One of the few things we did not do on our last trip that Onur really wanted to do was go on a boat tour. We finally made that happen and I’m so glad we did, it has been my favorite part of the trip so far!

Many places here offer boat tours but they are large boats with around 50 passengers and tours are typically 6+ hours long. I was not interested in that kind of tour so Onur and his dad managed to negotiate a private boat rental for us for 3 hours for around $100 USD.

We had an amazing time! We made a few stops for snorkeling in the clear water and got to see parts of the coastline that we couldn’t have seen any other way because of the steep cliff faces of the mountains.

There were amazing fish to see and the water was more clear than I’ve seen in Hawaii or Mexico. We packed some snacks and beer and had a great afternoon. As we were returning to Çıralı we even spotted kaplumbağa (sea turtles)!



After the boat tour we walked through Çıralı to find some lunch.


It’s a tiny little town, but very quaint. I would certainly describe this place as rural.

We spent part of the afternoon lounging in a çardak (raised seating platform) drinking çay (tea) and looking through photos. Well, I guess Onur mostly napped.


While dinner was being cooked we happened to notice a kirpi (hedgehog) outside the cabin! I had no idea they were native to the area.


For dinner Onur’s mom Sevgi made us one more Antep specialty: içli köfte, which is sort of like a breaded, fried meatball that was super delicious.