Turkey Guide
The Turquoise Coast
Çıralı
Since 1990, tourist development has taken off noticeably at Çıralı. Three hotels and almost forty pansiyons have sprung up along the approach road and behind the three-kilometre beach, between the Ulupınar stream which meets the sea here and the low hills to the north. Loggerhead and green sea turtles still use this formerly deserted bay to lay their eggs. The Turkish Society for the Protection of Nature maintains a seasonal information booth here – when it's shut, their message remains posted: don't camp on/illuminate/dig up/litter the beach during the summer nesting season.
After long-running disputes between the forestry and archeological services on the one hand, and local proprietors on the other, the beachfront restaurants have been moved back a token few metres from the sand, and seven or eight survivors – stretching in a line north of the river-mouth – seem here to stay. Of these, the best and most popular – if surprisingly pricey – are the Orange Home, the Azur and Karakuş; while south of the river-mouth, where parking is very limited (fee collected by roving warden), the most durable snack-bar is Olympos Yavuz, one of two adjacent rivals strategically straddling the sandy path to the ruins (vehicles not allowed beyond this point).