I think it is true that OD is catering for the British more and more. As it is a resort and not a place people live it is natural that it is not going to be terribly authentic but we have noticed that it is seemingly losing more of its Turkish character every year we go back. Like you say the Turkish hotel staff and working in resort are terrific and the area is incredibly beautiful. As we go always go away just the three of us (myself, hubs and 15yr son) the warmth of the Turkish people makes the holiday for us really.

My husband and son went on a Quad safari our first year in Turkey and my husband said it was not safe at all. One of their group, a 15yr old lad and his quad, fell off the road and went tumbling down a slope of 15ft and was lucky not to have been killed. We did the jeep safari too and while we did have a fantastic day i wouldnt do it again as it most certainly wasnt safe. Maybe i am just middle-aged and stuffy though, i dunno.

We had a lovely time once again this year but said to ourselves that it might be our last visit when we left. That said I tend to become almost 'homesick' for Olu Deniz once 6mths has passed so we may end up there again.

Hi Giff, I cannot say that we found the Quad bike safari dangerous apart from the helmets, only if you did something stupid, or got really unlucky, the Jeep safari we went on was organised through the tour operator,which was expensive, but well organised, no hint of danger there, although we did see others that were very boisterous, with people hanging out of the jeeps, sqiurting water etc, not for us though.
Like I said, we found OD too British for us, would have liked a more traditional Turkish holiday, we are not big drinkers, we had a few Efes, but did not go into the bars just to drink, only with meals every night, heard a lot, a lot of people moaning about prices, especially compared to previous years, but as this was our first visit, we had nothing to compare to, would we go again to OD, probably not, would we go to a more traditional place in Turkey, probably in the future.The Turkish people were very friendly, and that made it a very nice break, but Las Vegas And Arizona beckon next year, !!

Our jeep safari was very boistorous with our drivers racing each other, taking corners sideways etc but we did see other jeep safaris proceeding in a much more orderly fashion so i guess it really is a case of being careful who you go with.

We found OD too British for our tastes, may try elsewhere next time a few years down the line,][/

Sorry to hear that your holiday in Olu Deniz was not exactly as you expected and sad that such a lovely place has become so touristy...but that is one of the problems with mass toursim..

would we go again to OD, probably not, would we go to a more traditional place in Turkey,

for your next holiday check out the more traditional villages as opposed to resorts..

Here is an example of one more traditional village...frequented more by turkish families over the summer.

Cirali ( Çıralı ) is a very lovely and unspoilt area...with Olimpos Roman ruins scattered in a pine forest, a secluded 4km non-touristy beach, fertile fields, and the Chimaera, the world's oldest and best-known natural "eternal flame". Also a natural nesting-ground for carretta carretta (loggerhead turtles).

unspoilt location with good beaches, absolutely

plenty to do ..fantastic 4 km beach, family friendly environment, but NO motorized motor sports...due to the protection of the sea turtles...but there are daily boat trips from the Cirali beach to outlying bays, caves and inlets

As seen here with my photos !!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/canmom/2929703498

Cirali tends to draw more families and mature toursits...the hotels and pensions are anywhere from 150m - 750 meters from the beach. All within a 5-10 minute walk.

So what makes Cirali so special ?? !!! It is protected by the WWF and limits the amount development in the area.

It is not over crowded with 5 star hotels or loud bars etc. Just a nice place to have a quiet holiday. Most if not all travellers to Cirali book their own flights and acommdations directly with Cirali hotels or pansiyons.

Just so you know the area..cirali is located about 80kms southwest from Antalya..about 1.5 hrs from the Antalya airport..

But Cirali may not be for everyone as it does not have the waterparks, horseback riding, parasailing etc etc but it is close to the town of Kemer that has many of these types of activities. You can rent bikes etc to explore the nature and there are even some organized tours available as well but not to the grand scale that they are in other places...

A few other things that are available are sea-kayaking and scuba diving can be arranged as well...rock climbing is also a great sport in cirali however this is a seasonal sport as you would not want to be climbing in the heat of the summer months..

Really sad to read about the jeep tours...and they should up the standards in safety....There are a few orgainized jeep trips that enter into the Cirali village coming from the nearby large resorts from the big hotels...not only are they a huge source of noise pollution but again I witness the dangers with people hanging out of the jeep or standing up while they are speeding along..

Many thanks for your reply Caretta, sound much more like somewhere we would like to visit next time, I do like to fly from my local airport (Norwich), so getting to Antalya might mean a trip to another airport.Maybe in the future.