MARMARIS: Always and Ever

As a person who lived here, being a local, this place never seemed to me as a holiday spot, as they say. Living just by the sea, I’m often thinking just how close it is to catch the sea in my hands, under my feet, I’ve always thought i am the luckiest person in the whole world to be born in this cute seacoast town, where I met a lot of people from all over the world, which eventually made me feel like discovering more about the outskirts of my town.

A few pages would not be enough to write about my hometown, but I will try my best to present it to all of you and to people who are curious about it and may want to visit in the future. I will do my best in order to present you with most important basics of my hometown, how much it means to me and how I see it differently then most people.

To be fair, as a holiday spot, Marmaris has been always famous for its beaches, hot weather, a place to cool yourself in the bluest waters, or crowded pools in your hotels. You may end up in the bar street to join the crazy atmosphere with a diverse range of music and bars in a narrow street, walking shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of tourists who came to have the most fun on their holidays. This is probably the main reason for the visitors (especially youngsters) to choose Marmaris as their holiday spot. However, there are a great number of things to do, despite town itself not being a size of a New York City, it all very much depends on your taste of activities.

If you allow me to make a small list of things to see/things to do, I would write as it follows:

Daily Boat Trips

Everyday, there are many boats available at the harbor in the center of the town that run daily tours. You can either reserve your ride in advance or just go and talk to the people who are already there, standing with brochures in their hands. If you would give it a try for a day out of the city, seeing the different bays around, looking at the nature a bit closer, it will be a nice opportunity to swim in different bays.

Parasiling is another activity you might like to try

Scuba Diving

As a local who had lived there until my adulthood, one of the things that I’m ashamed of, is never having tried out scuba diving. Maybe I was a bit nervous by the idea or I had some other priorities, but I always envied my friends who did it and later I would look at their photos taken under the sea, my friends with the equipments on them, and they are posing to the camera with the fish and mossy stones around them. It is always in my mind to give it a try one day in the nearest future, definitely!

Quad Safari

This is another daily activity for adventure lovers, which will end up probably in mud. Riding a quad felt somehow so different to me. It’s not a bicycle, not a motorbike, it is something in between. You start the tour in the middle of the forest, you follow the paths that were made for this safari and you enjoy the nature. If you go there with your friends it should be pretty good, but even if you go to this safari by yourself, it is likely for you to make some new friends, as there are always foreigners who come to do the Quad Safari. When the tour finishes, there is a big queue at the showers, people who are trying to clean the dust and mud away from them.

Beside all these activities, Marmaris has very nice and smaller towns around as well. If i name them a few; İçmeler, Turunç, Selimiye, Bozburun, Orhaniye, Hisarönü, Söğüt, Sedir Adası and you can also easily get to Datça. These are all beautiful places that will take your breath away by surrounding beautiful nature. You can also choose to spend some time in one of these places to find some peace, silence, relaxing time with less people in the area.

In this photo I’m enjoying my tea by the seaside on the dock in Selimiye

If you are a history lover, you can also visit the castle in the centre by the harbor, just before getting to the bar street. You can also have an amazing view of the whole town.

Physkos is the first known name of the town. Back in time, Marmaris hosted many civilizations because of its important location as a harbor city. There is a small museum inside the castle and a brief information about the history of the town. After you finish the castle tour, you may like to try to get lost in the narrow white streets around. It is a nice chance to shoot some nice photos. No matter how many times I go there, I just take lots and lots of photos. And I’ve been to the castle, probably countless times, I just love being there and to look up and down all over the town.

View from the Marmaris Castle

Another view of the town from the Castle

Regarding the food, there some nice restaurants that serve delicious local dish and homemade meals in the heart of the town. Marmaris is quite small, so when you walk around, you will never be hungry or have difficulty choosing where to eat, what to eat or thinking about the cost of it.

The weather might be extremely hot during June, July and August. April, May-September, October are the best months to enjoy it to the fullest. However I should mention that I actually love this place very much in winter time as well, as it’s just like a “ghost town”. As it is a tourist resort, you might get thrilled by the way it looks in the winter. However, you would never get bored or feel depressed, as the clouds or rain are so relaxing and the smell of the earth has always been the best thing reminding me of my childhood spent there. Walking by the beach, getting lost in the streets, you would totally end up with someone you know. And when there is sun, you’d never be able to tell if you are in winter or summer.

Sunset

Marmaris might be the place to rest one’s head. It offers you a number of options at the same time. If you visit Turkey, after İstanbul, Efes, Kapadokya, Pamukkale, it might be just a relaxing break in your busy schedule. I have always loved Marmaris and i know i will love it ever more.

The following photos are the ones I have been taking in the past years: