Can You Dive at Kekova? The Sunken City Rules, Explained
Scuba diving over Kekova's sunken city has been banned since 1990; the area is protected. How to see the sunken city, and where divers actually go: the honest guide.
- Scuba diving over Kekova's sunken city is prohibited; the area has been protected since 1990
- The sunken city is best seen by boat tour or sea kayak; the ruins lie in shallow water
- The nearest real diving is in Kaş (roughly a 40-minute to 1-hour drive)
- In Kaş we dive wrecks, the Canyon and the Blue Cave from our own boat
The short answer: can you dive at Kekova?
The honest answer: no, scuba diving over Kekova's sunken city is prohibited. The region has held Special Environmental Protection Area status since 1990, and the submerged ancient ruins are under archaeological protection. There is no bookable "Kekova scuba tour" over the sunken city, and no dive centre can legally offer one. We don't either. But anyone typing "Kekova diving" into a search engine deserves the honest guide, and this is it.
The good news comes in two parts: the sunken city is genuinely impressive from the surface, and some of Turkey's best-known real diving is right next door, in Kaş.
Why is it banned?
The "Sunken City" on the northern shore of Kekova Island is what remains of an ancient settlement partly submerged by earthquakes: staircases, walls and building foundations now sit half underwater along the shoreline. Because the area carries both natural and archaeological value, it was declared a Special Environmental Protection Area by cabinet decree in 1990, and scuba diving along the ruins was made subject to permits, effectively closing it. The goal is simple: protecting two thousand years of heritage from anchors and fins.
So the ban isn't a shortcoming; it's proof of what the place is worth, and it's why the sunken city is still there to see.
How to see the sunken city
- By boat tour: day boats from Üçağız and Demre cruise along the sunken-city shoreline; the water is so clear the ruins are visible from the deck.
- By sea kayak: the region's classic experience. You glide quietly right over the ruins, the closest look you can get.
- From Simena castle (Kaleköy): the best view from land, taking in the castle, the bay and Kekova Island in one frame.
Swimming and snorkelling along the sunken-city strip are regulated too; confirm the current rules with your tour operator.
Where do divers actually go? Kaş.
Drive roughly 40 minutes to an hour west of the Kekova area and you reach Turkey's diving capital. Kaş is famous for its clear water, and 28 mapped dive sites cluster around a single harbour: the Dakota plane wreck, the tank wreck, the Canyon, the reefs and the daylight-flooded Blue Cave.
Certified divers join our two-dive day trips; if you've never dived, you start one-to-one with an instructor on a discovery dive. Every dive runs from our own boat in Kaş Harbour. In short: see Kekova by kayak and boat, then put the tank on in Kaş.
