İçmeler

İçmeler is a popular Turkish holiday resort situated 8 kilometres from Marmaris. It is also a municipality of its own. İçmeler bay is located on the Datcha peninsula. The town is surrounded on three sides by pine forests. Hiking on the mountains provides fantastic views of the region and is very popular.

Pronounced in English approximately like /each-mell-er/, the town has developed rapidly over the last 15 years, accommodation and other tourist facilities mushrooming across the formerly sleepy fishermen's and sponge divers' village. As a side to the increasing tourism, this village in the Turkish Riviera is seeing an increasing amount of watersports facilities, such as; scuba diving, waterskiing and many others.

The town developed on the back of tourist seeking a quieter alternative to the over developed Marmaris, many who return annually.

Nightlife is rather scarce in İçmeler. Restaurants and pubs usually feature live music, shows and acts until around midnight. After this time, the only entertainment available is generally the nightclubs. The most popular nightclubs in İçmeler are the EastEnders and Ambiance (formerly Pleasure) ^[1] nightclubs, which feature foam parties, music and dancing and become increasingly busy between midnight and 1:30am. Many tourists enjoy the variation in entertainment, starting in the restaurants in the early evening, moving onto the pubs and mini-discos until midnight and then followed by the nightclubs anywhere up to 4am.

Directly across the bay from Icmeler is the busy port of Marmaris, which also gives its name to the region.

Whilst loved by tourists for the shopping (especially fake designer brands and watches) Prices in Icmeler have almost trebled for the 2010 season in order to represent parity with Eurozone destinations.

See also

• Marmaris
• Turkish Riviera
• Marinas in Turkey
• Foreign purchases of real estate in Turkey

References