Salda Lake is a freshwater deep lake with welcoming turquoise water and light, almost white sand. The locals called this place the Turkish Maldives. Salda Lake is located 1140 meters above sea level. It was formed as a result of a volcanic eruption, in its very center – the crater. Salda Lake is volcanic and absolutely natural.
The lake can boast of an unusually bright blue shade and a snow-white coast. That’s why up to a million tourists come here in the high season. And it’s a favorite place for spending a weekend for the locals living near the lake. Indeed, there are a couple of hotels, cafes, and parking on the lake, as well as summer houses for picnics – everything you need for spending a relaxed weekend outdoors.
Lake Salda — location and how to get there
Salda Lake is located in the southwestern Turkey in the Burdur district, in a small village of Yesilova. Surprisingly, the lake is equally distant from both the Mediterranean and the Aegean sea resorts:
- from Antalya — 160 km
- from Kemer — 190 km
- from Side — 230 km
- from Fethiye, Oludeniz — 180 km
- from Marmaris — 230 km
- from Bodrum — 300 km
There are a few ways to get to Salda Lake:
- by yourself on a rented car. The roads in Turkey are great, the traffic is quite safe, the drivers are polite. During our last visit to Turkey, we rented a car for 14 days for our entire stay on rentalcars.com website, and visited all the places of interest by ourselves.
- with a guided tour. It’s a very popular option, since now they often combine a visit to Pamukkale, which is only 100 km from Salda Lake, with a visit to the lake. Usually, first they go to Pamukkale and spend about an hour or two on the lake on the way back.
- by yourself by public transport. You should take a bus to Burdur town and there change to a bus going to Yeshilov village.
Salda Lake on the map
Salda lake — description
Salda Lake is the 2nd deepest lake in Turkey. It is up to 184 meters deep. The first one is Lake Van that is 451 meters deep.
It is 8 km long and 6 km wide. The total area of the lake is 44 square kilometers. Salda Lake is one of the five cleanest lakes in the world and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Swimming on Salda Lake is a pleasure. There are no waves or whirlpools, so swimming is quite safe. The first 50 meters of the lake are shallow – the water is about knee-deep. And it is here that the lake has the shade compared to the Maldives.
Let’s see why.
So, in the photos it looks like the shore is covered with light white sand, but this isn’t the case. It isn’t sand at all. It’s volcanic lava, which over the years has formed mineral deposits with predominating hydromagnesite. It is it that has such a beautiful light shade on the coast and under water.
As you can see and feel, hydromagnesite isn’t small at all. On the coast, it forms small pebbles, and under water it turns into soft clay. Sometimes, you can even sink 10-20 centimeters in it. To tell the truth, is not very pleasant to step on it under water with your feet. It feels as if you step on slimy mud.
But this mud is very healthy. Especially if you have any skin diseases or musculoskeletal system disorders. Tourists like to cover themselves with it from head to toe. It is it that gives such a soft blue shade to the first 50 meters of water. As soon as this color ends, the water becomes even of deeper blue color. There, the lake abruptly becomes deeper.
Many people swim in the lake, while some just sit on the coast. You may ask, why don’t everyone swim? The question is reasonable, but the answer is very simple. The water temperature in Salda Lake in the hottest summer doesn’t exceed 18-20 degrees, which is quite low. The water is very cool, so few people swim here. Many dip in only.
When we travelled to Salda Lake after hot Pamukkale, I imagined that we would spend a couple of hours on the lake, sunbathing and swimming, enjoying the views. In reality, we dipped in only once. Most of the time we just walked in the shallow water, trying to take beautiful photos. In the afternoon, the sky was clouded over. In such weather Salda Lake doesn’t resemble the Maldives at all.
I would even say that without the sun it looks like an absolutely common, unremarkable lake. But when the sun lights up everything around, the water immediately receives its incredible color.
Salda lake entrance fee
Entrance to lake salda is free.
Our visit to Salda Lake — Turkish Maldives
We had 2 places to choose from, from which we could go to Salda Lake + Pamukkale. Just like many guided tours, we decided to combine these 2 places on one day. For this, we had to leave our hotel at 5-5.30 in the morning. Since this time we stayed 14 days in both Oludeniz and in the Kemer area, I thought hard where it would be more convenient for us to go. Oludeniz won. The distance from these places is about the same – 180 km. The travel time is 3 hours. Finally, we left our hotel Perdikia beach in Oludeniz at 5.30 to arrive before most of the tour groups at Pamukkale first, and then at Lake Salda.
We arrived at Salda Lake by 3 o’clock in the afternoon. It took us about 2 hours to get from Pamukkale to Salda Lake by a rented car.
There is a paid parking on the lake – 10 liras. We left our car there. I want to say that we saw 2 different roads approaching the lake on the map. We took the nearest turn. What is the difference? In the photos and later, when we were driving away from the lake and passing by the second road, I noticed buoys in the water. In our case, there were no buoys in the lake.
In both places people were walking and taking photos.
The parking is very long. To find toilets, you have to go far ahead. There is a kind of a hotel and a café here, as well as a large playground.
There are also summer houses, which locals often rent.
Coniferous trees create a wonderful forest atmosphere, and the lake complements the feeling of peace and tranquility. Although, numerous tourists may have lately been spoiling this atmosphere of harmony with nature.
Can we call this place the Turkish Maldives? Yes, we probably can, considering the visual aspect only without going into details. It’s really pleasing to see such a beautiful combination of natural colors so far from the sea.
And of course, you can take beautiful photos here! Local weddings also come here often to take photos against this beautiful natural background.