Antalya Climbing Guide Book
Eberardo Topher
Long time out of print, finally the new edition is here. Many new routes, new areas, more climbing fun on the Turkish Riviera. In this super designed guide, the areas Geyikbayiri, Hacimustafalar, Citdibi, Akyarlar, Beycik, Olympos, Cirali, Adrasan/Yarasali (DWS), Kas/Kaputas are described. Beyond the many impressive pictures, you get all the information such as length of the route, number of belays and difficulty. The topos of the climbing routes are shown on color pictures of the respective walls. The individual sectors of the areas are also clearly marked on color photos.
The most important phrases in Turkish are at the end of the book with English translation.
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Beautiful scenery, amazing weather and fantastic routes all add up to make an ideal sun-rock venue. The climbing at the main spot of Geyikbayiri is extremely accessible - falling within a 3km square area. That means if you're staying on the campsites you can park the car and forget about driving - with less than 15 minutes walk to any sector. There are enough routes in this one area to keep you occupied for a good few weeks, but if you feel a bout of wander-lust setting in, some coastal crags might fit the bill.
The crags have been developed recently with good quality 12mm stainless steel bolts. On most of the routes a 60m rope will be adequate, but there are some longer adventures dotted around, especially at Sarkit, which is the largest crag at the main area of Geyikbayiri, where a 70m rope can be useful. Some of the mega routes in this area require stopping half way down and re-threading the rope. The steeper routes tend to follow brilliant orange tufas of all sizes, giving varied, three dimensional climbing and lots of opportunities to rest with foot hooks and knee bars. The less steep routes follow perfect grey limestone on crimps and pockets, featuring delicate, technical and balancy moves.
The main climbing spot is Geyikbayiri which is the name of a nearby village. Geyikbayiri is a relatively young climbing area and was discovered by ztrk Kayikci in 2000. ztrk, as well as many local and foreign route-openers have developed an incredible climbing region. At the moment there are almost 300 routes of various difficulties and grades (Fr 4 to 8c). Routes up to Fr 4 grades are relatively few, but more exist between Fr 4 and Fr 6a+. Main difficulties are between Fr 6a+ to Fr 7c. There is a campsite less than 10 minute from the cliffs.
Akyarlar is 25 minutes from the campsite at Geyikbayiri and is situated directly on the sea front. It is relatively small, (around 20 routes) but a nice climbing area situated in a beautiful bay. The rather steep rocky footpath down to the bay frightens most non-climbers, which means you normally have the whole bay for yourself. In summer it is the perfect place to climb, boulder, bathe and to hang out. With the first moves you are faced with boulder problems on rocks washed smooth and rounded by the sea, after that you'll find climbing on vertical walls.
Feslekan Yayla (yayla means meadow) lies at about 2000m above sea level and can be reached from the campsite at Geyikbayiri either by car (30 min), or by mountain bike (time depending on your stamina!). The bouldering area is surrounded by mountain pastures and even in summer, snow covered summits. The air is fresh and clear. Thousands of blocks, some knobby mountain pines and small Alpine huts make this area unique. The rock is compact and not too sharp, the gneiss-limestone mix resembles granite. There are boulders of all difficulties and variations.
The summers in Antalya are blisteringly hot and as most of the crags enjoy a sunny, Southern outlook then this time is best avoided. The rest of the year provides perfect warm climbing conditions, with most people climbing in t-shirts right through the winter .
Low cost flights to Antalya airport are easy to find on the web, just Google "Flights Antalya". The airport is located 3km East of Antalya centre. It's possible to hire cars at the airport with several different companies - a quick web search throws up lots of results. From Antalya airport follow signs to Antalya, and get on the main D650 road heading West. You should see signs for Cakilar when you have travelled around 8km from Antalya centre. Travel through Cakilar and head for the village of Feslikan (signed). This road then leads to Akdamar, where a right turn at the market brings you on to the road up to the village of Geyikbairi. Feslikan is located around 10 km after Geyikbayiri, on the same road.
There are many accommodation options in the Antalya area, with cheap package holiday deals from the UK meaning that apartments by the coast can be booked for a low price. All the usual travel websites offer packages here and a quick web search will give hundreds of results. Most visiting climbers prefer to stay in the village of Geyibayiri itself and a few different options are available here.
Geyikbayiri is a small, quiet village selling fruit and basic food products. There isn't really much else on offer in the area, so making sure you're stocked up on essentials before you arrive is a good idea. The village of Akdamar has a large open air market and is about 10 minutes drive or 40 minutes walk down the valley from where the climbing is situated. There is a beautiful woodland path following the river from Trebenna to the village centre which is an ideal rest day activity.
The campsites offer food and this is by far the most convenient option for the short term visitor. There is also a small cafe-shack on the road below the main crags that sells coffee and bread and a few very basic items. JoSiTo campground stock a small range of climbing equipment, including chalk.
Due to Turkeys amazing history, there are many archaeological excursions available in the surrounding areas. To experience an overview of Turkeys' worthiest destinations, tours can be found in local travel-guides.
Mountain biking: The Mountains rise directly from sea level to a height of almost 3000 metres, offering you routes through various vegetation and climatic regions. There are a few asphalt roads in the mountains thus allowing you an indefinite number of tours and trails of various difficulties. At the moment a guidebook is being put together with the most worthwhile routes.
Skiing/Ski tours: From the middle of January to the end of May the mountains over 1500m are taken over by winter weather with snow often over several metres in depth. Occasionally in April and May you can go skiing and swimming on the same day. Further information about snow conditions and tours can be found in local guides. Half an hour from Geyikbayiri you can find the ski town of ski town of Saklikent where you can enjoy the luxury of ski lifts.
All the routes are shown on full colour photo-topos, along with the route length and the number of bolts. The guidebook also has many excellent action photographs. Each area has a good location map, access information and a general description of the rock climbing to be found at each crag.
Written by Ozturk Kasyikci and published in September 2023 (revised 7th Edition), this guidebook is in Turkish and English text throughout. This revised 7th edition has around 400 more routes than the previous edition, which reflects the number of new routes that have been added in the last few years.
Geyikbayiri is the largest sport climbing area in Turkey. The crag itself is situated 25km from the busy tourist city of Antalya, with the only "tourists" being rock climbers! The main crag is 1.5km long, plus several other buttresses, providing over 1,000 routes across at all grades. However there is still potential to develop many more! The climbing is on superb limestone rock, with many features such as slabs and faces with small crimps to bomber overhanging tufas and roofs. The majority of the routes are single pitch though there are some 2-pitch routes as well. The crag has only been developed since 2001 and therefore all of the routes have good quality bolts.
Further inland from Geyikbayiri and high up in the mountains (2000m high) at a place called Feslekan Yayla is a fantastic limestone bouldering area. Though the bouldering is not fully developed, it does mean there are great opportunities to bag some first ascents. It is also an excellent place to escape the summer heat of Geyikbayiri.
Further south is another excellent sport climbing area at Olympos along with nearby Cirali. These 2 areas consist of several crags with almost 400 routes on perfect limestone rock across all grades. The rock climbing has slabs with small pockets that require technical moves and lots of balance through to tufas and huge roofs. Some of the crags also have the advantage of only being a few hundred metres from the beach.
Further south is the deep water soloing (DWS) area of Yarasali. The routes are between 8 to 20m long on overhanging limestone rock featuring tufas and pockets. The only downside is that these walls can only be approached by boat that can be hired from Olympos (approximately 1 hour each way).
Beycik sits at an altitude of 450m and faces north/northeast, and therefore is in the shade for most of the day. There are 58 limestone sport routes mostly in the easy to medium difficulty.
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