whos been to olu deniz?

[Dappa D]

got home last night and mrs d surprised me greatly by telling me we were going to olu deniz turkey for a week in june, booked and confirmed (surprising as i didnt think we were having a foriegn hols this year due to wanting to move)

so mrs d, baby d and me will be off on hols in 12 weeks, im very excited :-)

anyone been and have any recommendations of things that really stood out for them?

ive so far seen there is a large market on tuesdays in fathiye, a butterly valley conservation area thing where we would like to take the little man (will be 14 months old then)

most of the days will be at the pool and snorkling in the blue lagoon :cool:.

would also like a boat trip any recommendations?

oh the down side of this is we wont be doing our planned sky dive in may :(....but ive been given the grenlight to do paragliding from the mountains in olu deniz, :)(anyone done this there? as looking online seems there has been a few accidents), ive done paragliding when being towed by a boat over sea but not jumping off hoooooge mountains!

[Quiff Wichard]

my mate went a few years ago- its the one with the ace lagoon is it not?.

[Dappa D]

yup thats the one Quiff

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn192/dappad/olu.jpg

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its a national park too

[Spiderman]

stayed close by there once many years ago and went on a day trip over there. Its a beautiful place.

Cant remeber anything really about what to do or see but make sure you take a ride on a "dolmus" (pronounced dol-mush) which is the local stop anywhere you want it to bus service. basically a little minibus and it costs less then a cold drink to ride on.

Make sure you go out to the night markets and have the freshly BBQ'd corn on the cob. So yum!

[Viney]

Oh....my....god!

Im goimng there in June as well!!!! Staying at the Montan Pine Resort from June 8th!

See ya there ;)

[Dappa D]

ah yes the dolmus! we stayed in turkey in 2007 (Turgatries, as nothing available in olu deniz where i wanted to go) very good service they are too. will be trying the corn on the cob..didnt see any in turgatries yum yum!

[Dappa D]

Oh....my....god!

Im goimng there in June as well!!!! Staying at the Montan Pine Resort from June 8th!

See ya there ;)

really?? lol....maybe we should hire bikes and head off!! haha...how strange, im going on the 7th...although night flight so will be arriving on the 8th!..if i see some random man looking suspiciously like the stig ill know who it is!

[Viney]

Yep really. Booked...Just got to pay for it (Which reminds me, must dig out the peperwork tonight!)

I have looked for bike hire places on the web but havetn come up with anything. However, my nieghbour has been there and she said theres a place in Hisranou.

Where you staying Dapps

[Spiderman]

i love turkey, maybe i shoukld book too and we could make it an official Org holiday :D

[Viney]

Woohoo. Go on Spidey you know ya wanna!

[Dappa D]

lol yea lads org day sounds good!

Viney im staying at the montebello hotel dude....

trying to get a map of the area now....any chance you have looked into paragliding? found it so far for £70 from 2000m fully insured....might be cheaper there tho

[Viney]

No way on earth would you catch me attached to a piece of silk jumping off a cliff...ever! So no, mate, i havent.

Apprently they like english money out there as well.

[JamesMio]

I went to Hisaronu (next village up the road) a couple of years ago and spent a few days down at Olu Deniz - great place, absolutely loved it!!

The paragliding was a bit of a let down for me, the view's amazing and it's good, but don't expect any adrenaline rush after you've jumped off the cliff (haha, I know how stupid that might look now I've read it back!).

Jeep Safari was a brilliant laugh - make sure you book it with Bloody Gorgeous (that's the name of the company), easily one of the funniest days I've had!

Enjoy! I loved Turkey and would go back tomorrow.

[Dappa D]

yes i found that in turgatries, and from lots of reading today on review sites it seems a common theme people saying take english pounds, so i think this is the way to go, better exchange rate out there if u wanted to change it, AND a lot of the pricing is priced in GBP and lira too, some really good cheap clothes out there (el fakio's of course!)

oh...dont buy after shave from anyone in the street carrying it in a carrier bag lol!! what a plonker i was.....

[DanAbnormal]

I got back from 2 weeks here in Sept last year. It's a great place, food is good down at the beach, the blue lagoon is nice although to be honest I was hoping for clearer water. Snorkelling is pointless as the water is so murky.:(

There are many fantastic restaurants in Hisaronu town (not the one at the beach) there is a chinese which is the best I've ever eaten, and one restaurant called the blue Swallow (or something like that) and the manager was awesome, really nice freindly guy and passionate about his job. A bit mental too. We stayed in a villa in Hisaronu and had our own pool which was awesome too. We did all the trips over the 2 weeks.

The following trips were awesome:

Island trips (on a boat visiting other islands - these vary in name from "5 to 10 island trip" but they are all the same) but it's a must do.

Jeep Safari trip - despite the name there is no real safari involved........but you do get to roll around in the natural mud baths, walk through a huge gorge in ice cold water, do river rafting (so much fun) and visit a beach that is on the edge of a desert! It is awesome also.

I also opted to do paragliding. In short, you travel up a mountain in a truck, the journey up is scary but when you get to the top you jump off with a parachute and pilot. It's about 6'000ft up as well and is one of the most exhilerating things I've ever done.

I did get ill on the second week but just be careful what you drink, bottled water only (goes without saying) and also be careful of restaurants that advertise prices in GBP. Caught us out a few times.

Have fun, I can't wait to go back!!

Here is a pic I took of the beach, rather nice eh!

[JamesMio]

Oh, and the local beer (Efes) is great!

If you venture up to Hisaronu for an evening, try the Piano Bar (it's along the main strip) for tea one night.

We had 3 courses (mine main was a Double Steak!), loads of drinks, cocktails etc and the bill came to under £40 for two of us. And the food was just excellent too.

[Dappa D]

[quote=DanAbnormal;1819186]

stuff

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Great write up dan just what I was looking for, the island tour sounds good will do one of these, prob the 5 island as little man likes his naps, as does the paragliding was hoping someone had some positives on it, I cant wait to do that!!

I dont think we will be doing the safari as will have the little man with us and probably not best to do river rafting with a baby!, although canoe;ing down the main river looks alright from what I have seen.

turtle beach is something I have read about too anyone know what this is like?

dan, that pic looks pure heaven!!

disapointed in the murky water tho, I spend most of my time when on hols snorkelling :-(, hopefully will find some good spots tho, thanks

[DanAbnormal]

Oh, and the local beer (Efes) is great!



Aaah the mighty Efes, had many a hangover thanks to that great beer! :rolleyes:

[JamesMio]

[quote=DanAbnormal;1819186]

stuff

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Great write up dan just what I was looking for, the island tour sounds good will do one of these, prob the 5 island as little man likes his naps, as does the paragliding was hoping someone had some positives on it, I cant wait to do that!!

I dont think we will be doing the safari as will have the little man with us and probably not best to do river rafting with a baby!, although canoe;ing down the main river looks alright from what I have seen.

turtle beach is something I have read about too anyone know what this is like?

dan, that pic looks pure heaven!!

disapointed in the murky water tho, I spend most of my time when on hols snorkelling :-(, hopefully will find some good spots tho, thanks

You get taken there as part of the Jeep Safari, although we didn't see any turtles on our trip :(

[Dappa D]

yea thats what it read like..."where turtles lay their eggs"..err ok brillaint so i see a beach where there may or may not be turtles eggs laid under the sand! lol

that answers my question james cheers fella, wont be going if you dont see the turtles! (you can do the turtle beach as a seperate excusion to the safari)

[JamesMio]

Yeah, great in theory...

Jeep Safari's defo worth a trip, make you take a super soaker and a tub of sweeties with you if you go on it...

[Rich]

I've been the last two years on the trot, the company i work for owns the dolphin apartments and i get to stay for free.. Yey.. It's a great place for a holiday, family friendly and good for adults too.. The nightlife is ok if you go out of the school holidays then your not surrounded by the youth so to speak, 90% of them can't hold their drink so can get messy... Another thing, don't get in trouble with the police or the locals, they don't take any prisnors, the locals will hunt you like a pack of wolves if you get the wrong side (but you'd have to be a right tit to do that)..

A must do is the safari like said, and i recommend the boat trip.. It cost about £10 last time i was there and that includes picking you up from your hotel/apartment, tour of the 12 islands, lunch and the taxi home.. A Great day out and cheap aswell, lunch is real good i recommend the sea trout yum.. I've got some pics i'll post in a mo... Try and save up abit and eat eat if you can most nights, it's real cheap and worth it,, saves messing about yourselves.. And don't drink the mains, it's straight from the hills and is untreated safe for washing ect and boiling up for tea n coffee but just don't have a glass of it!!

Also if you get chance visit the market on a monday, loads of bargins, cheap as chips/cheaper than a shop lifting stuff.. haha,, you'll hear alot of that, and make sure your barter too they love it offer 50% of the price be a real cheeky git.. The clothes maybe fake but it's good stuff i have loads of t-shirts, shorts, trousers ect and they're holding up better than the brand stuff...

Go to the Zombie bar too, and have a fish bowl,, oh and the camel juice is good too..

You'll love it, theres loads to do and it's really really hot. 40dgrees C down on the beach, so take plenty of suntan lotion, make sure you buy it hear it can be more expensive over there for obvious reasons...

Pics to follow!!

[Rich]

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Our apartment block, looks alot nicer now this was 2.5 years ago now!!

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My mate Shaun, the first one to jump off the top deck of the boat, nut!!!

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[paiste]

oh the down side of this is we wont be doing our planned sky dive in may :(....but ive been given the grenlight to do paragliding from the mountains in olu deniz, :)(anyone done this there? as looking online seems there has been a few accidents), ive done paragliding when being towed by a boat over sea but not jumping off hoooooge mountains!

I went about 10 years ago and did the jumping off mountains thing. Its brilliant, but cost me about£75 back then.
Nice place, but watch out for the mossies if you're sunbathing at the lagoon!!!

[Dappa D]

great pics rich thanks for sharing, you say the market on a monday? ive read about a huge market in fathiye (?) on a tuesday that i plan to go to but whats the one ona monday mate??

[davepreston]

jeep safiri is the must do thing in turkey its mint , my mrs still bangs on about it
jm is right take a supersoaker and sweets if you dont youll regret it

[Dappa D]

jeep safiri is the must do thing in turkey its mint , my mrs still bangs on about it
jm is right take a supersoaker and sweets if you dont youll regret it


hhmmm....we will be with our 14 month old son tho......sounds bloody good tho!! just not sure if its the type of thing to take a baby on!

[pete m]

my family s beendoing Dalaman for years, i went last year , its right near tyhe Turtle beach...thing is you dont see the turtles till a special day ...other than thatyou have to be off by 6pm and no-ones allowed on there after dark....

we did the boat trip. so long as theres enough of you - i think you needed 12 bods - you can hire a boat as pictured and go to the secluded bays / beaches...thing is its supper hot and i fried that day and came out in the rash ( les grats the french say) which means no more sun for you sonny...:(

used to be cheap there, but no more ...id go back but dont think the family are planning to go there this year...

There was an incident on the jeep safari - i think it flooded and peop[le got stuck , but cant remember the details...sorry

[Rich]

great pics rich thanks for sharing, you say the market on a monday? ive read about a huge market in fathiye (?) on a tuesday that i plan to go to but whats the one ona monday mate??

I think the monday market is in olu deniz and the tuesday one is fethiye.. Visit the world famous fish market if you go to fethiye, you can pick what you want off the stall, cought that morning and any of the restaurants around the market will cook your fresh fish or prawns what ever you fancy for you and do them with what ever you want.. yum yum...