Guide to Datca

"The landscape shifts to sleepy villages surrounded by olive and almond groves dozing below pine-bedecked mountains."

• The Datca Peninsula is a long, narrow, mountainous finger of land that stretches west of Marmaris for about 100km, separating the Mediterranean and Aegean seas, offering simplicity, unspoilt natural beauty and a string of countless secluded bays to explore. As you drive along the narrow twisty road from Hisaronu towards Datca, you'll catch glimpses of turquoise sea through pine-clad ravines on both sides and nothing but a couple of tiny villages and dramatic scenery will be seen before arriving in Datca.
  
  The Datca is famous for the 3 Bs; bal - honey; badem - almonds and balik - fish. Spring is a delight with almond trees in full bloom and the harvesting of crops in peak season.
  
  From the southern end of the Gulf of Gokova stretching to a headland between the Greek islands of Symi and Rhodes is one of southwest Turkey's most scenic and least commercialised regions, the beautiful Loryma Peninsula. Situated just to the east of the Datca peninsula, the Loryma Peninsula is scarcely populated and barely touched by tourism. Rugged peaks and deep valleys shaded by olve groves and pine forests are punctuated sporadically by sleepy villages making the area suitable for those who wish to take life at a leisurely pace, delighting in the glorious land and seascapes, and swimming in bays that are clear enough to render snorkelling equipment obsolete. In ancient times, Loryma was primarily a harbour of sanctuary and not a commercial harbour, and the fort at the entrance of the magnificent harbour still stands today. On the west Side of the bay there are a few restaurants, but apart from this no other modern settlement moved in after the ancients left. So far this has kept development particularly low and the locals exceptionally friendly.
  
  Datca and Loryma at a glance
  
  Visit...
  
  Knidos which is situated at the tip of Datca's peninsula and was one of the most legendary and wealthy cities of antiquity
• Eski or Old Datca, the original settlement of Datca, a thoroughly charming small cluster of crooked stone houses with carved doorways arranged around narrow cobbled lanes
• the ancient fort at Loryma, it is well worth the short climb up to the fort to examine the site and admire the view
  
  Discover...
  
  Palamutbuku and Orhaniye where time seems to have stood still. Palamutbuku is a fishing village with pretty sheltered bay and pebble beach, and Orhaniye a picturesque village lying on a tiny bay encircled by pine-swathed hills overlooking the calm azure waters.
  
  See...
  
  Some of the largest crops of almonds produced in the Datca area - although the trees look as if they are growing wild, they all have owners.
  
  Taste...
  
  Datca's honey which is famous for its unique flavour; this comes about because when there are no blossoms for the bees to harvest they are fed a sticky substance of boiled carob pods by the beekeepers.
  
  Festivals
  
  · Opera and ballet festivals held from mid June through to early July in the Aspendos Roman Theatre near Side and Alanya · The Caretta Caretta Festival in June celebrating Dalyan's sea turtles · Almond Festival in Datca on the second week of August

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