Some sources write it Karemlik; the correct spelling is Karaemlik. It takes its name from the Karaemlik stream, which reaches the sea right beside the bay.
What makes this place is not the view but the loggerhead turtles. The fresh water brings them here to feed.
You can swim with them or photograph them from the deck. It is the first stop of the day on the private tour and the last on the shared one.
A loggerhead is a wild animal — watch from a distance and do not disturb one that has come to feed.
Tours: full-day private, with dinner, shared.
Full-Day Private Kekova TourFull-Day Kekova with DinnerShared Kekova Day Tour
The first proper swim of the day happens here. Calm, clean, and usually no other boat at anchor at that hour — what leaving early buys you.
There is a Lycian watchtower on the slope above; you notice it from the water.
Tours: full-day private and with dinner. The other tours do not call here.
Full-Day Private Kekova TourFull-Day Kekova with Dinner
The bay for windy days. It has a well-sheltered corner, and once you are anchored there it is hard to tell what the weather is doing outside.
For swimming, for sun, or for doing nothing at all. Gökkaya is wide; even on busy days there is a corner to be had.
Tours: full-day private, with dinner, moonlight, birthday on board.
Full-Day Private Kekova TourFull-Day Kekova with DinnerMoonlight TourBirthday on Board
And one you cannot swim in: the Sunken City
It belongs on the list, with a warning. A kilometre and a half of underwater remains along the shore of Kekova Island, inside a protected area.
The boat passes on the nearest permitted line and at the slowest speed she will hold. This stop is not swum, it is watched. If you want to swim over ruins, the place for that is Tersane Bay.
Stopping and swimming at the Sunken City is forbidden.
The most interesting bay in Kekova, because the remains of a Roman shipyard lie beneath it. The stonework underwater is from the same period as the Sunken City — the difference is that here swimming is allowed.
This is the one place you can swim over ancient remains. Lunch is served in this bay too, at anchor.
Tours: full-day private, with dinner, sunset, marriage proposal. The shared tour does not call here.
Full-Day Private Kekova TourFull-Day Kekova with DinnerSunset TourMarriage Proposal Tour
It earns the name. The clearest water on this coast is here — you can see the bottom, and it is the best place to get in with a snorkel.
There is also this: we arrive in the afternoon, after most boats have started back. The same bay is a very different thing from what it was that morning.
Tours: full-day private, with dinner, shared, birthday on board.
Full-Day Private Kekova TourFull-Day Kekova with DinnerShared Kekova Day TourBirthday on Board
Past İkizler Bay, Burç Castle comes into view. This is not a swimming stop — the boat slows for photographs and for the story of the castle.
Tours: full-day private, with dinner.
Full-Day Private Kekova TourFull-Day Kekova with Dinner
The last swim of the day. It is late, the light has softened, nobody is in a hurry — tea, coffee or a plate of fruit on deck.
The moment most guests name as their favourite, less for the bay than for the hour.
Tours: full-day private, with dinner, shared.
Full-Day Private Kekova TourFull-Day Kekova with DinnerShared Kekova Day Tour
The name describes the colour: green water. On the way back, towards the east. One of the last stops of the day, when the light has softened and the other boats have long since turned for home.
Tour: shared tour only.
Shared Kekova Day Tour
The south side of Kekova Island
The least known part of the archipelago. Karaloz Bay and Eğri Liman are on the open-sea side of the island — narrow-mouthed, deep, far more solitary.
They are not on the full-day route. If you want to see them, the Kekova Islands Tour is a separate programme.
Hamidiye Bay
A bay that is not on the route but whose name gets asked about. It is named after the Ottoman cruiser that sheltered here from a storm in 1913.
