5am was a bit of a different time to get up. But the Captain said this was the time his Gulet needed to depart so up we got. Shouldn’t complain because it’s a lovely time of the morning.

We pulled anchor and charged off after him. Straight into the wind so no sailing – just motoring. We got to our first stop of the day – Butterfly Bay – just after 9am and anchored off the beach. There was one gullet on shore so we made sure we were clear of him.

Then it was off to explore. We dingied to the beach and were met by a guy who suggested we put some fenders out. Strange.

The main attraction of the bay is a gorge that runs directly behind it, up to a beautiful waterfall. At the head of the gorge is a really cool place with lots of butterflies. Very pretty and worth calling in, even if Rod knows nothing about it.

The walk takes about 30 mins and costs 5TL and on the way back we began to pass heaps and heaps of people. Where did they come from?

We soon found out as when we got back to the beach we found one end of the beach (the north end) completely covered in wall to wall gulets. Unfortunately we were anchored off this end of the beach as well. Now the fender comment made sense. We quickly dingied back to the boat and got out of there fast. Next time it’s the south end of the beach for anchoring.

Next stop was Olu Deniz, a couple of miles north. We anchored around the corner from the Blue Lagoon stern to and had a nice relaxing time swimming and paddle boarding.

The Blue Lagoon is a no go zone for powered craft since 1983, but okay for the paddleboard so I poked my head in and had a look. We also took the dingy in to the adjoining beach and got charged 10TL for the privilege. The lagoon is packed with wall to wall deck chairs along with the usual touristy peddle powered craft with the water slide off the back. They had successfully managed to transform a beautiful looking lagoon into a crass tourist trap. The captain was right when he suggested we swim round the corner and don’t bother going to the Lagoon.

After a nice afternoon swimming, we headed off to the overnight anchorage at St Nicolas Island, a lovely anchorage between the mainland and the island.

Next morning, we headed onto the island to have a look at the extensive ruins dating back to the 7^th century AD. Evidently St Nicolas stayed there (obviously on his way to the North Pole). It was quite a stopping off point for the pilgrims on their way to the holy lands. There were about 7 churches on the island, some connected by long tunnels. And the views from on top of the island were to die for. For 10TL entrance fee, this is a must do island.

Sight seeing over, we headed for Fethiye.

For photos of butterfly bay and blue lagoon see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201973785259136.1073741925.1620379103&type=1&l=22c5cf7d5a

For photos of kalkan see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201962554178366.1073741924.1620379103&type=1&l=2647e8a9ec