Guide
Dalyan sits on the natural fjord-like channel that joins Lake Köyceğiz to the sea, known in antiquity as the Calbis. It is a small holiday town with hotels, guesthouses and restaurants both in the centre and at its approach, and its name comes from the channels and from the weir fishing carried on there for centuries.
Building pressure arrived with tourism and was brought under control in 1998, when the area was declared a Special Environmental Protection Region. The village stayed unspoilt for a long time and is still free of heavy construction, though almost nothing of the old buildings remains.
The channel winds through a maze of reed beds and meets the sea at İztuzu Beach — about five kilometres of golden sand curving from the foot of Radar Hill to the strait where the fresh water joins the Mediterranean, and counted among the best beaches in Europe.
İztuzu is one of the few beaches in the world lying between fresh and salt water, and its fine sand is used by loggerhead turtles as a nesting ground from May to September. During that season the beach is closed between 8 pm and 8 am so the turtles are not disturbed.
