IZTUZU BEACH

Top 10 Best Beaches in Europe 2006 The Independent

You can easily spend long, lazy days on the beach. Pristine and unspoilt, it is the perfect place to relax. You can sunbathe on the golden sands, swim in the radiant blue Mediterranean sea or the clean fresh waters of the lagoon. It doesn't matter how hot it gets, with its gentle, cooling breeze, you won't feel hot or get sunburnt on this beach, but can relax in comfort the whole day until the sun sets. This beach is truly the jewel of the Mediterranean coastline.

İztuzu Beach is a 4.5km long beach near Dalyan, in the Ortaca district of the Province of Muğla in southwestern Turkey. The beach is a narrow spit of land, which forms a natural barrier between the fresh water delta of the Dalyan river and the Mediterranean. It is one of the main breeding grounds for loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Mediterranean and is therefore often referred to as "Turtle Beach". The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) is on the IUCN Red list of endangered animals. For this reason the beach has had a protected status since 1988 and is part of the Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area.