Istanbul is surrounded by beautiful water: the rolling Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara. I think it’s the city’s most lovely feature. The water reflects the mood of the city. On gray days, the sea is like churning concrete. On sunny days, it sparkles turquoise.
However, all of this water is not swimmable.
There is a solution to this conundrum if you know where to look. I didn’t… but my friends did.
The secret is Kilyos, a village in Istanbul on the Black Sea with a glorious hidden beach.
One delightfully warm April day, I joined a group of Erasmus students and Turks on an adventure to the secret beach at Kilyos.
Much like our trip to Rumeli Feneri, it was a long bus ride to Kilyos. Once we got there, everyone stocked up on snacks and booze, and we started to hike to the beach.
We walked through winding back roads and clambered over cliffs. After a steep descent, we were greeted with an amazing sight. This diamond in the rough. This glorious beach.
Kilyos.
Apparently this beach is on land that used to belong to a military base. The base is long-gone but most people don’t know that; the majority of the people who come to this beach are Kilyos locals.
Even though the day we went was spectacularly summery, it was still April—the water was FREEZING. We tried to swim anyway… but it was so cold that it was actually physically painful!
Otherwise, we spent the day lounging in the sunshine, kicking around a soccer ball, and making new friends. It was our own private paradise, an escape from Istanbul’s relentless crowds. We left the polluted Bosphorus for a delicious slice of the Black Sea.
The first sweaty heat waves of summer are just arriving in Istanbul, so you’ll know where to find me—hiking down to our secret beach in Kilyos.
8 Comments
dorkmaster
May 23, 2013 at 12:10 AMI only know (and like) the official beach in kilyos, where you have to pay an entrance fee. Can you give directions or do you happen to have the coordinates of this one? Although I would understand if you didn’t give them away in order to keep it secret and thus unspoiled by the masses.
Katrinka
May 23, 2013 at 9:41 PMI wish I could help you, but besides for the fact that I have a horrible sense of direction, there were no signs pointing the way– I was following someone who (luckily) knew where he was going. I know it is walking distance from the center of Kilyos, and that we hiked down a pretty steep cliff… besides for that, it will have to remain mysterious 🙂 Good luck.
Naresh Ramadurai
May 29, 2013 at 7:52 AMwonderful beach 🙂 great pictures!!!
Katrinka
May 29, 2013 at 12:12 PMThank you!
A Fly Guy
June 10, 2013 at 5:09 PMI’m in love with your photos! Thanks for sharing
Katrinka
June 10, 2013 at 9:43 PMThank you so much!
İstanbul gezilecek yerler
June 28, 2015 at 4:55 AMthank you 🙂
sandra
March 8, 2016 at 9:05 AMThere are a lot of free beaches in Killios.and It is a wonderful