If you want somewhere traditionally Turkish you will not find it in Olu Deniz which is now like any international resort. In the evenings it gets quite noisy but you can find some excellent restaurants tucked away from the main precinict and we could recomend the Chill Out, Secret Garden, The Olive Grove and the White Dolphin. There are some excellent bargins to be had in the shops especially leather goods including shoes and handbags but you have to put with being constatly pestered as soon as you pick anything up, it really became overbearing at times and I lost my temper on a couple of occasions as the shopkeepers would not take no for n answer. 3 trips that are worth going on (but don't book through your tour operator) are the 12 islands boat trip, The jeep and truck safaris(completely different). If we visit Turkey again we will look for a resort that is more low key and with a better beach.

Olu Deniz was by far and away the most expensive resort we have been to in Turkey. The resort beach shelves steeply into the sea and was very pebbly. We were constantly pestered in the shops which really annoyed us, nothing was priced. The saving grace wasthe quality of the food in the restaurants. The 4 we enjoyed most during our fortnight stay were the White Dolphin, SINI Asena Beach, TheChill Out and Josephs.Our only bad experience in the restaurants was at the ATA Lagoon beach were we were constantly aggressively pestered to eat by the man on the door, and when were offered a special deal we went in and did not get what we were promised. The food was mediocre at best here.

The resort was quite with many shops, restaurants and bars.
There is also a 10 pin bowling ally.

It is also famous for its paragliding.

The beach is shingle, very little sand, and shelves steeply very quickly, not particularly suitable for children.

However the famous Blue Lagoon is only a few minutes walk away and is ideal for all.

Beware for bargins that are not bargins!!
Shop around and haggle.

Check your perfume if you buy any. Comes in sealed boxes, but many people found that when they opened the boxes either the bottles were empty or a quarter full.

The mountains make this resort very picturesque. However, these mountains also make the transfer from Dalaman airport
very long and very frightening, the standard of driving in Turkey is not the best!!

The resort itself is beautiful. Surrounded by wooded mountains on three sides, all the buldings are max 3 stories high. Everything is beautifully painted and looks very fresh. We saw numerous gradeners tending to the plants in the public areas and roads, they clearly look after the place!

Interestingly there were a lot of Turkish people on holiday here - always a good advert for a place if the population of the country go on holiday here. The rest of the holiday makers all seemed to be British.

There is a 'free' beach and also the lovely blue lagoon. The blue lagoon is a national park area, so you have to pay to enter - 2.25YTL - which is less than a pound. Well worth it. Sunbeds on the lagoon area cost 6YTL a day - about £2.50 for a full day. Once you have paid to access the lagoon for that day keep your receipt and you can come and go as you like all day - we returned to the main resort for lunch.

The sea at the lagoon is warm and still, it is fresh water one side and sea water the other - we stayed at the point where the waters merge which was lovely. The wooded mountain literally descends into the water right before your eyes - if you are keen you can swim across for a closer look. Absolutely amazing!

The resort has a plentiful supply of bars and restaurants, no night clubs really to speak of (maybe 2? We didn't go!)

All the waiters etc out there were very nice and polite, and although they would try and entice you in to their establishment they were not nasty or annoying about it (unlike some pushy spanish staff I have met on other holidays!).

Once you have been to Olu Deniz you will never go anywhere again! It was truly the most beautiful place I have been.

We went paragliding, which was excellent - the drive up the mountain was an experience in itself - a gravel track that switch backs up the side of the mountain, on each turn giving you a further view through the trees of the stunning scenery below. I loved it! Paragliding itself felt very secure and I think was well worth doing. My boyfriend however did get a bit 'air sick' apparently this is not all that uncommon - those succepatable to seasickness beware - the bobbing in the air motion might not agree with your tummy - I must add though he has said he would definately do it again, but next time will not have a full english breakfast first!!

We will definately return to this resort. I want to go again later this year, but I need to save up first!

One last point! The resort sells loads of lilo's and floaty things for kids, including long foam tubes. The foam tubes only cost 2.5YTL (about a pound) - you can bend them into a sort of rubber ring or just sit on them. The lagoon is very deep, and I am not much of a swimmer so we got one - it was great!! I have never seen these things before, but basically you sit on it and can float around in the sea or pool all day. High recommended! We had to go back and buy another for my boyfriend as after he had a go he was jealous!

Olu Deniz is a scenic resort with plenty to do. It is now rather busy and commercialised and is probably one of the more costly resorts in Turkey. Eating out was a pleasure with loads of good restaurants. Our favourites were The Secret Garden,The Olive Grove, The Chill Out restaurant and Pirates. Bars to suit everyone but apart from beer all drinks are expensive. We enjoyed the Truck Safari, the 12 Islands boat trip and The Ghost Town. The town beach is poor but try one of the private beaches Bobbys beach is good where you are welcomed as long as you hire their sunbeds and umbrellas.

We did not go into the town itself very often but from what we did see it was clean and very busy. There are many bars and restaurants to choose from if you wish to.
the public beach was pleasant and could accomodate lots of people with sunbeds and parasols available to hire.
The private beach, the Blue Lagoon, was accessible by a courtsey bus run from the hotel. It was in a very picturesque setting but we did not think it lived up to the reports. The narrow "beach" was shingle and the water was very cloudy. the water was very brackish.
Sun beds, parasols, food, soft drinks, kayaks and pedaloes all available.

Plenty of places to eat and shop. We were there for 14 days and never ate in the same place twice. Food was reasonably priced too. We loved the lagoon and would park ourselves under an olive tree and swam and enjoyed the view. Rather a stony beach but we were warned beforehand so took with us beach shoes to wear which were invaluable. Turkish people were extremely friendly and will take no for an answer and not pester you to buy anything.

The hotel was very very clean and the daily room service was superb.

The entertainment team worked very hard and tried to rally people round to join in with different activities during the day and night.

Some evenings the entertainment was very good, other evenings it was very poor. Unfortunately there aren't many tables around the pool and bar area in the evening, so it was hard to get a good comfortable seat.

The olive grove was nice to escape to if you wanted to get a little bit further away from the entertainment.

Olu Deniz is a lovely friendly resort. Very little hassle from the shopkeepers/ resturants.

Nightlife centred around the bars and was very energetic. The beach is clean but pebbly and the sea shelves sharply.

Plenty of beds and parasols 4 YTL each There are sandy beaches at the Blue Lagoon and the water is safer for children, although a bit cloudy.

There are plenty of operators offering trips far cheaper than the reps. We used KaraCay for the jeep safari - excellent. 14 seaters which were safer off road
Kaya Koy is worth a trip and a meal at Cin Bal where you chose your food and are then supplied with a BBQ to cook it yourself is a must.

Found the market at Hisonaru a bit intimidating but plenty of stalls and good entertainment.

The resort of Ola Deniz is a very clean and pretty place. There is plenty to do for all age groups especially families.