Dalyan Beach in Turkey Iztuzu

Iztuzu: More Than a Beautiful Beach

Dalyan is not for you if you want to step out of your front door straight on to the beach. However, there is a strong argument that Dalyan has a great deal to offer when it comes to offering a lovely day at the beach.

?ztuzu Beach is 4.5 km long, accessible by a wonderful boat trip through the delta or an equally impressive 15-minute bus journey. The narrow beach acts as a barrier between the freshwater of the delta and the sea.

The loggerhead turtle (caretta caretta) has been nesting here for many years and Iztuzu has become one of the most important nesting sites on the Mediterranean. Loggerheads are on the ICUN Red List for endangered species with the result that the beach has had protected status since 1988 but not before a campaign to raise awareness.

Prior to 1984, many locals had beach huts where they lived for part of the year. When owners were asked to dismantle them, the rumours of impending development for tourists suddenly seemed to carry some weight. Hotel, marina, modern buildings; all were possible. In 1987, it was revealed that there was to be an 1800-bed tourist complex and early building began, financed by a company in Germany.
It was an English lady, June Haimoff who had found Iztuzu years before during her travels around the Mediterranean who began the protests, enlisting the help of a number of famous people and bodies along the way. Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) were among them as well as David Bellamy, a well-known British environmentalist. In Germany, the protests were especially strong, particularly because the development company was seeking public finance for “development aid.”

Prince Philip was President of WWF at that time and he responded to June’s approach by asking the Turkish Government for a moratorium in order to judge the environmental impact of the development. A temporary stop to any further building was put in place. At the same time, the application for “development aid” was rejected by the German Government.

Come July 1988 the Turkish government rejected the development with ?ztuzu Beach and hinterland given Special Environmental Protection Area status. The full story is told in Kaptan June and the Turtles, published in 1997 in English and Turkish four years later.

There are around 300 nests annually on ?ztuzu Beach and there are strict regulations in place to protect them:
· From 1 May - 31 October there is no access to the beach between 20.00 and 08:00, to limit sound and light disturbance

· Vehicles and animals are not allowed to enter the beach during that same period each year

·There are marked nesting areas where not only parasols and sunbeds are forbidden but visitors may not lie on towels on the sand nor dig holes.

·Speedboats are banned.

There is now research each year with volunteers undertaking studies on population etc. A turtle hospital provides for injured turtles and June’s original beach hut is now in place as a museum. June received the MBE for her work and passed away at the age of 99 in April 2022 after an amazing life and legacy.

In 2008 ?ztuzu Beach won the category Best Open Space (Europe) from The Times and three years later the Best Beach Destination of Europe by Dutch holiday assessment website Zoover. Do you still want to walk out of your front door straight on to the beach?