First Timers View on Calis Beach

[apollo]

The post by Love holidays was spot on. And until the authorities or users get a grip nothing will ever change. It is useless for posters to say that some people do care and do their best and that this is why they love Çalış. The whole place is a toilet and needs something doing about it. NO, I am not going to offer my services to pick somebody elses' crap from the beach and hedgerows.

I rarely go to Çalış and if the general populace don't care then neither do I.

[DianaJ]

What I can't understand about the beach area over near Sunset where the Turkish families have their BBQs when they leave the rubbish behind they are the ones who come back time and time again to use the area  so they are only ruining it for themselves they are the ones who have to sit on the beach surrounded with the rubbish and broken glass , think the only way it will improve is if another complex like Jiva for example is built and takes over the beach with loungers

[Rana]

I must say our first visit to Calis was enjoyable. In that heat it is difficult to control smells from the outside rubbish. I wouldn't say Calis was tacky compared to Marmaris. I found it a lot quieter and more relaxed. Having visited Ankara many times to see family and having to rely on my husband to translate for me it is nice to see and hear a little bit of home when abroad. I love Turkish food but again sometimes to eat English is nice and also Calis has Indian, Italian Turkish food also. But I will agree on the beach as this definately needs TLC soner rather than later. I will be returning to Calis  

[iancarol]

Agree with stoop on this one. We have had our place 9 years. We have been there and done that. As stoop says we are in gunlucbasi and we seem to stay local now a days. There are many more places opening local with good food and drink at good prices.
Agree that the beach has always been a problem but if that's what you prefer can understand the  criticism as for me always prefer the pool can't be doing with having to clean all the sand out of my orifices before I can relax have a beer and watch the sun set.

[chris35]

Agree with you Ian, we have the best of both worlds in Gunlukbasi, we love the peace and quiet, but can also jump on the dolly if we fancy a wilder night up town.

[TeresaH]

We have just returned from a 2 week holiday we have to agree with the first post.we returned to Calis after visiting last year, loving it's laid back way of life , being made to feel special by a great team of waiters on the beach at The Carretta, meeting Lee and Mishka a great couple, having some hit and miss meals.Enjoying the walk along the prom seeing the sunset
what a difference a year makes , beach filthy at The Carretta no smiley waiters, we we're  told they were on holiday ! Hated the walk along the prom , magicians,robots in light up suits , families all being sucked in by free this or that, but actually paying more for the food in the first place , more people selling light up things than I've ever seen in one stretch of walking space.
We did enjoy meeting up with friends from last year especially seeing them doing so well,(Lee,s bar) Finding some fantastic real turkish kitchen at The Sinni and paying less for our food than last year Fantastic!
We stayed at The Kaan , great hotel,absolutely spotless and were made very welcome.
Would we come back next year ? Sorry to say no , I really think the beach needs attention , especially if they expect you to pay for the sunbeds etc. The restaurants along the front need to think about why most people walk to the prom to eat , to sit somewhere with great scenery , it's free, eat good food , not fish and chips!

[flightyrachel]

Hello! I am going to do my own review but saw my name mentioned so popped in! Actually, I didn't like the litter at all! But it seemed to me to be a cultural thing? I saw nice Turkish families walking along, and they'd just chuck a bottle onto the ground or a can into the canal without any guilt. The actual big bins got emptied regularly, but that only works if people put things in them I guess! It was really sad to see plastic bottles on the pretty coves where the boats stop on the 12 Island cruises. I felt like getting a carrier bag and staging an intervention! I'm not sure how you change the mindset.

The prom is what it is, I guess. Not really for me, and it seemed to me to be always full of  Northerners! (But I'm from Essex so most people are Northern to me). My 10, 14 and 16 year olds really enjoyed walking up and down it, and I felt they were safe to do so. The restaurants didn't appeal, I thought it was such a shame that they all had identical menus! I felt they were missing a trick, would have loved a bit of genuine regional cooking. But they were packed every night so they must know their market and are obviously appealing to a lot of visitors. Seafronts in general are a bit cheesy and tacky, aren't they, I was born in Southend on Sea, so I should know!

The Sunset Beach end of the beach is particularly grim, but a little further up, outside Guven's and Caretta it's much, much better. Never saw any litter or dog poo or anything else scary there at all!

I think maybe we thought of Calis as more of a base to branch out from, and for this it was perfect! Chilling at the pool or on the Guven's beach as great, but for more excitement we'd hop on the dolmus or the water taxi and head further afield.

[Scunner]

Sadly the mentality that we had pre the big "Keep Britain Tidy" campaign in the UK is about where it is in Turkey today. I remember going on a boat trip in 2003 and the captain anchored up on the far side of Red Island to start a BBQ. It felt like we had discovered the island - well it did till we swam ashore and saw the light blue bags, filled with rubbish and abandoned. Cans, bottles, paper strewn around. On a similar subject I couldn't possibly count the number of plastic bottles I've seen launched from inside moving cars.

It will take time and the will to help bring change, just like it did in the UK. If it's any consolation (and I'm sure it isn't) - Tunisia is far worse. Hotels and grounds absolutely spotless, beach spotless, sea full of 2 litre Pepsi fish. Motorways lined for miles on end with carrier bag trees. Piles of rubbish in places that appear as yet undiscovered by humans.

You do have to ask why so much is being spent on things like upside down bridges and canals, but a man with a sack and a grabber stick can't be employed on the beach.

One of the problems/difficulties may be that many of us have reasons to want to come to Calis and we live with or even don't particularly see the bad areas where rubbish has been dumped and left. I do wonder what us 'old timers' might make of the place if we could wipe it out of our memory and could have the chance to turn up for the first time. Not a lot, perhaps. 

[Highlander]

Off topic I admit but I have a request of flightyrachel - please continue to post on CBF .

I so enjoy reading your posts   

[Kevin Sowten]

We adore Calis but on a long weekend in Kas in June we couldn't help noticing how much cleaner than Calis it was.
Not that we would chose Kas above Calis for our retirement (we'd go stir crazy !!!!)
But there were many litter picking Belediyese guys pulling wheelie bins cleaning up the place.
(Still didn't stop the 'cultural' littering though !!!)