Karadere Beach, near Patara
The super-strand fronting the Xanthos (Eşen) Delta, almost 15 kilometres of pure ivory sand, can draw crowds to the eastern end where the dune-strewn ruins of Patara back a beach lined by café, loungers and parasols. Savvy Turks head for the western end where a clear stream runs down from the citadel ruins of Pydnai to pass some makeshift holiday shacks, kitchen gardens and a timber footbridge before mixing with the surf. Intermittent road signs make their uncertain way here from the town of Kınık; dolmuş minibuses ply the route. Self-drivers should persist, and they’ll finally reach a carpark with a cafe and a sweet attempt at visitor facilities labelled ‘Umbressing Room’. This is a place of exquisite somnolence and authentic colour, with geese wandering about, old whitebeards dozing on the sand and smoke rising among the dunes from the barbeques of shawled matrons, even if the locals are not always meticulous about collecting their own rubbish.
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