The Ölüdeniz 6-Stop Boat Trip: Butterfly Valley, Blue Cave and St Nicholas Island

While the 12 Islands Boat Trip departs from Fethiye Town Harbour into the calm northern gulf, a completely separate fleet of excursion boats departs every morning at in the late morning to in the late morning directly off the pebbles of Belcekız Beach in Ölüdeniz. If your priority is dramatic vertical mountain cliffs, swimming into sea caves, stepping onto the roadless beach of Butterfly Valley and climbing a Byzantine island city, this is the boat route to book.

The 6 Stops on the Ölüdeniz Route

1. The Blue Cave (Mavi Mağara): twenty minutes south of Belcekız under the sheer cliffs of Babadağ, boats pause outside a natural sea grotto where sunlight refracting under the submerged rock arch turns the water inside the cave an electric cobalt blue.
2. Butterfly Valley Beach (Kelebekler Vadisi, 1-hour shore stop): the highlight of the morning. The boat drops anchor or nose-rams gently onto the white pebbles of Butterfly Valley, giving you a full hour to swim in the glowing turquoise bay or walk up the lush canyon floor toward the waterfall.
3. Aquarium Bay (Akvaryum Koyu): a sheltered natural amphitheatre encircled by pine islands where lunchtime anchors are dropped over crystal-clear snorkelling water.
4. St Nicholas Island (Gemiler Adası, 1-hour shore stop): separated from the pine-lined mainland beach of Gemiler (Darboğaz) by a narrow 200-metre channel, this rocky island was a major early Christian pilgrimage port between the 5th and 7th centuries AD and is associated by maritime historians with the early tomb of St Nicholas (Bishop of Myra) before his relics were moved eastward. Pay a small museum fee at the jetty and climb the stone path past four vaulted Byzantine basilicas, floor mosaics and a remarkable 350-metre vaulted processional tunnel connecting two churches up to the lighthouse summit for a 360-degree view over the turquoise strait.
5. Cold Water Bay (Soğuksu Koyu): a pine-backed cove below Kayaköy where icy freshwater mountain springs well up from the seabed, creating a refreshing thermocline layer on top of the warm Mediterranean seawater.
6. Camel Beach (Deve Plajı): a final shallow afternoon swim stop before sailing back to Belcekız Beach in the early evening as paragliders circle overhead.