8 - Bademli

So we left Ayvalık and traveled towards Bademli, a lovely and tiny village which has its own little cruising area in between the shore and two islands parallel to the shore. I had been to Bademli on a business trip several years ago (and was intrigued) but had never been there by boat.

Information on Bademli

The moment we anchored 100 meters south of Oliviera Hotel and I threw myself into the turquise colored sea, I knew that our summer had officially started ! We spent two or three nights here and it was wonderful in every sense. This is undiscovered cruising grounds away from tourism crowds. The village is totally local, authentic, free from commercial mentality. There are only one or two tiny grocery stores, a basic restaurant, a barber shop and a kahve, a cheap tea house named “coffee”, where village man chat with each other, play cards, watch tv or just sit idle while drinking tea all day long. Small though it may be, this village had some surprises for us. While eating pide, at the restaurant we witnessed all men at the kahve stand up and start belly dancing ! Almost 25 men, most of them over forty, felt too upbeat and decided to dance ! This is one charming tradition of this village, local men sometimes belly dance on impulse ! There are other charms too, like the pink, large tomatoes we bought from a village lady selling them in front of her house.

If you wish to go to Bademli village fromyour boat you have two options. Oliviera hotel on Kalem Adası has a shuttle service that can drop you at the pier ashore and then you need a taxi to take you to Bademli village which is 10 mins by car. The other option is more adventurous. You can go by tender as close as you can towards the Bademli village and then walk 15-20 minutes first along the shore and then in between almond and olive orchards. See the attached Google Earth plan. There is a small headland separating the northern anchoring area from the shallow bay. Make sure not to cross into the shallow area by boat. The bay looks huge and you might feel adventurous but don't ! Even by tender you will need to be very careful and you will come across sunken walls, fish nets and sand banks. Make sure to explore this area daytime before making a night time attempt. Tie your tender to the small wooden pier used by fisherman. Then within a five minute walk you will come across a nice restaurant next to the sea. This place is recommended but make sure to choose your food after seeing them and avoid non-local frozen food such as shrimps. The view is very nice, especially when there is moonlight. Life is different along the Aegean and Mediterranean coast. One is always in touch with nature so a lunch or dinner next to the beautiful nature will leave you not only full in the stomach but also spiritually satisfied due to the nature element. So at a restaurant like this it does not matter if you have a jolly conversation with friends, or silently share the beauty of moonlight with your companion or just enjoy being alone with nature.

Bademli is 10-15 minutes walk from this restaurant and after wandering around the small village you can purchase Koruk Şerbeti, a locally produced grape drink.

Bademli is a true gem. It is unspoilt, beautiful yet at the same time raw. People are very friendly and helpful. When we visited the last time, in 2010, a wedding dress maker was taking catalog photos among the village streets.

Some beautiful, old and uninhabited buildings here have Greek letters on them. Their occupants were subjected to Mübadele, a forced migration that took place in 1920's between Turkey and Greece. These people who were forcily migrated because of their religion and most of them had a very hard time abroad as they were considered outsiders. Essentially, Turkish Orthodox Christians were sent to Greece and Greek Muslims to Turkey and other than being a minority in religion they were citizens of their own country and in many cases did not even know the language of their new countries. I wish in the future religion will remain a private aspect of social identity.

I have described the village above but the shores and beaches need some explanation. There are two islands off Bademli. First one is Kalem Adası and second is Garip Ada (ada means island). There is very nice water all around the islands but between the islands, no the north, there are shallow banks. These you can walk through if you have your swimsuit on. There is also thermal waters in this area. When you step ashore the Garip adası (to the northeast of the island) beach you can easily smell the sulphur in the water. The bad smell should not put you off, this stuff heals ! Our baby had allergy problems and rashes on her skin and when we put her here she immediately liked the water and the sand.
It is so lovely on Garip Ada that be prepared to spend many hours here. Also there are small beaches on the western coast of Kalem adası, you can either walk from Oliviera hotel or go by tender. Enjoy this lovely setting, grab a beer, lie down on the sand and let hours slip by !

Garip Ada Shore (thermal spring flowing into the sea)

 

View from Garip Ada towards Kalem Adası and the mainland

 The mainland does not possess charming beaches yet it is charming. The scenery is very beautiful, the water is great, you can safely anchor between Kalem adası and the mainland. The sea bottom is thick seaweed and is holding pretty well. Sea temperature is so-so, I say so because Turkish people can not tolerate less then 25 degrees celsius. Here you can find 23-25 degrees in summer. It is quite warm when compared to 18 degree Bozcaada !

If you will not stay afloat then it is Oliviera Hotel...which is nice if you don't expect luxury. The food is acceptable but as I said elsewhere, do not eat frozen food. Running a hotel on an island is much harder and given the shorter season of Bademli area then things get even more difficult.

Oliviera Hotel from the Sea

There is a historical thermal bath, an enclosed structure on the mainland shore, 250-300 meters to the south of Kalem adası. This was probably a Roman bath and is directly built upon the thermal spring. It really smells here and I could not get into this water even though I know it is clean. Also go there when it is not crowded.

This whole area is under threat of overconstruction. A businessman bought Garip adası for USD 25-30 mio and now claiming to "discover" it and he says with his several thousand room hotel project, he will sell it to Arabs for USD 500 mio. It is more likely a money laundering operation but I fear they can make irrevocable damage to the whole area.

---Bademli, the whole area, needs to be a marine conservation area.---