Sarımsaklı Beach

Sarımsaklı runs for several kilometres south of Ayvalık, a broad beach of fine pale sand shelving very gently into calm water - it is the swimming beach for the whole district and the reason Ayvalık gets a summer season at all. Behind it is a strip of hotels, pensions, apartments and restaurants that thins out toward the southern end, and the beach itself is a mix of free public stretches and club sections with loungers and umbrellas for hire. The shallowness and lack of current make it a family beach rather than a swimmer's one. At the southern end the coast rises toward Şeytan Sofrası, and the islands of the Ayvalık archipelago sit offshore, with boat trips running from Ayvalık harbour round them. Out of season the strip largely shuts, which makes Sarımsaklı a summer proposition in a way that Ayvalık's old town is not.

What you actually see

• The long sand strip - several kilometres of fine pale beach.
• The shallow water - gently shelving and calm.
• The resort strip - hotels and restaurants behind the sand.
• The offshore islands - the Ayvalık archipelago from the shore.

When to go

June to September for swimming; July and August are crowded and prices peak. Outside summer most of the strip closes.

Honest expectations

It is a mass-market resort beach, not a secluded one, and the strip behind is unremarkable. Free sections are busier than the paid clubs. Very shallow water frustrates proper swimmers.

Nearby

Şeytan Sofrası is on the ridge above; Ayvalık old town and Cunda are north.