Scuba diving near Kalkan
Most of the twenty-odd dive sites near Kalkan are 25–40min away by boat, with many located around the islets at the mouth of the bay. Of these, beginners dive the shallows at the north tip of Yılan Adası (Snake Island), and almost the entire perimeter of the remoter Heybeli; another excellent novice or second-dive-of-day venue is Frank Wall on the east side of the bay, with spectacular rock pinnacles and plenty of fish. More advanced divers are taken to an even more dramatic wall between 20m and 50m at the south tip of “Snake”, alive with barracuda, grouper and myriad smaller fish; to reefs off Heybeli and Öksüz; or to sand-bottom caves on the mainland with their entrances at 25m.
The most spectacular calm-weather dive site, for intermediate and advanced divers, is Sakarya Reef, southeast of Kalkan off İnce Burun. Here, the mangled remains of the Duchess of York, a North Sea trawler built in Hull in 1893 and apparently scuttled for an insurance payout sometime after 1930, lie in 15m of water. However, more interesting is the newer, larger Turkish-built Sakarya nearby, wrecked in the 1940s, broken into three sections at depths of 35–60m, retaining teak-plank decking, intact winches and a vast cargo of lead ballast.
Except in the caves, fed by chilly fresh water, water temperatures are a comfortable 18–30°C; the sea warms up abruptly in late May or early June with a current change, and stays warm into November. Visibility is typically 25–30m.
The two local dive operators are Dolphin Scuba Team, working off its boat in Kalkan’s main port (t0242 844 2242 or t0542 627 9757, wdolphinscubateam.com), and Kalkan Diving/Aquasports, at the Kalamar Beach Club (t0242 844 2361 or t0532 553 2006, wkalkandiving.com). Prices are competitive, with two-dive mornings from £35/€43, and a PADI Open Water course from £180/€260.