Kalkan Gulet Day Trips, the Ten O'Clock Boat to Fırnaz and Frank Bay

The gulet takes in its stern lines, a deckhand coils them, still wet, under a bench, the engine settles to a low note and the harbour wall goes by. Behind you the town stands white on its hill. Ahead the water shifts from jade over the rocks to ink in the open bay.

Kalkan has one small pebble beach, so the day boat does the work of a beach. It anchors in coves with a swim ladder over the stern and lunch cooked below, and it brings you back to the quay around five. The crew pick the bays by the wind.

Fırnaz, where the shore is clay

Fırnaz Bay lies west of town, a run of 20 to 30 minutes by sea depending on the boat. No road comes down to it. A small beach sits at the head of the bay, steep slopes rise behind it, olive trees stand along the ridge and the Lycian Way passes high above. The shore is clay. Swimmers wade in, coat themselves, let it dry and rinse off in the sea, and the water over the rocks is clear to the bottom.

Mind the swell. The bay faces open water, so the afternoon wind can set a boat rolling at anchor, and around lunchtime several day boats may be anchored here at once.

Frank Bay, the cold one

Frank Bay, Frenk Koyu on Turkish maps, is the last cove on the left as the boat leaves Kalkan Bay, about 15 minutes from the harbour. The water is deeper and colder than at the other stops. Boatmen put it down to a spring running in from the mountains, and on a hot day the first step off the ladder is a shock.

Lunch on the afterdeck

Around midday the engine goes off and the anchor goes down. On most boats lunch is cooked on board and served on deck while the boat swings at anchor, and the swimming starts again afterwards. Shared boats follow a set programme. A private boat lets the captain choose the hour, which matters most at Fırnaz.

The day has no hard edges. Somebody swims, somebody reads, the crew clears plates, and the boat moves on to the next bay when the wind says so. By the time the harbour comes back into view, nobody can quite account for the hours.

Editor's picks

• Ask for Frank Bay early.The coldest water of the day goes down easier before the sun is high.
• Go ashore at Fırnaz.Wade to the clay, then rinse off in water clear enough to see the bottom.
• Look down in Aquarium Bay.Kalkan has its own, about twenty minutes out by boat and named for how clear the water is.
• Swim off Kaputaş.Many boats anchor off the cove, which skips the 180 steps.
• Look for the Blue Cave.It lies roughly 600 metres from Kaputaş by sea.
• Ask which bays are on the route.The wind decides in the end, but a good captain will tell you the plan.
• Take the evening boat.Some operators run a sunset cruise from the harbour at around half past five.

Insider notes

There is nothing ashore at Fırnaz, no café and no sunbeds, so water, a hat and a layer for the afternoon wind come aboard with you. Locals call the aqueduct that supplied Patara Delikkemer, the Pierced Arch, and its line runs past the bay.

Go down to the harbour the evening before and look over the boats. Captains are usually aboard, and you can ask which bays they plan to use and what kind of day they usually run.

Itineraries shift with the wind. If the crew change the order of the bays, they are reading the water, and it is best to let them.

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How to get to Kalkan

Dalaman is the closest airport, about 1 hour 45 minutes by road. You can book a private VIP transfer or a seat on a shared shuttle minibus, hiring a car at the airport is easy, and dolmuş minibuses run between Kalkan and both Kaş and Fethiye. Day boats leave from Kalkan harbour, at the foot of the old town. Flights from Europe and Istanbul are covered in Getting there.

On the quay somebody asks which bay was best, and nobody agrees.