Baba Tekin's Boat Tour near Ölüdeniz, Turkey

Blog readers Judi and Charles had sent us a message asking if we wanted to join them for a full day boat trip around the coastline of this area. We don't normally do these types of touristy things, but the price was right and it seemed like a relaxing way to spend the day and see some of the local scenery.

We contacted the Baba Tekin's Boat Tour Company through their facebook page and they were quick to respond. It turned out that the cruise for Saturday October 17th was their last one for the season, and it was a one way trip around the shoreline between Ölüdeniz and Fethiye, with lunch included. Special price for this trip was 100 lira ($16.65 CAD, $12.60 USD) per person. Normal price during the season was 150 lira per person.

The boat departed from nearby Ölüdeniz, and normally returns there as well. But this time it was the last trip of the season, and the boat moors at Fethiye during the winter.

We agreed on a meeting point, and they said a car would be by to pick us up at 9:15am, which it did... right on schedule.

We met up with Judi and Charles, and made our way to the boat. The tour boats are all lined up along the beach...

Tour boats at Ölüdeniz beach.

Pirate boat cruises, usually geared towards younger folks.

In normal times, these boats are almost full every day. But of course times are not normal and it hasn't been a good tourist season. The boats would normally continue through until November, but this year things are shutting down early.

A paraglider coming in for a landing.

Ölüdeniz is an internationally recognized paragliding area, and in fact they have held a competition and display event the second half of October every year since 2000. This was to be the 21st year, but the event has been cancelled due to Covid. Still, there were quite a few of them in the air.

Setting off from the shore.

There are lots of caves along the shore. Some very high up!

There were about 25 people on the boat.

But with two levels, and lots of open space it was easy to stay away from people. 

Gemiler Island.

Gemiler Island is also known as St. Nicholas Island because archeologists believe that it was the original resting place of the remains of St. Nicholas. There are also the remains of several churches on the island that were built between the fourth and sixth centuries.

Church remains on Gemiler Island.

The boat continued on through the clear blue Mediterranean Sea. The shoreline in this area would be a geologists dream. Lots of caves and odd rock formations...

They also sell drinks and refreshments on board, which is expected on a tourist boat. Also expected is that the price of said drinks will be on the high side. A beer on board is 30 lira ($5 CAD, $3.80 USD)... for comparison, the same beer is 12 lira in the local grocery store. 

On this trip, we made three swimming stops. There are many little coves along this part of the coastline and we found other boats often hidden away, deep inside the cove. I think the normal in-season boat trips have five swimming stops, but because this was a one way trip to Fethiye we didn't have as much time to make stops because we were traveling a further distance.

Ruth, getting ready to go for a swim.

In she goes!

She said the water temperature was nice, but that I would have considered it cold to start with. After being in for a minute or two, she said it was fine. They had some loaner swim masks (and sanitizer to clean them with) but really there were not a lot of things to see in the clear water. We have done better snorkeling in Mexico.

Most of our group went for a dip.

Looking back at the Baba Tekin's boat.

Judi.

Our new friends Judi and Charles live on the south coast of England. He is British, but she was born in Montreal, and grew up in Ontario. They met while on an overland bus trip from England to India sometime in the late 1970's. Charles was the bus driver! He did several years of driving an overland bus through Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. An interesting couple, and we had lots of travel stories to share.

In the middle of the photo, near the top is a small ruins.

Zoomed in.

We may try to hike to this location another day.

Quite a few other boats around.

Another swim stop.

Some kind of underwater creature.

Lunch was served around 1:30pm. One of the crew came around asking if we wanted chips (french fries) with lunch. It was an extra 15 lira ($2.50 CAD, $1.90 USD), which we thought should have been part of lunch, since lunch was included. But, Ruth and I shared a plate anyhow and they were good. Lunch was also quite good... buffet style with grilled chicken, spaghetti, and a variety of fresh salads.

The Turkish Coast Guard.

We pulled into another bay where apparently all of the rich people hang out...

Scenery along the way.

Another couple of months and that mountain will have snow on top.

I would like to go on what one these boats just to see the inside!

We haven't seen many campers yet, but there are a few!

From what we have seen so far, we would not hesitate to bring a motorhome to Turkey.

More scenery.

We docked at Fethiye at about 4:00pm and they had a private minibus waiting to take people back to Ölüdeniz. They dropped us and Charles and Judi off near our apartment and we walked up and had a drink on our balcony before sunset. They took a public minibus back to their resort in Ölüdeniz.

We had a really good day, and we wouldn't hesitate to recommend Baba Tekin's Boat trip. Apparently they are not all the same, and Charles and Judi have done a few of them and they also agree that Baba Tekin's is one of the better ones.

Not sure what's on the agenda for today. Maybe we will walk down to the central area and rent some bicycles.

Total distance walked in Turkey 30 kms (18.6 miles).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice deal on the popular and highly rated Bio Bidet Toilet Attachement.

And in Canada...

Top Kindles Titles at up to 80% off