Burc Bay

Burc Bay is a narrow cove on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, in the Kekova area of Antalya province between Kas and Demre. It lies between Esmeralda Bay and Gokkaya Bay, cut into steep rock walls covered in scrub and pine, with no road down to the water - boats are the only way in.

Location and Access

The bay opens off the stretch of water behind Kekova island, the same run that gulets and day boats use between Ucagiz, Kalekoy and Gokkaya. Its steep sides give it an almost fjord-like shape, and because there is no village and no track, it stays quiet even in August. Most people arrive on day boats out of Demre's Cayagzi harbour or Ucagiz, but Burc is best reached during a Kekova gulet cruise, when the boat can hold the cove for a long swim and afternoon tea instead of the twenty minutes a tour schedule allows.

The Cold Water

What separates Burc from the neighbouring bays is temperature. Freshwater springs discharge underwater along the shoreline, and the cold, less dense water sits in layers against the warm sea above it. Swimmers hit abrupt cold patches, and the mixing of fresh and salt water gives the bay its pale, milky blue colour. On a July afternoon, when the open sea is well into the twenties, the swim here is noticeably colder than anywhere else on the route.

Swimming and Snorkeling

The water is clear and the bottom drops away close to the rock, so snorkelers can work along the walls of the cove and follow the ledges and small overhangs below the waterline. Expect standard Mediterranean reef life - bream, wrasse, the occasional octopus in the rocks. There is no beach to land on; swimming is straight off the boat.

Nearby: The Ruins of Myra

Burc Bay is usually combined with a visit to Myra, the Lycian city on the plain at Demre, roughly 1.5 km from the modern town centre. It is not walking distance from the cove - you reach it by road from Cayagzi - but it is the standard shore excursion on this part of the coast. The site holds a large Roman theatre and two groups of rock-cut tombs carved into the cliff above it, shaped to imitate timber houses. The Byzantine church of St Nicholas, tied to the fourth-century bishop who became the Santa Claus figure, stands in Demre town itself.

Practicalities

There are no restaurants, shops, moorings or water taps in Burc Bay. Boats anchor and take a line ashore to the rock where needed, and everything comes off the boat. The high sides give good cover from the afternoon breeze, but the cove is narrow and fills with day boats in the middle of the day; early morning and after five o'clock are the calm hours. Nearest supplies and fuel are at Ucagiz or Demre.