Lake Köyceğiz is idyllically situated in the Menteşe region in the southeast of Muğla province. The lake was once just a bay of the Mediterranean surrounded by mountains, but the alluvial deposits of the leading rivers transformed the area into a large alluvial plain and cut off the lake from the sea.

The lake is fed by spring water and, in flat estuary deltas, by the three main rivers Namnam Stream, Kargicak Stream and Round Stream, which is of particular economic and ecological importance due to Turkey’s largest resident trout farm. Downstream, a reed-covered natural canal meanders through swampy waters from Lake Köyceğiz past the ruins of Kaunos to the Mediterranean Sea. The number of such lakes with a natural sea connection is only seven in the world, in other words, Lake Köyceğiz is considered a world natural wonder. The natural idyll is rounded out by four large and small islands in the middle of the river. Various species of freshwater fish can be found in the lake, it is even a home for the endangered Nile turtle.

Water sports and boat trips are offered as tourist attractions, and water skiing on the almost always calm lake, which is possible 8 months a year, is particularly popular. The region also enjoys great importance in health tourism. The many thermal springs that mix with the sulphurous waters of the lake are said to have healing effects on many diseases. You can enjoy the beneficial effects while swimming, or indulge yourself by visiting the region’s popular mud baths and hot springs.