Kızkalesi is a small resort town on the Mediterranean coast, 55 km from Mersin. This is the nearest full-fledged beach resort to the city of Mersin with a good tourist infrastructure.
Kyzylesi, view of the fortress
Kyzylesi on the map
Beaches in Kızkalesi
There are two beaches here — Müze beach (family beach) and Kızkalesi Halk Plajı (wide public beach), they are separated by a small rocky patch on which cafes are located.
The beaches of Kyzylesi on the map
Muze beach
You can go to the Muze beach either by the road from above or through the cafe territory. Sun beds and umbrellas are paid. The entrance to the sea is sandy and gently sloping. The water near the shore is a little cloudy because of the sand. Vacationers are families with children.
We were alone with a friend, and the guard said that we could rent a chaise longue, there would be no problems, because he sees that we are decent people))) But I didn’t really like this beach, so we went to the big beach.
Müze beach
Muze beach
Sand on Muze beach
Kızkalesi Halk Plajı Beach
There are several different areas on this wide beach where you can rent a sun lounger and an umbrella. This can also be done on the beaches of hotels, the guys there don’t mind earning extra money. We took two sun beds and an umbrella on the beach of the Barbarossa Hotel for 100 lira (summer 2023).
Kızkalesi Halk Plajı Beach
The entrance to the sea is gentle, sometimes small plastic can float in the water near the shore, but even near the shore it is almost always transparent.
Kızkalesi Halk Plajı
Kızkalesi Halk Plajı water
Paths on the beach of Kyzylesi
Water activities in Kyzylesi
There are protective buoys, as well as a large rental of all kinds of water activities on the right side – banana, parachute, etc.
There are always a lot of vacationers, and often they are piggy – plastic cups, bags, cigarettes, all this is lying around on the beaches in large numbers in the evening. There are few foreigners – mostly Russian relocators who come here from Mersin for a day.
Garbage on the beach of Kyzylesi
Cabins and showers on the beach Kızkalesi Halk Plajı
There are showers and changing rooms on the beach. They work up to 7 hours guaranteed, and then as you’re lucky. If they are closed, many restaurants on the first line of the beach have showers for guests.
Tips and life hacks
This is a purely Turkish resort. The contingent is a working class from the south-east of Turkey, so it is noisy and can be dirty on the beach on holidays and weekends. In the evening, the town turns into a Turkish Las Vegas – the waterfront becomes very noisy with people and restaurant singers, and crowds of people walking. There is a nightclub on the beach. There are many street tattoo parlors.
Restaurants on the first line near the embankment and the beach are 30% more expensive than on the road. The quality is almost the same everywhere.
Traders at the beach deceive foreigners – for example, you specify the price of ice cream in advance, they say one thing, but they charge more from the card. Or, for example, an umbrella from merchants in the shops closest to the beach costs 400 lira, although it can usually be bought for 200-220.
You can reach the fortress by boat – there is a pier on the right side of the beach and cashiers are sitting in front of it, selling tickets.
Ships taking tourists to the fortress
DO NOT buy colored juice-ice in glasses, which is spread on the beach. What has melted and is not sold, they drain back, mix and sell in a second round. We saw it with our own eyes.
In the evening, go sit in a cafe located on a rocky rise between two beaches. The backlight lights up there – it’s cozy and beautiful.
How to get to Kyzkalesi from Mersin
Kyzylesi is 55 km from Mersin Marina. You can get here by car, minibus (Mersin-Silifke) or bus number 170. The fare by minibus is ~ 50 liras. The minibus takes about 60-70 minutes, the bus takes about 1.5 hours.
Being in Mersin – if you want to go sitting, then you need to get to the Forum stop, otherwise there is a high probability that the bus will be full and you will stand for an hour. I always stay at this stop: Cumhuriyet, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Blv. No:292/A (see Google maps).
Being in Kyzylesi – if you get on a minibus at a bus stop, there is a high probability that you will not get a place. Step back along the road for 200-300 meters (towards Migros), the minibus will stop anyway, there is a chance that you will take a place so as not to drive for an hour standing.
This is what a minibus stop in Kyzylesi looks like (on the map at the beginning of the post I marked where this stop is):
Bus stop in Kyzylesi
Bus stop in Kyzylesi
P.S
Kyzylesi is in 5th place in my TOP 5 best beach destinations in Mersin province. In the first place – Toslaklar Koyu, in the second – Yapraklı Koy Plajı, in the third – Anemurium Antik Kenti, in the fourth – Kum Mahallesi Plajı, on the fifth – Kızkalesi.
