Manavgat

Manavgat, in the tourist sense, is a small, fast-flowing waterfall in a part of the town that is difficult to find. Well, it certainly is difficult when yet again the Sat-Nav sends you in the wrong direction and you end up on the north side of the river where there is nothing to do and nowhere to park.

So, turning around and heading to the correct entrance, several miles along the river and over a bridge or six, the disappointing site greets you with a whimper of, well, disappointment. Manavgat, since it is not an archaeological site, was not on my list, but a couple of my Turkish friends insisted I must visit and, since I was passing on my way along the coast, I thought it must be worth the view. How wrong I was! Most of the wooden restaurants were closed, the touristy trinkets on offer are of especially poor quality and high price and the place, quite frankly, is nothing more than a let down. Just to rub in the misery there is a relatively hefty price charged to use the on-site lavatories.

The waterfall is pretty enough but if you can look at a photograph of it you don’t really need to go there. So, my advice – don’t bother! Your time will be much better spent at one of the local archaeological sites. In fact your time will be better spent standing on a road bridge and watching the traffic for an hour. The one highlight was a fantastically cheap and huge lunch in a local restaurant near the town centre, towards the main road that passes along the coast. So, if you are passing Manavgat and are hungry, pop in for lunch but forget the waterfall!

My wasted visit to Manavgat was in the early afternoon of Monday 16 March, 2015. It was a pleasantly hot day. Just as well, really.