Day 6 – Turkey: Windsurfing in Alacati & Cesme Marina

We woke up at 7:30am for windsurfing but unfortunately the conditions were not in our favor. It was extremely windy and the serene bay from yesterday had turned into a choppy sea of blue & white. We decided to make the best of it and kept our lesson for this morning, but first, it was time to enjoy the breakfast buffet included in our hotel stay. The spread was actually insane with a whole table of fresh pastries, meats, local cheeses, hot dishes, desserts, etc. It was definitely the largest complimentary hotel breakfast I have ever seen.

At 9am we walked to ASPC Surf Club to meet our instructor and suit up. They provided us wet suits and booties along with the board and sail. Our instructor named Tuhan warned us it would be challenging today, but he was willing to take us out and try, plus tomorrow’s wind conditions would only be worse, so today was our day! On land he went over how to get up on the board, and our feet and hand positions for basic position and sailing position which is what we would be practicing today. We walked our boards out into the water and one by one took turns trying to get into basic position and transitioning into sailing position. It was extremely choppy so trying to balance on the board was proving this to be more difficult than expected, and on my first try I fell off the board and the top of my leg hit a rock – OW! We walked the boards further out into the water to avoid falling on any lingering rocks in the shallows. Stelios was the best at controlling his sail from the start with the wind gusts since he was the strongest, while Leo excelled at balancing on his board through the choppy waves. Leo’s balance is really good in general from surfing and snowboarding and I am continuously impressed with his athletic abilities as he gets older. On Stelios’s 4th try he ended up falling on one of the sails and it broke (oops!) but the instructor said not to worry about it and that it happens all the time, that’s why insurance is included in the lesson price. After Stelios fell and broke the second sail he decided to take a break and focus on helping Leo and me get better while the instructor switched off working with us both. By the end of the lesson I had two solid solo runs getting into basic position and switching into sailing position. I felt very accomplished considering the challenging conditions. The winds and the choppy waves started to pick up around 11ish so we had to end our lesson early, but the staff was very accommodating and gave us a generous discount. Overall it was a good experience and we all agreed we would definitely try windsurfing again on a calmer day. 

After windsurfing it was time to unwind and relax. Since the wind was blasting at the beach we walked back through the resort to one of the less crowded pools and grabbed 3 chairs. I ordered a glass of rosé to sip on in the pool.

We enjoyed our poolside lunch and after a few hours of lounging we went back to our room to shower. Again the boys hit the arcade while I got ready and I met them at Miso, the seaside lounge & restaurant at our hotel. Stelios and I ordered a glass of wine and Leo had a mixed fruit mocktail. We enjoyed being in the shade and feeling the fresh breeze while we sipped on our drinks. Leo was also entertained watching the Koi fish swimming around in the lagoon. From the table you could also see people kitesurfing in the cove, some of them were really good hitting jumps and doing tricks. I could sit there all day and watch the kite surfers, it was like a live X games. 

By 7pm we took a taxi to the Cesme Marina to walk the promenade and get some dinner. I was texting my sister about Turkey and told her that the resort was beautiful but I wasn’t impressed by the food here and she sent me a list of local dishes to try before we left (Her ex boyfriend was Turkish so she knows all the classic dishes to get that I would actually enjoy). We strolled through the marina which was a much larger version of the Chios port promenade. Along the way we passed the Cesme Castle and paid 6€ each to enter. The castle had a lot of history about the Ottoman Empire and the sultan reign and overall was very well maintained. They turned different rooms of the castle into museum like exhibits  with different ancient artifacts on display. The top of the castle was also a beautiful spot to watch the sunset. 

After touring the castle we grabbed a table at Tomas Hasan Yeri which had both Iskender Kebab and Turkish Pizza (two dishes that Jen recommended we try). We ordered both as appetizers and they were incredibly delicious. Everyone LOVED the Iskender kebab meat so we ended up ordering the large portion as our entree to share. The thinly sliced meat was tender and cooked to perfection, and the red zesty sauce was full of flavor. With our bellies full we got the check (only €40, much more reasonable than the prices in Alacati) and continued walking to the end of the promenade for about 20 minutes.

After reaching the end of the promenade I was on the hunt to find Künefe before we left Turkey (their famous crispy kadayıf pastry with melted Hatay cheese in the middle and usually topped with ice cream). The first two patisseries we stopped at said they were no longer serving it so we kept walking, and finally found a spot that had it on the menu. The Künefe was very interesting – it was both savory and sweet in the sense that it could have been an appetizer but with the ice cream on top it made it feel like dessert. Stelios loved it – I thought It was very tasty & I’m glad we tried it but I wouldn’t go searching for it again. After dessert we walked back to the taxi stand and passed a theatre restaurant that was completely Alice in Wonderland themed which was so random. 

Overall I enjoyed the Cesme Marina area more than Alacati. The overall vibe was more relaxed, and the promenade area was much more spacious compared to the compact and crowded alleys of Alacati. There also weren’t any people haggling you to eat at the restaurants.

Reflecting on our two days in Turkey I am glad we experienced it, but it’s not a place I would want to visit again unless we felt like taking the ferry for a day trip from Chios to go windsurfing, which was the highlight for everyone. Stelios and I also agreed that 2 days in a resort is more than enough for us. We are just not “resort people” and prefer action and adventure, mixed in with a few hours of lounging. We also prefer to be in walking distance to downtowns rather than having to taxi or drive everywhere. Needless to say we were looking forward to returning to Chios tomorrow.