5 Days In Oludeniz: What To See & Do

This post will share details on how to spend five days in Oludeniz.

For my thirty-third birthday, I finally headed down to Turkey or Turkiye as they like to be called these days.

That last time I was in the country was a brief layover for my connecting flight to Manchester almost eight years ago.

Naturally, I did have to return someday.

Despite the British public talking down on how expensive it has become and everyone pivoting to Egypt, Tunisia and Cape Verde for cheaper holidays, this did not sway me one bit.

I had to visit to see for myself and find out why it has consistently been the go-to holiday destination for years.

Honestly, the country did not disappoint, and I’m already looking forward to returning.

Despite having the last six months being itinerary heavy with subsequent trips to Iceland, New York City and Agadir in about three months, there’s no way I was going to slack for my annual birthday trip, which I don’t joke with.

I did go back and forth between Turkiye and Cyprus, but eventually settled on the former, with the latter moved to 2027.

With that out of the way, let’s get into the details of the trip.

Here’s How To Spend Five Days In Oludeniz, Turkiye

Oludeniz is a beach resort in the south of the region of Fethiye that lies on the coast of the Turkish Riviera, near Mount Babadağ.

It was my first time hearing about the area, and I went with the flow.

I did originally want to visit the more popular Antalya, but all the options that came up weren’t really appealing for what I wanted, so Oludeniz it was.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised and impressed at the same time; I did see the potential when I was viewing the hotel from Google Earth, but the actuality was quite literally unreal.

As someone solo travelling since 2020, I am shocked by my confidence when taking these trips.

Fear and anxiety are usually out of the window, and aside from being safety conscious, I go with the flow.

Package

I booked a package with easyJet holidays.

I have used them several times now.

Despite exploring other sites such as Tui holidays and Love holidays, easyJet holidays always seems to get me what I want.

As usual, I paid a deposit in February and paid off the rest when I was ready.

The entire process from start to finish was smooth and seamless, and I will definitely be using them again.

Flights

We flew into Dalaman Airport with a flight time of almost four hours.

I honestly did not realise it was that long, but I was well armed with all my inflight essentials, so it was mostly fine.

Unfortunately, we landed quite late at night, but passport control was super fast and efficient, and we were at the baggage hall in minutes.

Then it was time to find out our airport transfer at the arrivals entrance.

Airport Transfer

Outside the airport, I was able to locate the easyJet station where they would get your details and allocate your driver.

My driver took my luggage to a small coach where a few other people were waiting to be transferred.

After a couple of people joined, we were ready to go.

The transfer from Dalaman Airport to my hotel in Oludeniz took about an hour – more like forever, to be honest, because I forgot to activate my eSIM for Turkiye.

When we finally got into Fethiye, I started to feel overstimulated with all the LED lights blaring out of the stores, and I was so happy I did not plan to do a city centre exploration.

We finally arrived at the hotel, and I was ready to retire for the night.

Accommodation

Before choosing my hotel, I had to decide what kind of trip I wanted.

I wasn’t planning on doing too many activities because I wanted the trip to be as restful as possible.

I had been under so much stress lately, and I just needed to unwind.

So my conditions included;

• A nice sea-view room, preferably with a balcony, so I didn’t have to fight for loungers by the pool.
• Half board, because I didn’t plan to exert any energy looking for what to eat.
• An on-site spa for obvious reasons.

These conditions were super simple but were vital in determining the direction of the entire trip.

So imagine my surprise when I was given a room by the corner of the hotel with little to no view.

I was too exhausted to notice until I woke up in the morning and requested that my room be changed.

It’s essential to know that with package companies, you tend to be assigned the worst hotel rooms.

So you have to do your due diligence by either choosing the best possible option or paying extra for the exact room you want, which is what I did when I was booking.

Hotel Review

I stayed at the Ramada by Wyndham Fethiye Oludeniz, which is honestly the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

Nothing else screams secluded resort like being surrounded by the sea and mountainous views.

The hotel’s high elevation meant that it required effort to get anywhere.

We were completely in the middle of nowhere, just surrounded by other hotels.

The beauty about this is that the hotel has everything you would need within the confines of its boundaries.

At the end of my trip, I wanted to get some snacks for the flight home and a fridge magnet.

It turns out there was a mini-market on site where I could grab what I needed.

I was incredibly estatic about this realisation.

This way, I did not have to leave the hotel at all.

Ramada by Wyndham is exactly what you want when you want to get completely away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

The hotel has all the facilities you will require for a restful stay.

If you get bored, there is a free shuttle that takes you down to the beach club for the day and brings you back in the evening.

The rooms are incredibly spacious, with most, if not all, having a balcony with the most stunning views.

When my room was eventually changed the next day, I was given three options, all of which came with a jacuzzi.

I chose the one in the middle and had the time of my life.

For breakfast and dinner, the meals were just adequate.

I wish we had a lot more variety, but I realised that it’s small because the hotel was at partial capacity, as it’s the start of the season.

Obviously, having too many options would probably be a waste, which was smart on their part.

The other thing that made me a bit annoyed was how they were trying to upsell snacks and drinks in each room.

To make it worse, they charged in Euros rather than Turkish Lira.

It’s safe to say that I ignored everything to avoid paying any extra fees.

The staff were always happy to help as well, even though many of them didn’t speak English, but it was nothing to worry about.

All in all, it’s definitely a hotel I can see myself returning to.

Activities & Experiences

The most important activity you need to do if you’re spending five days in Oludeniz is Paragliding.

Due to Mount Babadağ’s exceptional height, there are a lot of paragliding opportunities.

Seeing as this was one of, if not the bravest, activities I have ever done, I was incredibly anxious.

I spent the last week mulling over my decision to go paragliding or not.

Eventually, on the chosen day, I finally took the plunge for an afternoon trip.

I had originally planned an 8:30 am trip due to its being the better option for first-timers.

But I could not for the life of me make up my mind.

Paragliding in Ölüdeniz

I booked with Liberty Paragliding via GetYourGuide.

I tried to research the company to see its track record, as I wasn’t intentionally going to be putting my life in danger.

It turns out every pilot needed to have a minimum of 10 years of experience, but that still didn’t feel very reassuring.

I researched the fatality rate just to be sure, and it was somewhat reassuring.

Anyway, I finally took the plunge and booked a 3 pm flight with a transfer.

I didn’t even remember that my travel insurance didn’t cover extreme sports, which was reckless on my part.

I was picked up and joined a small coach with pilots and passengers, and we made our way to the top of Mount Babadağ.

The journey took thirty minutes, after which we disembarked, and I was immediately assigned a female pilot.

Paragliding Over Mount Babadag

We made our way to the takeoff point, dragging her balloon in the process.

When we got there, she got me armed with the safety harness, and we were ready to go.

At this point, my anxiety was bearable.

I just needed the activity to be over and done with, as we only had 30 minutes in the air.

The takeoff wasn’t too bad; it wasn’t actually smooth.

I got to relax and enjoy the views while my pilot was taking photos with her GoPro until my motion sickness kicked in.

Then it starts to go downhill from there.

The nausea was insane, similar to what I experienced on the boat from Sliema to Gozo.

The pilot tried to help with breathing exercises, but it did not help much.

She wanted to do some acrobatics, and I just kept turning them down.

I literally thought I was going to pass out.

Eventually, I told her to take me down as I had seen enough.

We gradually made our descent to Oludeniz Beach.

Where I was given a chair and some water and Coke to get myself together.

They were basically giving me sugary and salty snacks to see what hits.

When I was settled and able to walk, she gave me all my photos, and I was dropped off at my hotel.

In hindsight, there should have been a warning for people with motion sickness.

I would have prepared beforehand and taken the necessary precautions.

Anyway, I got that done, and I’m never doing any activity that requires me to be in the air again.

Other Activities To Do

As much as I was tempted to book one more activity, I had to restrain myself.

I usually travel with a packed itinerary, so it was difficult to sit still and do nothing.

To fill my time, I booked two spa sessions on two separate days at the hotel spa; one before and on my actual birthday.

This way, I would be forced to relax.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I got the best massage of my life at the hotel spa,

It was a Balinese massage, and I almost broke my back in the process.

I told my friend that my back was cracked like a spatchcock.

Anyway, at my second session, my Balinese masseuse was able to rectify the damage she did, and I went home with untensed and unclenched muscles.

If you are looking to explore other activities whilst you’re in Ölüdeniz, here are a few of them:

• Ölüdeniz: Butterfly Valley Boat Trip with Buffet Lunch
• Fethiye Jeep Safari To Tlos, Yaka, Saklıkent, Rafting &Lunch

Finally,

If you are looking for a nice, cosy holiday, you need to visit Oludeniz.

If I did spend up to 10 days, I would probably have done the Butterfly Valley boat trip just to get away from the hotel a bit.

But I was too exhausted and honestly could not be bothered.

This trip has once again reiterated the importance of relaxing and unwinding and how much it actually does for your well-being.