Searching for the Perfect Seas
I am back, finally! Being unemployed for so long had taken its toll and I had to take a vacation to shake off all the dust. Fortunately, living in Turkey gives some privileges, so I did not have to take a long distance flight, bored with complicated hotel bookings, transfers at an airport in strange hours of the day, or night.
However, I am picky when it comes to where to go, if it is summer time. I have some rules, or so claim a few of my friends. I call them habits. I admit, it is sometimes difficult to explain to those who have not been born by the sea, but those who have will probably sympathize with me.
So, without further ado, my rules, written or unwritten:
1- I want to be by the coast, not on a beach.
I have never got this beach stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against sunbathing or whatever. I simply can not understand why people like beaches. I can never get rid of the feeling that I am a piece of meat slowly frying on a pan when I am at a beach. No rocks, no trees to protect you from the heat.
2- I want to swim, I like swimming.
Surprised? Don’t! Yet, I remember explaining a few times to those who claim “but you can swim here.” Well, I can’t. How can I? You walk fifteen meters to reach knee high, another fifteen for waist high, and just you think you can finally swim, you find yourself in shallow waters again. And I do not like to walk hundred meters so that I can swim properly. A proper sea is a place where you get in and find yourself a few lengths deep in a second or two.
3- I like blue, not green.
I mean the color of the sea. It ought to be blue, all tones of it. And for that to happen it has to have a rocky floor, i.e. no sand.
4- It has to make you shiver slightly.
When you dive, you must feel the chill, especially in August, with temperature at high thirties in the shade. I remember once driving five hours to reach Oludeniz, Fethiye. When we finally got there, exhausted and almost dehydrated, I barely threw myself into the sea, or whatever it was, and, jumped back. It was hot, burning! A Turkish bath would be cooler.
5- It has to be a place where recyclers frequent.
You must be able to find a metal can neatly tucked in a cavity somewhere, not plastic bottles. Have I lost you? Leaving the can you used for future visitors is not littering, it is being thoughtful. Otherwise, how am I supposed to cook the scallops? After diving for a few hours to get them, there is nothing more annoying than not finding a metal can. Of course, you must bring your own lemons.
Now, these habits or rules, have naturally limited our options. Med and south Aegean was a no no; too hot, too sandy, too beachy, too … So we toured north Aegean and Marmara, following the coast line, occasionally heading towards the mountains to discover a hidden treasure, an uncharted ancient town, a secret temple where the fantasy itself becomes the religion. We found some.
Stay tuned!
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