could reccommend lots of places but feel you would be better off just surfing to find the sort of area you fancy i have not been to what i would call a bad place , the people are great no matter what they have what we have lost in friendship and family values please feel free to use any of the links on my web site to help you in your quest

Hi,

Must confess the only time we visited Turkey in October it was not particularly warm! In fact it rained a fair bit, although the dry days were pleasant enough. Certainly the water was far from the lovely warmth of high summer, so don't know about the snorkeling bit! Only part of Turkey we visited which was quiet was the outskirts of Kas, I'm sure though most of the large resorts have quiet areas where the bar and restaurant scene don't impinge too much on your holiday. Hope you find what you are looking for. Alistair

Whilst Icmeler is lovely it winds down in October.If you go further south the resorts are open all year.My favourite is Side as its a traditional Turkish town.There are also roman ruins as you enter the town.Most of the bigger hotels are situated on both sides of town on beautiful sandy beaches..It is very popular with other europeans and this puts some people off.Like everywhere in Turkey there are interseting places to visit.

having visited turkey for around 25 years now and going a few times a year i have visited many places and like you i like the quieter places, i much prefer to mix with the locals and to go more traditional turkish places, we have come across akyaka a few years ago and it ticks all the boxes for us, its a really scenic place, no big hotels so therefore no big TO so mainly turkish people , it has a lovely beach and river area, with cute restuarants. we are going there for 3 wks in july ,its around 1 hr from dalaman airport too, have a look at this link see what you think

http://akyaka.com/index.php

You should be able to hang on for a late deal in October as long as you avoid the school holidays.

im not sure about a late deal to a resort thats quiet without british bars etc, most turkish resorts inc icmeler do sadly have british bars, and you would get a deal out of school hols to these busier resorts, but if you want a quiet none touristy place then you're more limited in choice, i know akyaka doesnt have any british bars, or clubs and i doubt you will get a late deal there as i think only antolian sky do packages there or its diy. there are boat trips and its only 20 miles from marmaris or 22 from icmeler for day trips. someome might be able to recommend other more traditional places so you can have a choice of a few. but i would avoid any of the main holiday resorts if you dont want any british bars

It's Kalkan every time for me. That's why we bought a villa there. Have a look at http://www.kalkanturkey.com for loads of info.

I concur Kalkanites comment. Have a look at Nur Hotel in the Hotel Review and also the Kalkan Discussion Forum of which the last post on it was on Feb 2nd. We are returning to this Hotel in September, something we have never done before(go to the same hotel twice).

Everything about Turkey is simply fabulous, the people, the food and the country itself, it is so steeped in history, an archaeologists dream. The secret of having a great holiday here is to make time to speak with the people as they love to practice their English skills on you. The other factor is, that they genuinely want to know about you and where you are from. To make a friend of a Turk is to make a friend for life.

Will these quieter resorts not be winding down in the middle of October?.I was in Icmeler last October and was surprised how many bars and resturants were closing for the winter.Theres also the weather as last year there was quite a bit of rain including that spectacular storm!.The resorts served by Antalya airport are further south and tend to have better weather.

Would also highly recommend Kalkan. October weather can be great but you might get some rain. If you were to consider a hotel, try the Meldi. A very nice hotel (about 30 rooms) just a 10 minute stroll into town. Rooms are about £30 per night in October and if you stay for at least 7 nights they arrange a private transfer from Dalaman. Check out the hotel reviews on Tripadvisor and the hotels website.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g297964-i1890-Kalkan.html

http://www.meldihotel.com/

Kalakn has a great choice of restaurants - you will not be disappointed

Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions.

Now this is why I like HT - someone at work told me the weather is still very nice in October but I notice that a few of you mention rain and that some of the places may be winding down....
It will be our second holiday this year (which is another reason why I was thinking late deal to save a bit of money!) so I'm not too bothered about the odd bit of rain as long as it's not pouring down day after day.
We'd be going on or around the 15th of Oct so I will take a look at all the places mentioned and take it from there.

One more question if I may - with regards to snorkelling - what is the sea like at that time of year? Will it still be warm and how's visibility?

Thanks again.

Puddleduck .i know its not been mentioned but do have a look at Olu Deniz although maybe not as tradtional as you would like( depending how traditional you want to go). im sure many will back me up. i would never put it along the lines of marmaris or Kusadasi. There are just enough of bars and resturants for you to cope with , stunning scenary. i feel its quite laid back and plenty of historic sites for you to visit from here.
so maybe a middle ground between too much and too quite. also have a look at bitez . not been but there are many bitez fans on here.

i would of thought that the water should still be pretty warm . no expert but my family dive which i know isnt the same as im talking under water ,but generally the later in the season the more time the sea has had to warm. earlier ( i.e may)even tho the air temperature would be good the sea is still cold as it hasnt had time to warm if that makes sense.

lyn

puddleduck, we have an apt at gumusluk, nr bodrum, they have snorkelling there ,in fact a school there is run by a famous turkish snorkel expert, if you can go early oct [ as we do] we went early oct last year and er drove to ephesus ,it was about 85 f allthe time we was there,but they start winding down the last 2 weeks of oct. gumusluk is lovely it has the ruins of myndos under water, and people scuba dive to the ruins. look up gumusluk on google . cheers . biggles

i go to turkey every oct and usually the weather is fairly warm in the day time but chilly at night, last oct was an exception and whilst there we did have a thunder storm and the weather wasnt that great, saying that we still got a tan and it didnt rain all day all week, and it was still warm. the sea is bareable and certainly warmer than the pools but it is starting to get cooler and once your in its ok its just gettin in thats the worst bit !!

akyaka is a working village and therefore stays open all year ,some of the sea front restaurants close in the winter,but all should still be open in oct, ive been there in the winter a few times and had meals on the beachfront in dec before now, it was lovely. the prices in the restaurants are a fair bit cheaper than the main tourist places too so eating out etc is fairly cheap. 1 restaurant we use a lot for the quality and price is krystol and a typical meal for 3 of us is around £8, they give you free pide for starters, free huge lavash bread with your meal. we had 2 gorgeous chicken casseroles, my little daughter had sausage and egg, 2 none alcholics drinks and my hubby had 2 beers , then free plate of fruit each, all this for a total of £8, just over 2.50 each lol , fantastic price and the food is fabulous. my hubby is a diver and loves snorkelling too , which should be perfect to do off one of the boat trips

i love olu deniz aswell,the scenery is lovely there, but it is more for the uk market, which i didnt think you wanted, but certainly busier than akyaka but quieter than icmeler

have a good look at all options offered and read up on them too before you make a decision,good luck let us know what you decide

Thanks for your helpful suggestions Ellie, Biggles and Lynn.
Will take some time at the weekend and look at what everyone has said in detail and decide from there.

We have been a couple of times in October, both times the weather was lovely most of the time, although you need a cardigan or light jacket at night. Turunc, where our apartment is sounds like the sort of place that you like, it is quiet in October, but everything is still open, and the sea is still plenty warm enough. Also the trips are still available, and the boat trips are great. A friend stayed in our apartment last October, and said they had one day of torrential rain, including a spectacular thunderstorm, and one day of cloud and the rest of the time it was lovely. They're going again this year, so something must have been right!

i do argee with what has been written about october in general but last year was abnormal with the mini tornado and 3 days of very heavy rain but the sea temperature was still good
most of the time its great during the day and cooler at night and most things don't start closing till the end of oct in the main resorts
last year the exception as the tour trade was very low
swimming pools are very cold this time of year but sea temps are still good

Hi we went to Ovacik, which is near Olu Deniz the last week of October last year, 3 days previously the resort was flooded with freak storms, BUT we had fantastic weather for the whole 7 days. 25 degrees and full sun every day, apart from one when it was overcast for a few hours. It was cooler in the evenings, but not what I would call cold. A light cardi was all that was needed, but down in Olu Deniz it was much warmer than up in Ovacik, (a couple of miles up into the mountains_.

I can really recommend Olu Deniz, for me, it is the most beautiful place I have ever been, very friendly and safe. Even at the end of October, the resort was still very much open, although 1st Nov the whole resort closed. The good thing is, you can get some very good bargains, with end of season stock etc. It is really nice in the restaurants in the evenings too, as they have log fires in the middle of most of them and it is really warm and cosy. Hisaronu or Ovacik are only a couple of miles inland, and we only booked our holiday a month before we travelled, we got a week AI for £299.

Hope you find your ideal place to visit.