Kas Kekova Boat Tour Experience
The kas kekova boat tour explores the Sunken City ruins beneath crystal-clear Mediterranean waters, with stops at Simena Castle, sheltered swimming coves, and the ancient Lycian harbor of Tersane Bay. This full-day kas kekova boat tour tours operate from Kaş harbor, combining archaeological sites with snorkeling opportunities above submerged stone foundations and amphoras. Boats navigate the protected coastline where tectonic shifts submerged Byzantine settlements centuries ago.
Kekova Island lies four nautical miles north of Demre, its southern shore concealing a 2,000-year-old secret: the submerged ruins of Dolchiste, a Lycian settlement abandoned after earthquakes in the second century.
Stone staircases descend into crystalline water, house foundations visible six meters below the surface, their geometry preserved by the Mediterranean's low salinity. The site became a protected archaeological zone in 1990, prohibiting swimming or diving but permitting observation from boats and kayaks that glide directly over mosaic floors and collapsed porticoes.
The kas to kekova boat trip departs daily from Üçağız village and Kaş harbor, navigating a coastline where Byzantine and Lycian civilizations layered their architecture across eight centuries. Simena Castle, now called Kaleköy, crowns the eastern peninsula with a 300-seat Hellenistic theater carved into bedrock — the smallest complete amphitheater in Lycia. Wooden gulets anchor in Tersane Bay, where Roman-era shipyards cut drydock channels into limestone cliffs. Tour routes pass Aquarium Bay, named for visibility exceeding 30 meters, and Gökkaya Bay, where a single Lycian sarcophagus stands half-submerged at the tide line.
Kekova boat tour from kas itineraries typically allocate 90 minutes for swimming stops in protected coves and 45 minutes at Kaleköy for castle access and village exploration. The sunken city viewing corridor spans 800 meters, with the clearest structural outlines concentrated near Tersane Bay's western headland. Guides navigate within five meters of the ruins, positioning boats above visible street grids and ceramic amphora shards embedded in the seabed. Glass-bottom kayaks, launched from Üçağız, offer an alternative perspective, allowing paddlers to pause directly above individual doorways and column bases.
The Lycian coast boat trip operates year-round, with peak clarity occurring between April and October when plankton levels drop and underwater visibility reaches seasonal highs. Morning departures secure calmer sea conditions and sharper light angles for photography through the water column. The Turkish Ministry of Culture maintains a permanent exclusion zone around the sunken city, with patrol boats enforcing the no-contact regulation that has kept the site archaeologically intact since its designation as a Specially Protected Area.
8 hr
