Cape Gelidonya

A dramatic headland at the western tip of the Antalya coast where a scatter of exposed islets and a Bronze Age wreck site have made it legendary among underwater archaeologists — the 1200 BCE Cape Gelidonya shipwreck discovered here was the first to be excavated scientifically underwater. The cape's rocky pinnacles and walls descend to 40 metres through powerful surge zones that attract massive schools of bonito, amberjack, and dentex that patrol the deep blue just off the point. Encrusting marine life on the offshore rocks rivals any site in the eastern Mediterranean, with deep walls coloured by orange and red cup corals, sponges, and fan colonies.