Myra and Kekova: How the Boat Trip Combines Them

Myra and Kekova are two different sites stitched into one day by geography, not by any official package — the rock-cut Lycian tombs at Myra sit inland near the town of Demre, while the Kekova sunken city is a stretch of submerged ruins you view from a boat further along the coast, and the combination works because they’re a short drive and a short sail apart, not because either site was built with the other in mind.

What Myra actually is

Myra’s tombs are cut directly into a cliff face above the modern town of Demre, carved by the ancient Lycians to resemble house facades complete with columns and beams even though nothing behind the stone was ever load-bearing. The site also includes a well-preserved Roman theatre at the base of the cliff, and Demre itself is where Saint Nicholas served as bishop, which is why the town’s old church draws a separate stream of visitors on top of the tomb-and-theatre crowd. Most day trips treat Myra as the land-based first half before heading to the coast.

Where the boat leg starts

The Kekova boat trips themselves depart from small harbor villages along the coast east of Demre, most commonly Üçağız or Kaleköy, both reachable by a short drive from Myra. From either departure point, boats run a loop past Kekova island and the village of Simena, and this is the leg people usually mean when they say “the Kekova boat trip” — Myra is the add-on that makes the day feel complete, not the other way around.

What the sunken city actually looks like from the water

The “sunken city” is the result of an ancient earthquake that dropped parts of a Lycian settlement into the sea along Kekova’s shoreline, and what you see from the boat is a run of stone walls, steps, and building foundations visible just beneath the surface as the boat glides slowly along the coast. Swimming over the ruins is prohibited to protect the site, so the visit is entirely a from-the-boat experience — expect a slow pass rather than a snorkel stop, and expect the ruins to be more visible on a calm, clear day than a choppy one.

The two legs, side by side

Leg	Location	What you see
Myra	Inland, near Demre	Rock-cut tombs, Roman theatre
Kekova	Coastal, near Üçağız/Kaleköy	Submerged ruins, from the boat only

What to bring for the boat leg

Sun exposure is constant and reflective off the water for the whole boat loop, so sunscreen and a hat matter more than they would on a shaded land tour, and a light jacket earns its place even in warm months once the boat picks up speed offshore. Comfortable shoes with grip help for the short, uneven walk up to Simena’s castle, and it’s worth carrying cash in small denominations for the harbor villages, where card machines are not universal at the smaller waterfront cafes.

Simena and the castle above the water

Most Kekova boat routes also stop near the village of Simena, below Kaleköy’s hilltop, where a small Byzantine castle overlooks both the village and the sunken ruins offshore. Climbing up to the castle is optional but common, and it’s the one point on the trip where you get an elevated view down onto the coastline rather than a boat-level one — worth the short walk if the boat schedule allows a stop long enough for it.

Getting there from the resort towns

Most visitors reach this stretch of coast from Kaş, Kalkan, or the wider Antalya resort area, and Demre sits roughly midway between them, which is why day tours from either direction tend to route through Myra first before continuing to the Kekova boat departure points. Driving yourself gives more control over how long you linger at each stop, while a booked day tour handles the Myra-to-harbor transfer for you but locks you into a fixed group schedule — worth weighing against how much you want to decide your own pace at Simena.

Planning the timing

Because the day stitches together an inland site and a coastal boat leg, start times matter more here than on a single-site visit — an early departure from Demre gives you Myra before the tour buses arrive and still leaves a full boat window before afternoon haze softens visibility over the sunken ruins. Booking the boat leg through a local operator in Üçağız or Kaleköy directly, rather than a resort-town add-on, generally gets you a smaller boat and a more flexible stop at Simena.

Before you go

Demre and the Kekova coast sit well outside the main resort strip, and mobile coverage along the smaller harbor villages can be patchy exactly when you want to look something up about the sunken city or confirm a pickup time. Having a Turkey eSIM already active before you leave your hotel means you’re not relying on hotel wifi or hunting for a signal in a village with one main street — check pricing and set it up through the guides section before you head out. If you’re combining this with the rest of the Lycian coast, Side’s Temple of Apollo and Kaleici’s old town in Antalya both sit along the same general stretch of coastline.