Kalamaki Beach

Kalamaki is the older name of Kavakliburun Cove, the longest beach inside the Dilek Peninsula National Park at roughly a kilometre of sand and shingle. It lies about 9 km west of the park gate at Guzelcamli, on the north shore of the peninsula southwest of Kusadasi, with pine forest running right down to the back of the beach and the ridge of Mount Mycale behind it.

The Water

• Cold freshwater springs rise from the seabed here, so the sea stays cooler than the open Aegean all summer. It is a shock on a hot day, and it is one reason the cove stays quieter than the beaches nearer town.
• The bottom shelves away quickly. That suits snorkellers, who get depth and clear water a few strokes from the sand, and it suits boats, which can lie close in.
• Samos is under two kilometres off the western end of the peninsula across the Mycale Strait, and the island fills the horizon from the higher ground behind the cove.

Because the depth comes so close to shore, boats anchor off the beach rather than tying to anything, and a swim from the stern puts you on sand. That combination makes Kalamaki one of the anchorages you'll visit on a private gulet cruise in Turkey.

Facilities

Facilities at the cove are minimal, as they are on all four park beaches, and camping and open fires are banned inside the park boundary. Anyone staying the night does it in Guzelcamli or on a boat. The village has a hotel that borrows the beach's old name, the Kalamaki Beach Hotel, with an outdoor pool, its own stretch of shore, balconies onto the pool or the mountain, and windsurfing, canoeing, diving and table tennis for guests; all-inclusive board is available.

Getting There

Kusadasi, with its shops, restaurants and late bars, is about 25 km away. The ruins of Ephesus are roughly 45 km from the cove, which puts a morning at the site and an afternoon in the water within the same day. Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport is the usual arrival point, about ninety minutes' drive to the north. Minibuses run to Guzelcamli through the summer; from the park gate it is another 9 km of coast road to the beach.