Ölüdeniz (Blue Lagoon)

Beach / Bay

Turkey’s most photographed shore: a waveless turquoise lagoon, Belcekız beach and paragliders drifting down from Babadağ — a natural masterpiece.

South of Fethiye, where pine-clad mountains plunge to the sea, Ölüdeniz takes its name (“dead sea”) from its very shelter: while the open Mediterranean stirs with waves outside, the lagoon ringed by a thin spit of sand stays mirror-calm in every season. This is why the water turns a striking turquoise-emerald and the cove becomes one of the safest, most tranquil places in the world to swim. The lagoon beach is now protected as a Nature Park, while the adjoining Belcekız public beach, with its long pebbly shore, is freely open.

What makes Ölüdeniz singular is also its sky: rising behind it, the 1,960-metre Babadağ is considered one of the world’s finest paragliding launch points. Hundreds of colourful wings leaping from the summit glide for long minutes over the lagoon before landing on the shore; from above, the lagoon’s perfect crescent reveals itself in full glory. Natural wonders such as Butterfly Valley, Kabak Cove and Kayaköy lie right alongside. Far from Bodrum though it is, once seen it is a view never forgotten.