The Best Beaches
in Antalya

Antalya is not one beach but a whole stretch of the Turkish coast, a province that runs from the city bays beneath the Beydaglari mountains all the way west toward Kalkan and east past Side and Alanya. That breadth is the honest joy of it, because within a few hours you can stand on a wild protected dune beach where turtles nest, drop into a turquoise cove framed by a gorge, swim among ancient ruins, or simply walk from your hotel onto a long sandy resort strip. Few destinations pack so much variety into one name, and few are so easy to misjudge if you only see the city.

The honest read is that the beaches that make Antalya famous are mostly out of town. The city has two convenient bays, the long pebble sweep of Konyaalti under the mountains and the sandy resort strip at Lara, and both are pleasant and easy to reach, but neither is the reason photographers come. For that you head west, to the vast dunes of Patara, the jewel cove of Kaputas and the long quiet shore at Cirali below the ruins of Olympos. We are clear below about which beaches are worth the drive, which are sandy and which are pebble, and where the famous names are simply busy rather than special.

Below we rank the beaches across the province that genuinely repay a visit, we flag the surface underfoot and the access for each, and we say plainly where a celebrated beach is overrated in peak season and where the real swimming and beauty lie. We never invent a club, a price or an amenity, so anything we cannot confirm is marked to be confirmed, and conditions are described as typical rather than guaranteed.

Set your expectations by where you are willing to travel. If you base yourself in Antalya city, Konyaalti and Lara give you an easy daily swim, one pebble with a mountain view and one sandy with resort comfort, but treat them as convenient rather than special. The beaches that justify the trip, Patara, Kaputas and Cirali, all sit well to the west or south, so the honest advice is to hire a car or plan a few nights nearer them rather than expecting the magic on the city doorstep. For families, the sandy resort beaches at Lara, Side and the calm bay at Adrasan are the gentlest, while the spectacular coves ask more of small children.

Who should skip what comes down to crowds and surface. Cleopatra in Alanya is genuinely beautiful sand but very busy and built up in peak season, so come early or out of high summer, or choose the quieter Cirali and Patara for the same warmth with far more room. Anyone expecting soft sand should know that Konyaalti, Kemer and much of the mountain coast are pebble, so pack water shoes. And the celebrated little coves like Kaputas are small and reached by steps, wonderful early and crowded by noon. Match the beach to your patience for driving and your tolerance for crowds, and Antalya rewards you with one of the most varied coasts in the Mediterranean.

Antalya has one of the longest beach seasons in the Mediterranean, with warm sea from late spring well into autumn. July and August bring intense heat and the fullest resorts, so the sweet spots are May and June and again September and October, when the sun is strong, the sea is warm and the crowds are lighter. The water stays swimmable into October on most of the coast, which makes the shoulder months a genuine pleasure for both the city beaches and the wild ones out west. Our full guide breaks the year down month by month.

Antalya has a real beach club and beach lounge scene, strongest along the city bays and the resort coasts. Konyaalti and Lara carry organised stretches with hired sunbeds, loungers and beach bars, the resort beaches at Side, Kemer and Belek run polished daybed clubs, and the quieter shores like Cirali and Adrasan keep things simple with a sunbed and a taverna. Fees, loungers and any minimum spend move by beach and season and are best confirmed on the day, so we mark them to be confirmed. Our full directory compares the clubs by beach and style.