Thursday is a blue to remember.

I’ve always been attracted to the color blue, especially in liquid form. As a kid, I remember seeing advertisements for Caribbean vacations that showed white sand beaches and turquoise waters, and I wanted to jump into the page and swim in it. A long time passed before I was actually able to actually do this, probably in St. John, USVI in my 20s. I loved swimming over coral and fish and being immersed in that impossible blue water. Since then, I’ve swum in a thousand shades of blue, all over the world: Atlantic, Caribbean, Pacific, Mediterranean. Lucky guy, for sure. 

Early this morning we sailed to a cove on the central peninsula of this region, downed some breakfast, and jumped in for a swim. The surrounding cliffs are hundreds of feet high here, maybe a thousand, and as we swam up to them realized that they continued another 50 or more feet to the sea floor.  The water is clear all the way to the bottom. The cliff beneath the water is undercut by a couple of feet at the water line, and eroded in brilliant circular patterns. 

Swimming along the cliff felt like flying. All 9 of us, 6 guests and 3 guides, stroked along the shore in amazement. We passed ancient olive groves between cliffs, with rock walls and terraces. On our return, the sun was behind our back, and sunbeams broke through the water right at the edge of sun and shade. I was swimming with Tracy as we rounded a point and the water turned an impossible shade of blue, absolutely stunning. We swam through it, silent with amazement. At some point Tracy stopped me and said “Hopper, I don’t know if I’ll ever see anything that blue ever again in my life. Should we swim back through it one more time?” Absolutely, I said. 

We all lingered in the water near the gulet, soaking in the sun’s rays, water and air working together to keep us comfortable. A peak moment. 

This spot was so amazing that Hopper, Zack, Andrew and I got back in the water for a little free diving play before lunch. I brought my big camera housing in and we got some fun and fantastic pics. - HP

A brief geographic check-in. Where the heck are we? Let’s have a look. 

We’re at the yellow star. So many world changing events happened within this rectangle, you could spend a lifetime learning all of it. 

Turkish people are fortunate to have this coastline of theirs, and they flock here all summer for vacations along with travelers from all over Europe and Asia, and even some Americans. It’s easy to see why this region makes for a great and stunning escape.

Our relic creature is evolving nicely, and everyone is getting involved in the creative, historical fun. - HP

Our captain steered us into a somewhat busy harbor for the evening, and our guests traded off swims and photo shoots with Heather. A school of 10 or 15 little orange fish surrounded guests Andrew and Erika, and they stuck around for a while to entertain us. 

Gin and tonics for sunset, lots of grilled lamb and eggplant and a half dozen other yummy dishes for dinner. Gosh I can’t remember what dessert was, but I know I’ll remember that shade of blue from this morning for the rest of my life. 

Hopper

Here’s a little video recap of our last few days, backed my music from my guy, Finn Weafer! XO - HP