shirley

We love Marmaris but it only hits two out of three of your wish list. It has some great restaurants but a poor beach and have to admit it is commercialised. Bear with us though you will get good advice on here.

Wilson

A few years ago I went to Altinkum all I remember are the beaches lovely sand

Patara beach is lovely.......................soft sand and runs for about 17 miles.

The beaches along the Antalya region are good too.

Strawberry

Dalyan - to get to the beach you go on a taxi boat (not dear and takes about 20mins), but Iztuzu beach is lovely.
http://www.pbase.com/mcampbell/image/36291845
Dalyan isn't commercialised, but has plenty of restaurants to choose from.
http://www.dalyan.co.uk/
We've been 3 times and love it.

Suara Beach on the Lagoon at Olu Deniz.

Hi Tishtosh loved your photos of Dalyan, just cant wait to get back there in June.
We think the beach is beautiful to ,also love Lagoon Olu Deniz and Akyaka.
There is also a little bit of heaven in Turunc if you go as far as you can to The Barbarosa hotel, beautiful views.

i agree with joan re lagoon beach and akyaka both are lovely. akyakas beach is gorgeous and certainly isnt spoilt or over commercialised, there is also a river that runs to the side of the beach, so theres restaurants along both beach and riverside, such a pretty unspoilt place ,lets hope it keeps this way. ive listed loads of pics of akyaka on the gallery so have a look

hi there thanks everyone for the info, Dalyan looks fabulous.

Another vote here for either Dalyan or Patara. Just remember that for either place you do have to 'travel' to the actual beach as both are protected areas and therefore accommodation is situated a distance away from the beach. This imho, adds to the lovely experience of staying in either.

If I was asked to chose between the two, yes Dalyan is prettier but it gets packed solid for about 5 hours during the day with the day trippers whereas Patara being a much longer beach doesn't get so packed and doesn't get so many day trippers, so I would have to chose Patara.

I think it depends which part of the beach you go to In Dalyan, we always went on the dolmus as it took you to the quieter part, we went in July and can honestly say it was never packed, very calm and tranquil.

If you go via boat they take you to the part where they take the day trippers from surrounding area, Marmaris ect which is always packed we were advised not to go there.

Patara is beautiful, but not many people staying there the last few years, friends went July and they were the only ones in hotel, thats ok if you like it very quiet, but if like me and hubby you like to mix and make friends not the place to stay but to visit for day or two.

Yes Dalyan.

I have been to Iclemer, Marmaris and Kusadasi as well. All them beaches are quite pebbly and not much to look at. However if you go Kusadasi, you can get a taxi or various restaurants do have connections to take you to diffferent beaches which are very nice. We went to the Mayflower restaurant who organised us to be picked up and took to a beach, I think it was called Silver Sands, you had to pay for bed but included first drink, the beach was at the end of a housing complex. Only downfall you had to either get a dolmus or taxi back.

Side has long golden sandy beaches on either side of the old town,those on the east side being the quietest.

Have to agree with Jay Trip. Side's beaches are lovely and sandy. If you're staying centrally no need for walking far, but there are many hotels well away from the centre.

patara is wonderful although resort doesnt have many staying but locals very friendly

it has to be one of either Dalyan or Patara.
i like patara but can be very hot there also sarigerme which is kept nice

I'm in the Side camp too. Went twice a couple of years back, and would recommend it to anyone. It was quiet where we stayed... but only a 10 minute stroll to some good restarants. The marina was nice, although we felt it was a bit pricey by Turkish standards down there. Loved the long sandy beaches though... we went to the same point every day. Ther's a small police station down a steep hill, and over to it's right (as facing the sea) is a small snack bar. We nabbed beds in front of there for free every day once they knew us. *sigh* Ice cold Sprite, whilst watching the world go (I mean swim) by. Couldn't get over how warm the water was too. We did June and October. Did Zante twice that year too - so I was brown as a berry by the end of it.

Elle xx

sorry that this might be coming a bit late but my vote goes for the beaches around Antalya and my favorite...Cirali...,

my photos from Cirali..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/canmom/sets/72157602793492234/

My favorite is Cirali located 80kms southwest of Antalya. A great little village, nice clean beach but pebbly, ruins of Olympos and the flames of "Chimaera". Not to many people are informed about this little village. You won't find Cirali like any of the places normally mentioned in this forum. No mass tourism or 5 star hotels. Just nice family own hotels and pansiyons. Small shops, quiet bars, restaurants, and no discos. It is more of a place for nature lovers.
But Cirali may not be for everyone as it does not have the waterparks, horseback riding, parasailing etc etc but it is close by to the town of Kemer ( a resort ) that has many of these types of activities. You can rent a jeep, quad bikes, bikes etc to explore the nature and there are even some organized tours available as well but not to the grand scale that they are in other places.

Cirali is best descibed by this article from the Timesonline last yeat rating it as one of the ''top 20 beach holidays'' at this link;

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/holiday_type/beach/article1292126.ece

Caretta

Loved your photos, I enjoy photography and Turkey very much and you have just made this gloomy morning a bit more cheery.

Thank you

Wendy