Iztuzu Beach

Iztuzu is a sandbar. The river runs down one side of it and the Mediterranean breaks on the other, and it has been a protected area since 1988, which is why there is no hotel on it and no road along it.

It is also a loggerhead nesting beach, and that shapes what you can and cannot do there far more than most visitors expect.

The two ends are not the same place

Boats land at the river-mouth end. That is where the kiosks, the lavatories and the shallow, warm water are, and where most people stay.

The road arrives at the far end, roughly four and a half kilometres away, having come round by land. Dolmus minibuses run to that end.

This catches people out constantly. If you are meeting somebody on the beach, agree which end, because walking between the two takes the better part of an hour in soft sand.

Getting there

Journey times as published by Turkiye's national tourism portal. The boat is slower and much the nicer way to arrive.

The rules, and why they are not decorative

• The beach is closed between 20:00 and 08:00 during nesting season.
• Nests are staked and signed. Do not walk inside a marked area, and do not put an umbrella or a sunbed there.
• No powered speedboats within one kilometre of the beach.
• No fires, no barbecues, no tents, no vehicles on the sand.
• Do not use flash photography or torches on the beach at night.

These are published by the national tourism authority and enforced by wardens. The signs on the sand are what count on the day, because the dates of the season shift a little year to year.

What is actually there

Sand, sea, a line of dunes, and at the river-mouth end a handful of kiosks and umbrella hire. That is the entire infrastructure and it is deliberate.

There is no natural shade anywhere on the beach. In July and August that is the practical problem to solve before you arrive.