Sedir Island (Sedir Adası)

Aegean, Turkey 1 tours visit here

Sedir Island (Sedir Adası), also known as Cleopatra Island, lies in the sheltered Gulf of Gökova on Turkey's Aegean coast, reached by boat from the shore near Marmaris. It is small, but it combines a strictly protected beach with the ruins of an ancient city, which is why it features on most Gökova boat trips. Its best-known feature is Cleopatra Beach, a short strip of rare oolitic sand made of tiny rounded grains unlike ordinary beach sand. Legend links the sand to Egypt and to a gift from Mark Antony to Cleopatra, though it is generally explained by natural processes within the gulf. Because the sand cannot replenish itself, the beach is closely controlled: visitors rinse before stepping onto it, lying directly on the sand is not permitted, and removing grains is forbidden. Behind the shore stand the remains of Kedrai, an ancient city whose walls, small hillside theatre and scattered building foundations can still be traced among the pines. The island is normally seen as part of a half-day or full-day boat excursion, with an hour or two ashore; the water is warmest in high summer, and earlier boats tend to reach the beach before the busiest part of the day.