Oludeniz: Aerial view of the beach lagoon and anchorage, not recommended for overnight stops.
If you’ve only seen one postcard of Turkey, you’ll probably have seen a picture of Oludeniz. This long sandy beach with it’s lagoon at the north end is a popular beach resort though many of the hotels are in the village inland.
The beach is sufficiently large it never seems over crowded, though resist the urge to roll out your towel in the large empty sector in the centre. That’s where the paragliders land!! If you’ve ever fancied a go, I’m told this is a great place to try it, though I can’t speak from experience – heights aren’t my thing.
Oludeniz is unfortunately somewhat challenging for yachtsmen. The days when you could anchor in the lagoon are long gone.
There is a semi circular bay at the north end, adjacent to the lagoon entrance but it’s very deep and even large yachts may lack sufficient chain to get a hold. This also provides a rather stern test for the windlass as I discovered when one failed after hauling in only 5m of the 60m I had out. I definitely don’t recommend recovering 55m of chain manually!
The alternative is to anchor off the beach which requires dodging the areas buoyed off for swimmers, pleasure craft etc and needs calm conditions.
Neither option provides enough shelter or holding for an overnight stop, and even during the day I’ve often felt it prudent to stay close to the yacht whilst the rest of my crew went exploring. However, Oludeniz is well worth a visit.