Akyaka
Cittaslow Town At The Head Of The Gokova Gulf, Built In A Revived Local Timber Idiom That Won An Aga Khan Award For Architecture In 1983 · Ula, Mugla
Akyaka sits where the pine mountains drop into the head of the Gokova gulf, and three things make it more than another small Aegean resort. The first is the Azmak, a spring-fed river so clear that the boats running up it through the reeds appear to be floating on nothing, with fish restaurants along its bank and turtles in the shallows. The second is the architecture: in the 1970s Nail Cakirhan revived the local timber building style here, won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1983 for a house he built in it, and the whole town was then constructed in the same idiom - carved wooden balconies and eaves, on a scale that stayed low. The third is the wind. The gulf funnels a reliable afternoon breeze that has made this one of Turkiye's main kitesurfing bays. It is a Cittaslow town, which it takes seriously, and it is much cheaper than the coast west of it, which is most of the reason Turkish visitors keep coming back.
Akyaka Mahallesi, Ula, Mugla, Ula, Mugla, Turkiye
The town is lived in and open at all hours. Azmak river boat trips, kitesurfing schools and most restaurants run from about April to October, with a share closing in winter. The beach is public and open. Gokova's afternoon wind is reliable from late spring to early autumn, which is what the kite schools work around.