How do you get to Kekova?
There is no road to Kekova. You reach it by boat from one of two harbours — Üçağız and Çayağzı (Demre) — driving as far as the quay and boarding there. Note also that "Kekova Island" is one named island, while "Kekova" is the everyday name for the whole area the boat tours cover.
First, the name: Kekova Island or the Kekova area?
These are two different things, and most of the confusion starts here.
Kekova Island is one particular island. Nobody lives on it, there is no road on it and no jetty. Along its northern shore lies the Sunken City.
Kekova, in ordinary use, is the name for the whole area — the islands, the bays and the villages around them. That is what a boat tour covers: the Sunken City, Kaleköy (Simena), Gökkaya, Tersane, Aquarium Bay and the rest.
So “going to Kekova” does not mean landing on one island. It means spending the day on the water in that area.
There is no road
No road reaches Kekova Island, no bridge, no scheduled ferry. Type “Kekova” into a map and ask for directions and it will take you not to the island but to the nearest harbour.
Which makes the real question: which harbour are you driving to?
Two harbours serve Kekova
Üçağız and Çayağzı (Demre). Both are on the road network, and boats leave from both into the Kekova area. You drive as far as the quay and board there.
Road distances, measured against OpenStreetMap routing data on 2026-08-20:
| From | Üçağız harbour | Çayağzı harbour |
|---|---|---|
| Kaş | 32 km | 47 km |
| Kalkan | 58 km | 72 km |
| Demre centre | 20 km | 5 km |
Do not read the kilometres as the whole story. Üçağız looks shorter and takes about the same time: the road to it is a narrow, winding turn-off, while Çayağzı sits on the main coast road. From Kaş, both are around three quarters of an hour.
So which one?
Üçağız is right beside the islands, so from there the sea crossing is barely a crossing. In exchange the road to it is the slower one, and the boats working out of it mostly run short trips.
Çayağzı is Demre’s harbour and the one the full-day boats leave from. It is 9.5 km from the area by sea — 5.1 nautical miles — and twenty minutes to the first swim.
Boats do also run to Kekova from Kaş, but the Sıcak peninsula lies in between: 23 km, 12.5 nautical miles, two and a half hours each way. Five hours of an eight-hour day.
In short
- You cannot drive to Kekova. You drive to a harbour and get on a boat.
- Two harbours serve it: Üçağız and Çayağzı (Demre).
- “Kekova Island” is one island; “Kekova” is the whole area. A boat tour covers the area — it does not land on a single island.
We sail from Çayağzı Yacht Harbour. For guests coming from Kaş and Kalkan the road, the parking and the meeting point are all set out on the Kekova boat tour from Kaş and Kalkan page.
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