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Ölüdeniz is a famous beach town in southwest Turkey near the city of Fethiye. It’s known for its calm turquoise waters and paragliding opportunities.
Tour from Marmaris
I visited Ölüdeniz on a day trip from Marmaris. I used Mares Travel and booked the Marmaris Fethiye Tour, which costs 1100₺ for adults and 550₺ for children age 7 to 12 (as of February 2024). The trip included all transportation, guide services, lunch, and a stop at Saklıkent National Park, which is covered in another post.
Getting To Ölüdeniz
After getting picked up at around 7am at my hotel in Marmaris, we made a short stop for breakfast along the way and continued on to Ölüdeniz. Once we got to the parking lot, we walked a short distance to the thin strip of beach that’s famous around the world as the Blue Lagoon.
Beach of Lagoon Card
Visitors are required to buy a Beach of Lagoon Card in order to make any purchases at the beach. No restaurants or sun bed operators at Ölüdeniz take cash or credit card. You can load up the card with any value that you’d like. Cash refunds are available for any unused portion, but only at the top-up point.
The Beach
Ölüdeniz, a Blue Flag beach, is spotless, with small white pebbles meeting the crystal clear water. The water is calm and comfortable.
There are hundreds of sun beds laid out in orderly fashion across the entire beach, but it wasn’t nearly as crowded as we had imagined. A couple restaurants located next to the beach serve Turkish and international cuisine as well as drinks, but we didn’t bother.
The main part of the beach faces the sea and has spectacular scenery. Around the end of the small peninsula is the Blue Lagoon, which is a bit calmer and more suitable for families with small children.
Bozyiğit Cape
Directly across from Ölüdeniz is Bozyiğit Cape (Bozyiğit Burnu). It’s a small outcrop that we swam across to. I would recommend water shoes because the rocks on the cape can get a little sharp under your feet and it’s very slippery. We saw some sea urchins and lots of fish.
Paragliding at Ölüdeniz
One of the most popular activities at Ölüdeniz is paragliding. Thanks to the incredible natural setting and perfect environmental conditions, it’s known as one of the top paragliding destinations in the entire world. Paragliders head up to the top of Babadağ, which overlooks the beach and town, and take off from there. We weren’t brave enough to take the plunge, but the guide offered the opportunity to anyone who wanted to go paragliding (for an extra fee, of course).
My Thoughts on Ölüdeniz
Is Ölüdeniz worth visiting? Absolutely. Is it worth a day trip from Marmaris? Absolutely not. Unfortunately, instead of telling the truth, the tour operator told us at booking that it was only a two-hour ride and it ended up taking three hours. We were pretty upset that we didn’t get to the beach until almost 11am and spent less than two hours there. We also had some issues at Saklıkent National Park, which I’ll outline in that entry. My advice is to visit Ölüdeniz from a spot closer to the beach, such as Fethiye. Three hours one-way is too long to drive and we felt rushed once at both places.
