Aperlae

Tickets and tours: which to book

There is nothing to buy for Aperlae: the site is unfenced, there is no gate and no entry fee, and no tour for Aperlae alone is sold online. The question is only how to get there.

The most common way is by sea. Day boats from Kas and from the village of Ucagiz cruise around the Kekova area, passing the sunken ruins of Kekova island and the castle at Simena, and some of them stop in the bay at Aperlae for a swim. Ask before booking, as many routes do not include it. Sea kayak trips from Ucagiz also explore the coast, and a private boat can be hired in either village for a custom route. These trips include the boat and often lunch on board; time ashore is usually short.

The second way is on foot. The Lycian Way long-distance trail passes through the ruins, and a waymarked path of about an hour leads over the Sicak peninsula from the road near Kilinçli. Walking gives you time to see the walls and churches properly, and you can swim among the sunken houses.

The sensible plan is to walk in early with water and snorkel, or combine a Kekova boat trip with a stop here if your boat offers one.

A short history

Aperlae was founded between the late 4th and early 3rd century BC on a rugged bay of the Lycian coast. Farming was hard on this rocky land, but the town grew rich on royal purple, the costly dye extracted from murex snails, and its shells were even mixed into the building mortar. Aperlae headed a small union of towns that included Simena, Isinda and Apollonia. In the Byzantine period it was a bishopric with four churches. Around the end of the 7th century AD, as Arab raids made the coast unsafe, it was abandoned and never resettled. Part of the town later sank, and underwater surveys have mapped the drowned quarter.

Getting there

Aperlae lies on the Sicak peninsula west of Kekova, in Kas district of Antalya province. From Kas, drive east on the coast road towards Demre, then turn off to Ucagiz; before reaching it, a side road leads to the hamlet of Kilinçli, where the path starts. The drive from Kas takes around 45 minutes, and the walk to the ruins about an hour each way. There is no public transport to the trailhead, so you need a car or a taxi. By sea, boats from Ucagiz take about 30 minutes. The nearest airports are Dalaman, about three hours west, and Antalya, about three hours east.

Rules and what to bring

Do not move stones, take shells or remove any finds, including from the seabed: it is illegal to take antiquities out of Turkey. Snorkelling is fine, but scuba diving among ruins needs permission. Bring plenty of water, a hat, sturdy shoes and a snorkel; there are no shops, toilets or shade at the site. Beware of the open cisterns and loose stones, and tell someone your route if you walk alone.

When to go

Go early in the day. The path over the peninsula is exposed, and in summer the heat on the rocks becomes tiring well before noon. Morning light is also best for seeing the sunken houses through clear water, before the afternoon wind roughens the bay.

May, June, September and October are the ideal months, warm enough to swim but cool enough to walk. July and August are very hot, so walk only at dawn or come by boat. Boat trips from Kas and Ucagiz run mainly from April to October, and in winter few boats go out, though the site itself remains accessible on foot. Rain in winter makes the paths slippery. Visitor numbers are low all year; at most a few boats anchor in the bay at midday in high summer. Allow two to three hours on foot, including time to swim.