Our Story
Kalkan is a small town nestled around the old harbour at the foot of the Ta**us Mountains, and overlooks a beautiful bay where Snake and Mouse Islands rise out of the sparkling sea. Over the last few years Kalkan has won many prestigious accolades including being quoted in the travel pages of the Sunday Times as having one of the “10 Best Views in the World!”
Our 2 self-catering apartments are located near the centre of Kalkan and are within a short stroll of day-to-day amenities like banks, supermarkets, restaurants and bars, and appeal to both couples and families. Both apartments have recently been refurbished, come very well equipped and offer home from home comforts.
'Mavi Inci', Turkish for 'Blue Pearl', is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom ground floor air-conditioned apartment located a mere 10 minutes walk from Kalkan's charming Old Town and harbour. As one of the highly sought-after Emir Apartments, 'Mavi Inci' guests have the use of two good sized swimming pools, with the main pool, complete with paddling area, being one of the largest pools on any apartment complex in Kalkan. There are plenty of sunbeds and parasols and also several communal areas to sit and enjoy a glass of something cold whilst taking in and savouring the breathtaking views of the town, harbour and islands!
'Mavi Inci' offers one double bedroom and one twin bedroom, which also has space for a z bed, with good sized open plan kitchen/living/dining area and a gated private terrace with outdoor dining furniture. The bedrooms and living area each have an air conditioning unit. And there is a modern wet-room style shower room was installed for the 2015 season. The apartment will adequately accommodate 4-5 people. Staying on the Emir complex also gives you peace of mind as there are 24 hour on site managers and security staff.
'Elmas Yildiz', meaning Diamond Star, is our gem of a garden apartment, which is situated on the ever popular Mediterranean Apartment complex, located even closer to the action in Kalkan.
The apartment is air-conditioned throughout and has one double bedroom, one bathroom, and open plan kitchen/living area. It is ideally suited to 2 guests, however a comfortable sofa-bed in the living area does mean it will accommodate a total of 4, and guests won’t be short of space as the apartment boasts one of the largest, if not the largest, walled garden on the complex, which has ample comfortable furniture to relax or dine al fresco.
With bougainvillea, an olive tree and a host of other planting, the pretty garden is bathed in morning sunlight giving way mid-afternoon to much needed shade from the hot Turkish sun. There is an extensive patio area with outdoor dining furniture, and plenty of room for the comfortable garden sun loungers and colourful daybed.
At 'Elmas Yildiz', guests will have the use of the Mediterranean's 5 pools of varying sizes, and the apartment has 4 sun loungers located at a couple of the pools. Again there are staff on site every day, for peace of mind.
If you are new to Kalkan, then the Old Town will charm you in no time! From its narrow cobbled streets lined with whitewashed villas with shuttered windows and ornately carved Ottoman timbered balconies teaming with colourful flora, to the myriad of bars and restaurants sitting alongside an array of shops that open early in the day and stay open until at least midnight. It has it all!
And with well over 150 restaurants to choose from there is no doubt that you are spoilt for choice when it comes to dining out! In fact, it is said that Kalkan has the highest number of restaurants and bars per inhabitant or square meter on the entire Turkish coast! Many of the restaurants and bars have fantastic roof top terraces and it is difficult to find one that doesn’t serve great food.
The coast around Kalkan is mainly rocky, however there is a lovely pebbled public beach just to the east of Kalkan’s harbour. The beach and the surrounding water have earned a Blue Flag award for cleanliness. If it’s a sandy beach you are looking for there are two in relatively close proximity to Kalkan. About 10 minutes away is Kaputaş Beach, which is a lovely sandy swimming cove where the water is always a brilliant colour of turquoise. Patara Beach is about a 30 minute drive away and is part of a national park with a 12km stretch of beautiful sand backed by dunes .
Kalkan has several beach clubs nearby, which offer wonderful paved platform terraces and gardens cut into the bottom of the mountainside, with ladders going into the sea. They offer everything from swimming and sunbathing to water sports and restaurant/bar facilities, with sunbed and umbrellas for hire. The beach clubs across the bay have free water taxi service that you can pick up in the harbour.
Kalkan is also a great base from which to explore the multitude of beautiful ancient Lycian and natural sites of the area.
A word of warning though. Kalkan’s stunning views come at a price! The town is set on a hill and it is very steep in parts and so sadly is unsuitable for those with mobility difficulties.