The Sunken City - Kekova

Kekova Island and the town of Kale nearby Antalya make an idyllic day-trip for the traveller looking for a sunshine and combination of swimming and fascinating historic ruins. Many operators run trips from Kas and Kalkan.

A fascinating Lycian necropolis, with chest-type tombs spread out along the coastline, lies at Teimiussa, near the present-day Üçagiz on the mainland across from Kekova. This can also be reached by track from the main road between Kas and Demre, where it is signposted. The boat-tripper may be content with a sea-born view and pass to Kale, the ancient Simena, which sits nearby below the crenellated ramparts of an earlier hilltop Roman castle. The castle houses a small theatre, cut into the rock, for just about 300 people, a sign that this was a minor settlement in Roman times. Down in the harbour the turquoise sea laps at waterside restaurants offering good Turkish food including locally caught fish. A lone Lycian sarcophagus standing in a few centimetres of water at the western side lures visitors to pose beside it for photographs. Along the edge of the island facing the mainland lie the fascinating half-submerged remains of a Lycian sunken city, and probably from Byzantine times later on.  Kekova island northern side Signs warn against skin- diving, so you cannot swim here because many foreigners in the past took a piece of ancient relics with them as a souvenir. The boatman will allow the passengers on board off for a swim further to the west, where the remains of a Byzantine chapel stand on the beach and where further sunken remains can be explored at ease by the swimmer with mask and snorkel. Today Kekova is a very popular anchorage for sailors who enjoy the history together with the nature. Pick up times for Kalkan at 09:00 and for Kas most Boats leaves the Harbour at 10:00 to the Sunken City.