Kekova Sunken City, Demre, and Myra Day Tour with Transfers

There should not be many Chinese people who take this route in a group tour. I checked BOOKING and foreign review websites myself before, and basically only the foreign review websites have 20 to 30 English reviews from a long time ago, and the comments above are basically correct. Most registrations for this route are only on weekends or Wednesdays, and the prices are much cheaper. The only place I found that can register every day is more than 100 RMB more expensive per person, but we are traveling on Tuesday and there is nothing we can do. In addition, it seems that this group departs at 9:30, which is later than other groups. I could have a night at the hotel, but in fact I was overthinking it. This group didn't email me until 10 o'clock the night before to inform me that they would pick us up in the old town at 6:30 in the morning. Later, when I completed the whole journey, I found out that it really takes 12 hours to take this route according to their method. So the 9:30 departure is a lie and basically impossible. Let me first talk about my evaluation of this route. This route itself is still very beautiful. I can give this route alone a score of 4.5 and it includes the same island hopping area as Kaş, that is, the Sunken City (the only difference is that you don’t go to the inhabited island and there are a few more swimming spots in Kaş throughout the day), and you also see the ancient city of Myra and the Church of St. Nicholas (the prototype of Santa Claus). These two spots are also worth seeing and worth going, and you will walk a section of D400, one of which is very beautiful. Secondly, I was very satisfied with the island hopping part, because according to the introduction it only took 1 hour, but it was actually 3 hours on the boat. In the end, they found a small bay for us to swim in the Mediterranean Sea. The boarding point was near the Demre Museum, where there were also many boats parked. The key point was that you could actually see turtles here. Turtles came to the port every day to beg for food, which was a surprise. The water quality along the entire route was unbeatable. Lunch was at a restaurant opened in 1988 in the center of Demre town. I should say the meal was quite good, and the price was probably very cheap for the travel agency. We were first served a pancake and an appetizer, and then a lamb or chicken meal of our choice. The owner was very attentive and would deliver drinks. In fact, the drinks were charged separately at the end, 50 lira a can, which was a small problem. Then after eating, walk for 5 minutes to St. Nicholas Church. The ticket for the church is 17 Euros for foreigners, which is charged separately. The tour guide will first ask if you want to go to the church. Those who don't want to go can wander around the town. The price is the same as if you buy it yourself at the scenic spot. Of course, travel agencies will definitely find ways to get cheap tickets. We just need to pay the selling price. This church is actually worth a visit. It is one of the churches mentioned in the Bible. The murals are well preserved. I feel that it is better than many of the caves in the open-air museum in Kappa. It is also quite large, and has the feeling of a biblical monument. St. Nicholas was the archbishop here and was buried here after his death. His body was taken away by Italians hundreds of years ago, leaving only his coffin here. In the past, people who went to Jerusalem by sea for pilgrimage would come to this church first to worship. It is more important to Christians. Archaeology is still in progress. In recent years, the monks' quarters of the cathedral have been excavated, which can be seen somewhere behind the church. : Next is to take a car to the theater ruins and the Lycian cliff tombs in the ancient city of Myra. The ticket for this scenic spot is included in the one-day tour. It is worth a visit and very filmy. It takes about 50 minutes. The overall route is still very good. So what is the problem? The problem is that this route is full of shopping groups, which is a waste of time. They start picking up people from the old town at 6:30 in the morning, and then take them all the way to the major hotels in Kemer Resort (Europeans here are the main target of the tour group). It is already past 8 o'clock at this time, so if you live in Kemer, you can still catch up with breakfast if you sign up for this route. It is almost 9 o'clock after all the pick-ups are completed, and then the D400 will be officially started. At around 9 o'clock, they will drive to a roadside store and let you go to the toilet, drink Turkish coffee and buy breakfast. You can also choose not to buy. The price is much higher than outside. A cup of Turkish coffee is sold to you at the price of Starbucks, which is acceptable to Chinese people who drink Starbucks. Foreigners call this place a breakfast trap. It will be delayed for 40 minutes here, and then they will stop at two shopping spots along the way. Although you can buy or not, it will continue until 11 o'clock, which greatly affects the experience. The reason why this route is not rated high is because of this problem. We will arrive at the pier at around 11 o'clock and start the itinerary. In fact, if you drive yourself, more than 2 hours is enough to drive from the old town to the pier, and the experience will be better. I also observed a large group of Europeans who signed up after getting on the bus in Kemer that day. The tour guide asked them and the price was 40 euros per person, which is about 320, so the low price group is probably one of the reasons. With this amount of money, it is enough to sign up for an island hopping tour in Kas. The good thing about this group is that it allows you to go back and forth in Antalya in one day, experience the same island hopping and appreciate the ancient monuments in Kas, which is suitable for people like me who don't rent a car and have a tight schedule. Since the island hopping tour in Kas starts at 10 am at the latest, those who can't catch up can try this route, provided that you have a little patience and endure two shopping spots, and then there are a lot of beautiful scenery...

Having journeyed through a fair share of countries across Asia, Europe, and Northern Africa, I’m no stranger to this type of adventure, usually blending both guided and independent explorations. I picked the Kekova sunken city, Demre, and Myra day tour because it struck the right balance—enough sites to keep things lively but not overwhelming. In a nutshell, I had a fantastic time and here’s why: The day was packed full of fascinating historical sites, with perfectly timed breaks, including a much-needed swim. From a 7 AM start to a 7:30 PM finish in Antalya, it was a comprehensive tour. Frequent refreshment stops, about once an hour, meant plenty of chances to stretch, grab a snack, or take a bathroom break—even on the boat. This setup worked well for everyone, regardless of age. Best of all, no pit stops at "luxury" shops just to pressure tourists into making impulsive purchases. Our guide, Yakup, didn’t just know his stuff—he delivered each tale with flair, keeping everyone engaged. We really lucked out with him. The group itself was a melting pot of ages and nationalities, all making the day enjoyable by showing mutual respect and camaraderie. There were a couple of minor hiccups though. I booked through KLOOK, which mentioned a 9:30 AM start, only to find myself picked up before 7 AM. And while the itinerary promised a 9:30 PM end, we wrapped up around 7:30 PM. There was no mention of swimming either, so a heads-up about packing swimwear would’ve been nice. Lastly, the lunch spot fell short of expectations, with the food being a letdown in an otherwise exceptional experience. All said and done, I’d wholeheartedly recommend this trip. It’s a standout highlight that’s worth every moment.

The tour guide was very good, explained clearly, and had a lot of time to stop at each attraction.

An e-mail will be sent the night before to inform you of the pick-up time ~ the itinerary is arranged smoothly, the tour guide's explanation is very interesting, kekova is worth a visit😍😍The only small regret is that I did not stop at Simena and there is no pick-up from Antalya in the off-season🥲

tour guide is knowledgeable and can talk, he talk throughout the bus ride of 2 hours to and fro antalya city center. very proud that he has a background of economics so he was sharing a lot on econs rather than the itinerary. The tour is ok, just that we are the few tourists to be picked up from antalya city center and the rest are locals staying in residential area, we are the first to get picked up and last to dropped off. The boat trip is highlight, after that it is just the church and then an ancient city which has nothing much.

The off-season cruise lasts only one and a half hours, and there are no swimming or water activities. Since most Russian-speaking tourists are on the bus, the tour guide’s main language is Russian and there are few explanations in English. The activity ended around 3:30 and returned to the hotel a few hours later. I will take the D400 highway halfway, and the beach is beautiful.

The itinerary notification did not appear on Klook’s notification page. The local travel agency sent a WhatsApp message at 21:40 the day before to inform that the meeting time the next day was 6:40, which was quite different from the 9:30 written on the itinerary. And klook didn’t tell us to download WhatsApp. If we didn’t download it and waited at the door of the hotel at 9:30, wouldn’t we have missed it?