�l�deniz Beach is Mediterranean Turkey's most beautiful, also its most famous and popular. (More photos) �l�deniz 
(ur-LEW-deh-neez, "dead" or calm, sea"), only 8.5 km (5.3 miles) south of Fethiye over the mountains, is big enough to handle the crowds of swimmers and sunbathers, but not always the number of cars and buses that cram the narrow access road. Paragliders leap from nearby mountaintops, soaring and floating above the beach and the sea, finally landing right on the beach. Tandem paragliding, where two people fly together in the same harness, is very popular. The fertile alluvial plain behind the beach is now filled with small hotels, pensions and restaurants, and any further expansion has been relegated to the nearby hilltop towns of Ovacik and Hisar�n�. The beach takes its eerie name from the secluded lagoon at the beach's western end by the Hotel Meri. Protected by hills and entered by a narrow channel, the lagoon is calm during even the worst storms. The Lycian Way, a 500-km (311-mile) rustic footpath, starts in Fethiye and wanders through the hills, descending to �l�deniz before ascending again above Kidrak and Faralya, passing the head of Butterfly Valley and the access road to the Tohum Eco-Center before wandering southeastward toward Patara and, ultimately, Antalya.
(ur-LEW-deh-neez, "dead" or calm, sea"), only 8.5 km (5.3 miles) south of Fethiye over the mountains, is big enough to handle the crowds of swimmers and sunbathers, but not always the number of cars and buses that cram the narrow access road. Paragliders leap from nearby mountaintops, soaring and floating above the beach and the sea, finally landing right on the beach. Tandem paragliding, where two people fly together in the same harness, is very popular. The fertile alluvial plain behind the beach is now filled with small hotels, pensions and restaurants, and any further expansion has been relegated to the nearby hilltop towns of Ovacik and Hisar�n�. The beach takes its eerie name from the secluded lagoon at the beach's western end by the Hotel Meri. Protected by hills and entered by a narrow channel, the lagoon is calm during even the worst storms. The Lycian Way, a 500-km (311-mile) rustic footpath, starts in Fethiye and wanders through the hills, descending to �l�deniz before ascending again above Kidrak and Faralya, passing the head of Butterfly Valley and the access road to the Tohum Eco-Center before wandering southeastward toward Patara and, ultimately, Antalya.
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