Introduction to Ortakent-Yahşi

A few years ago, Ortakent and Yahşi merged into the same municipality, and the beach area was developed and expanded. This beach area used to be referred to as Yali-Yahşi, but is now more commonly referred to Ortakent-Yahşi. The two ends of the Ortakent-Yahşi beach are very different, and the informal mid-way point is adjacent to the harbour.

The western (Yahşi) end of the beach is more tourist-centric, lined with restaurants and shops, and the day boat jetty. As you walk towards to middle section of the beach, you’ll stroll past the craft stalls and harbour. Venture over the Uludere river inlet, via a quaint hump-back bridge, and you’ll be at the beginning of the eastern (Ortakent) end of the beach.

• Photo Gallery of the Ortakent-Yahsi Belediyesi Cafe (2016 update: This Cafe is now closed – it was pulled down because it contravened building regulations).

The first section of this end of the beach is lined with pensions and boutique hotels, which give way to small resorts with water sports centres. It finally leads to a sheltered Halk Plaj with a couple more small boutiques hotels; this end of the beach is decidedly more laid back.

Just by the Palavra Balik restaurant, venture up this side road for about 100 metres, and you’ll reach a cross roads. Right, leads you to the east end of Ortakent Beach, and to the location of the front entrance of the Tamarisk Hotel, before continuing along the back roads to Bitez. Left will take you the road that runs parallel to the beach, and leads to the central Ortakent-Yahşi dolmuş station.

Location

The area known as Ortakent-Yahşi beach is south of Ortakent Town and its neighbour, Yahşi Village. The harbour is in the mid-way point along this 2km beach area formerly known as Yali-Yahşi, which is nestled between Camel beach (aka Kargi Bay) and Bitez beach.

Distances to Central Ortakent-Yahşi Beach:

• ~1.5km from central Camel Beach

• ~4km from central Bitez Beach
• ~12km from central Bodrum

• ~46km from Milas-Bodrum Airport

Getting There

The dolmuş runs in a loop and there’s a dolmuş stop at the Ortakent end of the beach, which is marked with a metal sign post which has the first and last bus times posted.

Ortakent-Yahşi Beach to Bodrum Dolmuş:

• Frequency: Every 10–15 minutes

• First Bus Bodrum to Ortakent-Yahşi: 6:15am

• Last Bus Bodrum to Ortakent-Yahşi: 2:00am

Bodrum to Ortakent-Yahşi Beach Dolmuş:

• Frequency: Every 10–15 minutes

• First Bus Bodrum to Ortakent-Yahşi: 7:05am

• Last Bus Bodrum to Ortakent-Yahşi: 5:00am

Ortakent-Yahşi Beach Taxi

• There’s a taxi rank in the same location as the dolmuş station.

Things to do: Exploring

As one of the longest expanses of beach on the Peninsula, Ortakent-Yashi is an ideal spot for some gentle exploring. Each end of the beach has a different persona, and it’s a mellow stroll from one end to the other with plenty of opportunities to stop for refreshments and watch the world go by.

Walking to Camel Beach: Walk to the western (Yahşi) end of the beach towards the lighthouse, and Camel Beach is the other side of the small hill that separates the two beaches. It’s about 200m from the end of Yahşi Beach to the beginning of Camel Beach.

Things to do: Ortakent-Yahşi Beaches

The Ortakent and Yahşi stretch of beach is one of the longest on the Bodrum Peninsula, but don’t come here expecting a wide strip of golden sand (for that, you will need to visit neighbouring Camel Beach).

The Ortakent and Yashi beach really needs to be explained in three segments, because each has a different appeal, but no matter which area you arrive it, it’s easy to walk along and explore the other segments.

Yashi (western) end of the beach

Arriving via the Ortakent-Yahşi dolmuş station, you’ll be in the middle of the Yashi end of the beach. Walk down the small pedestrian side street leading from the dolmuş station, and you’ll be in the central hub of the beach area known as Ortakent-Yahşi.

On your right is a wide stretch of beach that continues to end just before the lighthouse. This is the most populated area of the beach, and during peak season, the sun loungers are crammed together and stretch as far as the eye can see.

The Yahşi end of the beach is touristy, and is quite pebbly near the shoreline, but then becomes sandy as you wade further out. I’ve seen a couple of mentions that this end of the beach is referred to as Big Brother beach, but there’s no signs indicating this.

On your left are more loungers and beach area, but gradually as you get closer to the small harbour, the beach disappears and in its place is a series of wooden platforms built over rocks. By day, these platforms are full of loungers, and there are wooden steps leading down into the water.

Along this segment of the beach is a large collection of restaurants, bars and shops, which are separated from the beach by a pedestrian area.

Just as you draw level with the harbour, the shops give ways to a collection of art and craft stalls, and then a small bridge spans the inlet that separates the Yahşi end of the beach from the rest of it.

After the harbour is the jetty where the Belediyesi Café is located, and there are steps down onto the area known as Hebe Beach.

Hebe Beach

There’s a large open area set back from the beach, where there’s loungers, chairs and cushions; where the pensions begin so does a narrow strip of beach. This area gets quite busy with residents from these hotels, and gives an appearance of being really cramped because the narrowness of this sandy area and the proximity of the pensions lined along the edge of the sand.

As you walk along this area, the beach starts to get a little narrower, and then eventually gives way to a slightly rockier terrain, and not as inviting as a strip of sand, but I think that’s what gives this area of the beach its appeal. If you can look past the lack of sand, you’re rewarded with a less-populated area.

Between here and the Palavra Balik Restaurant are a few low-key hotels and small resorts with water sports operations. This area is known as Fink Beach, and if you’re driving through Ortakent Town, you will see a sign post painted on an old surf-board, directing you down Musgebi Caddesi leading to Fink Beach.

Fink Beach

Where possible the local businesses have placed sun loungers at the water’s edge, but there are more loungers available in the expansive gardens which separate the resorts and hotels from the water’s edge.

There’s an eclectic mix of seating options along here, including hammocks strung up between palm trees, some comfortable looking cabanas, and stacks of colourful cushions to flop on.

I love this little section of beach. It’s rustic and laid back, and there’s no big-sell for refreshments from the local hotels if you use their furniture. The beach is a narrow strip of pebbles and rocks, and fluctuates between wide and narrow.

Along here is the Neilson Seaside Resort and the Scala Beach Resort with a bright white wooden jetty stretching out into the sea. Guests chill out at the end, and the servers hustle back and forth between the end of the jetty and beach with trays of food and drink.

Just past this wooden jetty is the Palavra Balik restaurant, which is just the other side of the side road leading from the beach and all the way up to Ortakent Town.

Along the next length of this shoreline walk, the beach runs out and the water comes right up to the wall of an adjacent resort, so depending on where the tide is, you could end up walking through the water to reach the eastern end of the bay, known as Kabakum Halk Plaj.

Kabakum Halk Plaj

This is the location of the Tamarisk Hotel, which is the last hotel on Ortakent-Yahşi Beach. It’s well known for its water sports centre, and an inviting outdoor bar and restaurant area. Just after the hotel is an open expanse of beach with a collection of rustic cabanas.

Like most public beaches, this one doesn’t have a lot of services, but you can buy food and drink at the nearby Tamarisk Hotel. On the hill at the end of the beach is a Sarnic, and this marks the end of Ortakent-Yahşi beach.

Beach Clubs:

Fink Beach Club at Scala Beach

The grassy area adjacent to the beach is dotted with cabanas and loungers. A DJ is on hand to play mellow tunes during the morning, and the tempo picks up during the day. There are also loungers and cabanas on the nearby wooden jetty.

The recently added a Jamaican-style beach bar, covered in palm leaf roof, is located right at the beach with plenty of cushioned seating. Their bistro is well-known for serving an all day Turkish breakfast, but there’s other bar snacks to quash your hunger pangs after a busy day on the water.

Things to do: Shopping

Along the Yahşi end of the beach, you’ll pass a myriad of shops selling tourist trinkets and beach essentials like suntan lotion, beach toys and towels. There’s also a couple of bakkals where you can buy drinks and snacks.

The Ortakent end of the beach is very different, and the beachfront is lined with pensions, boutique hotels and small resorts, but no shopping opportunities.

Craft Stalls

Adjacent to the harbour is a group of craft stalls with striped awnings selling hand crafted souvenirs and collectables. The stall holders start setting up in the late afternoon for the evening crowd, and the stalls are perfectly located in the mid-way point of Ortakent and Yahşi bay. One of the stalls is a funky little re-sale (second hand!) stall, which is well worth a browse. They usually have a selection of one-off items, and things you don’t often find at other village craft stalls.

• Photo Gallery of the Craft Stalls at Ortakent-Yahsi Beach

• Photo Gallery of the Glass Blower at Ortakent-Yahsi Beach

Photo Gallery

Map