Take a Cruise from the Harbor on a Yacht

Fethiye is home to one of the most beautiful natural harbors in Turkey and is known as a base for setting out on a yachting trip. The most famous of these trips is the Blue Cruise, a three-night yacht journey along the coast from Fethiye to Olympos with stops at Kaş and the Kekova Island area along the way.

Blue Cruise trips set out daily during the summer months. They're a great way to experience this beautiful and rugged slice of coastline, with plenty of time for sunbathing onboard and swimming stops.

If you don't have time for this journey, though, there are plenty of one-day cruise options offered from Fethiye harbor.

The most popular of these is the 12 Islands Tour, which cruises around the islands of Fethiye Bay, with plenty of swim stops along the way.

Sunbathe then Paraglide Over Ölüdeniz Lagoon

Turkey's most famous beach is 15 kilometers south from Fethiye. The calm turquoise water, sheltered from the sea, with its white-sand beach rimmed by dense pine forest, is impossibly perfect, which is why people have been flocking here for years now.

Some of Ölüdeniz's sheen has been shaken off over the past two decades, as package tourism arrived on the scene, but the lagoon area has not seen the construction development of other tourism hot spots, and the village attached to the lagoon is still a low-story unobtrusive affair.

If you don't want to swim or sunbathe on the beach here, the other big activity is tandem paragliding.

Relax on the Beach of Butterfly Valley

This lovely beach, secreted between two sharp cliffs, is home to the Jersey Tiger Butterfly.

One of the joys of Butterfly Valley is that it is unreachable by road. You either have to trek here from Faralya village, high above on the cliff, or take a boat. During summer shuttle-boats depart for Butterfly Valley a couple of times daily from Ölüdeniz beach.

There are great hiking opportunities in the lush, forested gorge behind the beach, though most people are happy to just spend the day soaking up the sun on the sand.

The Butterfly Valley boat tour offers a full-day cruise from Ölüdeniz, visiting Butterfly Valley to relax or hike, as well as anchoring at other coves for swim stops. This is a great opportunity to take in the coastal views of the area. Lunch is included.