Booking this trip was a no brainer. If you have a passion for the sea then for sure you will love this slow paced boat ride across the sparkling Mediterranean waters. Swim stops, BBQ lunch, Dolphin spotting- all included in the day!
We set sail in the morning, ensuring we caught the best hours of sun. The swim stops were incredible and I was of course one of the first to launch myself into the water!
Fishing at the back of the boat haha
Later on in the day, after our BBQ lunch, we pulled up along the bay of Tunruc. A small holiday town located not far from Marmaris. It was a very cute, quaint place and we were given an hour to walk around, buy some ice cream as well as pick up some trinkets. This was definitely one of my favourite places that we visited, mainly because of the gentle pace of the town as well as great stalls!
How amazing are these! Made completely from shells (and googly eyes).
Before our final swim stop, we actually got a glimps of some Dolphins! I wish I had caught a picture but I was too caught up in the excitement. Here is a video of a beautiful private beach we got to relax on!
The boat ride back was no where near as long as the Daylan trip, and when we arrived at the hotel, we still had some of the day left to wind down by the pool. You would of thought I was sick of the water by then but no sir! Peace&Love, Willow
We were two minds about whether to do this or the quad biking as the quads were seemingly more action/adventure though we were glad with our final choice. We were picked up around 9am from our hotel by our driver and took off in the Jeeps!
On the 'Safari' (using the word safari very loosely haha) there were various stops including on of the bays in Hisaronu Gulf; pretty, very picturesque and I kinda wish we got to explore this area more, a hilltop view of Marmaris; pretty cool but what seemed to me as a time waster and a lovely BBQ lunch; this was in typical mountainous Mediterranean surroundings, beautiful of course and cooked by locals. Yumm! One of the men cooking- a lovely little old man made the experience funny as he hopped around the BBQ and picnic area singing and shouting jokes in Turkish. Of course we understood none of this but giggled all the same!
Down there, that's Marmaris!
Did someone say Lunchtime?
Our highlight on the Safari was most definitely the lovely Waterfall!
The water was ICE COLD. We spent around an hour rejuvenating our skin, taking a dip and also exploring the surrounding area. Needing to pee, I disappeared off to the toilet we had passed on the way in. To my surprise now, there were two or three little children sat outside it with a sign asking for 1 Lira per use. The other people were just ignoring them and walking straight in but I just had to give them some money! They were little cuties and this was definitely something I would have done as a child hehehe. I gave them the coins I had on me- 3 Lira and smiled. They cheerily thanked me and put it in the money box.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about 'the Paparazzi'! This was super funny! At the beginning of the trip, the guide gave us a prep on what to expect as well warned us, "not to harass the Paparazzi". If only he knew - not that I have much experience with the Paparazzi but still. What he meant was don't annoy the camera man snapping action shots of the day. Meanwh, le this was what the cameraman was up to;
There is not much more to tell about the day other than we saw lots of sceneries, ate a great lunch surrounded by kitty cats (hahaha) and got to see the best of the South!
Turtle Beach was beautiful. It is a small island located around 2 hours boat trip from Marmaris bay and known as one of the last breeding grounds for Sea Turtles. The Turtles swim from as far as South America to lay their eggs amongst the sand. Eventually the eggs hatch and the baby Turtles are free to swim away and begin a life of their own. Unfortunately, it has been said that only 20% of the baby Turtles make it into adult life due to the predators that await them in the sea.
This was the freshwater side, the salty sea was on the opposite side!
Once Turtle Beach was in sight the group were made to change from our large cruise like boat (maybe not that large- sorry I'm no expert with boats haha!) to a smaller river boat which would take us through the shallow waters, up to the island with ease!
Turtle beach was quaint well worth the stop. We did attempt to explore the tiny island but it is so small that you could walk around it in 15 minutes... maybe even less. We also did not see any cute little turtles, probably due to it being early in the season (you know, those turtles are so in tune with British holidaymakers haha). After around 45 minutes of sun and sea, it was back in the boats and time to meander along the Daylan River. We were heading to the Mud Baths! Not without stopping at the Kings Tombs though! These tombs hold a lot of history behind them, understandably as they were built in 4 BC as family tombs. Here is one of the more popular stories surrounding the tombs however it doesn't explain much about why they are there...; The city Kaunos was founded by Caunus, the son of Miletos and Kyane. Caunus had a twin sister, Byblis whom he fell madly in love with. When their father found out about their relationship he sent Caunus away from the city, leaving his sister Byblis to cry herself to death, forming the Daylan Delta.
Now this story doesn't exactly tell us what the tombs were doing there or make a lot of sense though my guess is as the family died, they were placed in these very tombs. To be honest, the guide wasn't very clear and neither is the internet! Haha! So yes, this is merely an interpretation of what may or may not have happened. Rather than focusing on the confusing mythological stories, we admired the architecture that had gone into making these fascinating family tombs in the rocks.
Finally we arrived at the Mud Baths. It was much anticipated and meant to have healing properties within the mud. We were told to begin by covering ourselves in mud, and then drying up in the sun for around 10 minutes. We then would continue into the shower to cleanse and prep for the thermal pool, heated at 37 degrees Celsius.
As wonderful as this experience sounds, I can tell you first hand it was gross. Absolutely disgusting! This is certainly not to put you off this excursion as overall it was a lot of fun and to be honest with you, we would have kicked ourselves if we had missed out on the experience. However I felt like a big joke! The mud was man-made, not a beautiful natural hide out in the sea (like one I had visited a couple years back in Santorini), with what I imagine to be loads of bacteria from the DEAD frog floating about. Next, the showers were ICE COLD and you really had to scrub that mud off you, then waiting before the sulphur pool was a man with a hose. Yes, a hose pipe... his job was to spray off any last bits of mud he saw on your already cold body, with a solid gush of that same icy water that the showers used. Brilliant. Finally, the thermal pool and boy did it STINK. This in all fairness was due to the Sulphur rocks that actually heated the pool, but it didn't account for the floating algae and dirt that accompanied you. I had originally wondered why guests were so quick to leave the thermal pool-surely it would be the best part of the visit but as soon as I got in myself, I understood!
Well an experience it was and as I had said before, we would have kicked ourselves if we didn't give it a go, plus it makes a good one for the photo album.
As the day went on the weather got a little cooler, and made the journey back slightly chilly. 2 hours later we were glad to be back in Marmaris.
Hiya! My name is Capres. I'm a 21 year old undergrad studying Anthropology and Sociology in London. I'm all for female empowerment and the sky is truly the limit! I love to experience the world through travel and adventure and hope I can encourage others to step out of their comfort zone! Follow me on my journeys and get inspired!
