaching Kalekoy
A great place for more swimming and snorkeling
Max and Romi – Check out their form!
Noah, you are the best tour guide. Beautiful photos.
What a delightful day you shared with us, Noah. Oh, how I’d love to be too tired to walk home after hours of playing in the sun and sea!
Joan
Noah,
Just seeing this now and I have put Turkey on my list for next vacation. What a fantastic place. Glad you ate some good seafood. When you come back, you have to teach Josh how to do that.
Joe
Sounds like it was a great day. The pictures are nice and every time I read one of your posts I get hungry. When you get back I want to know how to make baby bel cheese
sounds like the most awesome day ever.
What a lovely day–thanks for sharing it with us!