19 Oct 2022
This Day Trip was booked through Mares Travel although those taking part appeared to have booked through various other Agencies. Although I have classed it as 4 star overall there are various elements to the trip and it is better that I give a classification for each aspect.
The coach picking us up from our Hotel (8.30) and taking us to the Lake (55 minutes) was very good quality (5*) as was the guide who staying with us all day (5*). The basic cost paid (£20) was also good value (5*). The boat used had seen better days (3*) and safety aspects need improving (1*) - there was no safety drill, I could only see 8 old life jackets and 3 safety rings (despite over 50 passengers being on board) and the captain kept leaving the wheel unattended to sell drinks or letting passengers take over steering the boat whilst he went off elsewhere.
Lunch was included in the tour which turning out to be a fairly basic chicken meal (2*). You could upgrade to a better quality Sea Bream Lunch (3*) for TL180 (£9). This was served at 12.00pm and Dinner was served at 3.30pm upon leaving the Beach for the return journey. Dinner was not included and consisted of Sea Bream (TL180) or Crab (TL200). Drinks could be purchased throughout the trip.
The boat departed at 9.45am across the lake, arriving at the Mud Baths and Thermal Springs around an hour later. These were a bit of fun. I am rather doubtful as to whether they did you any good and 75 minutes to cover both was not quite enough time. a quick dip was all we could manage in the springs (4*).
It took around 1.75 hours to travel to Turtle Beach, during which time lunch was served and we passed the Rock Tombs (4*).
We stayed at the beach for 90 minutes which was ideal for us but I would imagine could be too long if the weather was bad. We were told to buy our drinks before leaving the boat as beer was not served on the beach -which was true. What we were not told was that all other drinks plus food and ice creams were sold at very reasonable prices (English Tea 7TL -40p, Chips TL30). Free Clean Toilets and Showers were available as were Sun Beds - subject to charge (4*).
At 3.15pm we returned to the boat. The captain encouraged a couple of Turtles to come to the surface for us with Crab on a line.
After dinner was served (3*) we set off for the 2 hour boat trip back to the coach (which was rather long for the children on board) (3*). The coach then returned us to our hotels by 6.45pm (5*).
As previously said, overall I classed it at 4* but others might think higher or lower dependant about the importance placed by them on the individual elements.