Turkish swimming plus Turkish hospitality

Simon Griffiths heads to Kemer in Turkey for a 3-day swimming holiday exploring the Lycian coast

Floating in the warm waters off Kemer, with limestone cliffs towering over me and the Taurus Mountains in the distance, I realised this was no ordinary swimming holiday.

Turkey is a popular swimming holiday destination. It’s easy to see why. The water is clear and warm. Food and accommodation are cheaper than some other Mediterranean destinations. It’s relatively easy to reach from the UK with budget flights to regional airports close to the coast. And there’s plenty to see and do in addition to swimming.

Several of the international swimming holiday companies organise trips to the stretch of coastline referred to variously as the Turquoise Coast and the Turkish Riviera. But our trip was with AquaRally, a local swim trip organiser, which added a layer of adventure as well as generous Turkish hospitality.

Coastal welcome

Our first swim was from Kemer to Kiriş, a distance of around 4km. We met our fellow swimmers near the marina in Kemer, posed for group pictures and started getting to know each other. From here, we headed across a bay and around a headland of vertical limestone cliffs topped with woodland. Behind that loom the mighty Taurus Mountains. It’s quite a backdrop.

The pace was relaxed, with plenty of time to enjoy the sights, take pictures and pause to chat. However, apart from Turgut, the company owner and lead guide, I was the only English speaker. But we managed. We all understood swimming and the universal joy it brings. Later, back on land, we made good use of Google translate.

Kemer is a resort town with a full range of international restaurants, but AquaRally have their own local favourites, which we wouldn’t have found on our own. We spent much of the afternoon eating local food and drinking Turkish çay (chai). Then, for something different, we spent two hours hiking up to the viewpoint on the same headland we’d swum around earlier.

Phaselis

Day two was my favourite swim, around the headland at Phaselis. This was a Roman-era port city, with sheltered bays either side of the headland. It’s only around 250m to walk across the headland and through the ruins, but we swam around, which was about a mile. Here, the golden cliffs stood out in contrast to the dark storm clouds looming over the Taurus Mountains. Some of us swam there and back but there was the option to walk back too. We then had time to explore the ruins. Although it was only a short swim, it was fun to combine swimming with sight-seeing.

Later, our fellow swimmers took us out to sample çiğ köfte. This traditional dish used to be made with raw beef or lamb, but this was banned in 2008 because of health concerns. It is now frequently served as a vegan meal made from bulgar wheat and spices. I thought it was delicious and I’m craving some now as I write.

Olympus

Day 3 took us to another ancient town, that of Olympus, which was captured by the Romans in 78BC (Julius Caeser is said to have been part of the conquering army). I learned too that while the most famous Mount Olympus is in Greece, a number of mountains share that title. Also nearby, although we didn’t have time to visit, are the eternal fires at Yanartaş, which will be on my list if I come back here.

This time we swam directly parallel to the beach for 3km until we reached the entrance to the ruins. After a snack to refuel, we spent an hour exploring, before swimming into a cave and then reversing our earlier swim back along the beach. This was our longest swimming day, and I enjoyed the opportunity to finish off with a straight 3k swim.

Sadly, our swimming trip was only for a long-weekend, but AquaRally also offer longer trips, including live-aboard options.

Authentic Turkish experience

Taking a trip with a local operator such as AquaRally perhaps gives you a more immersive Turkish experience. All the other swimmers were Turkish. But while we could barely communicate, they couldn’t have been more welcoming and friendly. We had an extra day after the swims and our new friends took us into the mountains where we enjoyed gözleme (a stuffed turnover) in an amazing local restaurant in a tree house. We then went to Antalya to explore the old town.

On the other hand, you will need to organise more for yourself than you might do with an international operator. There will possibly be occasions when you have no clue what is going on. It happened to us a couple of times, but we allowed ourselves to be swept along. All we really needed to know was that it involved swimming and there was food at the end. And there was plenty of both.

And isn’t it also amazing how you bond over swimming and food, even if you don’t share a language?

Other trips with AquaRally

I did “AquaRally Antalya 1”, a three-day trip exploring parts of the Lycian coast. Other trips on the AquaRally calendar this year include:

• 16 July: AquaRally Foça 1 – 25km over 5 days
• 1 August: AquaRally Assos – 13.9km over 3 days
• 16 August: AquaRally Ayvalik – 8.5km over 2 days
• 5 September: AquaRally Bozcaada – 6km over 3 days
• 10 September: AquaRally Foça 2 – 25km over 5 days
• 25 September: AquaRally Montenegro – 8km over 4 days
• 9 October: AquaRally Bozburun (Liveaboard) – 9km over 4 days
• 18 October: AquaRally Lycian Way 2 – 4k over 2 days
• 24 October: AquaRally Antalya 2 – 10.7km over 3 days (this is a repeat of the trip I did)

For international swimmers, trips generally include hotel accommodation with breakfast and daily transportation to and from the swims. Meals are typically extra. Local swimmers often make their own accommodation arrangements.

Turgut Esen – Aquarally founder

Turgut (above right) started swimming in 1973. Until 1984, he trained up to 10 kilometres per day with double daily sessions. He has participated in the Çanakkale and Istanbul Strait races for about 30 years and is a three-time overall classification winner in Çanakkale (Dardanelles/Hellespont), where he also holds the course record at 39 minutes. He has won his age group five times in the Istanbul Strait. In 2015, he won a medal in the 3km open water race at the Kazan World Masters Swimming Championship. Additionally, he is the president of Marathon Masters Sports Club, which has 90 Master swimmers.

As the founder of AquaRally, he organises swimming events at 14 different locations along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts in Turkey, as well as in Montenegro.

Find out more about AquaRally at aquarally.org/en