The Story of Oludeniz and Belcekız Beach

According to legend, in ancient times, ships passing through Fethiye would anchor offshore and send a boat ashore to fetch drinking water. One day, when an old captain's young and handsome son arrived at the bay to fetch water, he saw the beautiful Belcekız.

He was immediately struck by her beauty, and his heart was set ablaze. However, the young man had to fetch the water and return. As the ship sailed away, Belcekız continued to wait by the shore for her love. The young man also hoped for the ship to pass through this bay again.

With each passage, he came to fetch water. The young couple, deeply in love, endured the longing. One day, as the ship was passing through, a storm erupted. The young man told his father about a sheltered, pool-like bay here. However, the father misunderstood, thinking his son was willing to sacrifice the ship to see his lover. The argument escalated with the waves, and as the ship was about to crash into the rocks, the father threw his son into the sea with a stroke of an oar and went to the helm. Later, he saw the bay as calm as a sheet. His son had lost his life on the rocks, and Belcekız, waiting for her love on the rocks, threw herself into the sea.

Since that day, the place where the girl died is called Belcekız, and where the boy died is called Ölüdeniz. The sea, changing its color throughout the day, may be burning for a boy and a girl.

Ölüdeniz is, true to its name, a tranquil lake. While Belcekız shores wrestle with waves on the stormiest days, only ripples occur in Ölüdeniz.

However, Ölüdeniz, which appears calm, renews itself almost every day for three invisible reasons. Firstly, the intense freshwater springs in Ölüdeniz create a current from the bottom towards the open sea. Secondly, due to the salt difference created by these springs, there is a constant circulation from the open sea inward and outward. The third is the ebb and flow effect, where the sea rises and falls by an average of half a meter every two to three days, providing a significant influx and outflow of seawater.