Dalyan, Turkey

After visiting Turkey in summer 2009, I declared I would never go back to a Turkish coastal resort because of the hassle I experienced there. But, when the opportunity arose to head back to the south-west coast, I decided to give Turkey another go.

This time round I wasn't traveling with a female friend but I was with Olly, his parents, plus his sister and her fiancé. We were also somewhere less developed than Ölüdeniz which made a difference. I think you get hassled more in larger resorts because if they insult you and don't get your custom, there are plenty more potential customers around.

We stayed in a private villa in Dalyan - the villa was about a twenty minute walk from the town centre, which was the right sort of distance that you didn't feel like you were in the thick of things. One thing to say about Dalyan is that it's not near the beach, though you can easily get a water bus down to İztuzu Beach.

İztuzu Beach is one of the nesting habitats loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta). Since these turtles are endangered, it makes this a pretty important place; throughout the years, many a battle has happened to ensure that the turtles are kept safe. There's now a Rehabilitation Centre down at the beach where injured turtles are nursed back to health, like this little fellow here.

The easiest way to get down to the beach and travel around the local area is by renting a moped (it costs about £8 a day) - the roads are quiet so it doesn't feel too scary if you've never been on one. I left Olly in charge of the driving and sat back and enjoyed the view. (OK, I was terrified, though after the first day I got more into it!) There are pancake houses dotted around with great views so you can always break up your journey like we did if you don't fancy being on the bike for extended periods of time.

Of course, the best place to relax is by the pool and we certainly did a lot of that over the twelve days we were there. There were some inflatable toys and watersports involved too so we didn't get too sloth-like!

I'll have more to share about some of the things we did whilst we were there later on this week. Have you been on your summer holiday yet? x