We are really excited to share this video, a beautiful place with so much natural beauty. Butterfly Valley is a bit of a special place because so few people can get to the beach. Only accessible via boat or a steep hike down a cliff face, this paradise was a favorite of ours.

We begin our journey from Fethiye in Southern Turkey and leave early in our Hanse 445 sail boat. Our plan is to leave early to get the pick of the anchorage and beat all the tourist boats who arrive from around 11am. It's also important to choose a calm day with favourable wind and swell conditions.

The research we had conducted showed many of the tourist boats would land their boats on the left hand side of the bay. When we arrived the right hand side was free, with a perfect spot in front of the swimming enclosure. We dropped in 28m and let out 40m of chain.

We spent the next couple of hours swimming and exploring this beautiful area, spotting numerous sea turtles, schools of fish and snorkeling the rocks nearby. We also took the tender out and explored the rocks away from the beach.

There is a hike up through Butterfly valley that is worth while. It costs 10TL to enter the valley which takes you through the valley into a canyon with steep walls and 2 waterfalls which cool the entire area. There are some cables drilled into the rocks to assist you to climb higher up the valley which gives you access to better views and the waterfalls.

There are 105 butterfly species that call the valley home, but they aren't easy to find. I am fortunate to find 3 different species of butterfly.

When I return from my walk the once peaceful Butterfly Valley is filled with noise and tourist boats which changes the feel of the place. I would definitely recommend arriving early and spending the first couple hours of the day soaking up the tranquility.

We decide to spend the night at Karacaören Restaurant, which has buoys for sailboats to tie-up to for free if you dine at the restaurant. The water looks similar to Butterfly Valley, a perfect blue with great clarity. The evening is spent dining at the restaurant, taking in the special view and enjoying great company, a perfect day in paradise.

About us:

Our names are Jason and Tracey and we traded our house, cars, business, job and security for freedom, adventure, travel and living simply amongst nature and the seas on our 45 foot Hanse 445 sailing boat, Kawai.

We don't know exactly where the winds will take us at this stage but over the last couple years we have sailed to Turkey, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia.

Jase loves making travel videos and we decided to upload to youtube to share our adventure. We really hope you enjoy and feel free to drop us a comment any time to chat or subscribe to follow along :)

Instagram
Jason: https://www.instagram.com/jase_stephe...
Tracey: https://www.instagram.com/trace_y02/?...

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/SailingKawai

Email
If you need to get in contact with us, please email jason_s06@hotmail.com

Music
1. In our Hands, Ten Towers, www.epidemicsound.com

2. The Cold Shoulder, www.epidemicsound.com

3. Waking Up to Another Day, Ten Towers, www.epidemicsound.com

Captions:

0:00
this week we are really excited to take
0:02
you to butterfly valley a hidden oasis
0:04
only accessible by boat and one of our
0:06
favorite destinations so far
0:08
its natural beauty blows our mind before
0:11
stopping off at a yotty's hot spot with
0:13
some of the clearest water we have seen
0:17
morning coffee
0:24
well we wouldn't normally be up this
0:26
early
0:27
what's the plan we're hoping to get
0:29
around to butterfly
0:31
valley before too many glutes arrive
0:35
[Music]
0:39
winning
0:47
[Music]
0:56
i've said it many times i know
1:01
i would change my ways i know for sure
1:06
when all the crows decide to meet
1:11
they settled down beneath my feet
1:16
i've got it right and i got it wrong
1:21
but i learned my lesson hanging on
1:26
come sit here with me by the fire
1:31
and let it go for a little while
1:39
[Music]
1:48
we
1:49
got nothing to be scared of
1:59
[Music]
2:18
when i was young i thought control
2:30
seemed to be
2:31
[Music]
2:33
the only thing that was for me
2:38
and i saw the angels coming down
2:42
[Music]
2:48
and i still
2:51
[Music]
3:00
just hanging out here in the beautiful
3:03
butterfly valley
3:05
it's very spectacular
3:07
not too many
3:08
glitz or tourist boats here yet and
3:12
yeah been for a swim water's beautiful
3:15
and jace is headed to shore to check it
3:20
out i'm gonna stay here just to make
3:22
sure that we don't get
3:24
uh hit by any other boats i guess really
3:27
and
3:27
[Music]
3:29
yeah
3:31
time to enjoy
3:35
[Music]
4:05
[Music]
4:09
but you really didn't have to go and be
4:12
like that
4:14
be like that
4:17
be like that
4:19
be like that
4:26
[Music]
4:38
old friends
4:40
[Music]
4:48
butterfly valley gets its name firstly
4:50
due to the 105 butterfly species that
4:53
call it home and secondly the tall 400
4:56
meter walls that protect this hidden gem
4:58
and create a unique atmosphere it's only
5:01
accessible by a boat as mentioned or by
5:03
hiking down the steep cliffs
5:07
it's possible to stay a little longer by
5:09
renting a wooden cabin or tents but
5:11
don't expect modern facilities the area
5:14
has a hippie chill vibe where
5:15
self-service and communal dining is a
5:17
must
5:18
it also allows you to take nature in in
5:20
all of its beauty all at this time of
5:22
morning anyway more on that later
5:27
[Music]
5:42
so ali you work here every day
5:45
uh i am here
5:47
live i am here personally okay well if
5:50
you come to butterfly valley they will
5:52
see you they will meet you
5:54
thank you very much
6:02
once you've paid the 10 turkish lira
6:04
entry fee you can begin your hike
6:05
through butterfly valley the path is
6:07
well maintained and it's easy to follow
6:09
with the scenery changing as you move up
6:11
into the canyon
6:13
the hike takes about one hour up and
6:15
back with the steep walls enclosing
6:17
around you the further you walk and a
6:19
cooling waterfall creating a dreamy
6:21
atmosphere
6:22
definitely worth a visit
6:32
ali did advise that my thongs might make
6:34
it harder to go further than the initial
6:36
900 meters so i would recommend shoes as
6:39
you need to pull yourself up the rocks
6:40
with the cable to get to the waterfall
6:43
and the best views
7:21
although i did manage to see three
7:23
different types of butterfly they were
7:24
hard to find apparently butterflies
7:27
don't like noise and as i returned to
7:29
the bay i could see why
7:38
there are three ways to get to butterfly
7:39
valley one being via gullet they usually
7:42
only stay for one hour as they visit six
7:44
spots along the coast
7:46
[Music]
7:57
the second way is private or charter
7:59
boat and i would recommend anchoring on
8:00
the right side of the bay in front of
8:02
the swimming enclosure away from the
8:04
gullets and the third option is a taxi
8:07
boat from aludines beach which is pretty
8:09
cheap and gives you longer to explore
8:15
nice huh
8:19
butterfly valley has so many curves to
8:21
explore with perfect turquoise water
8:23
it's unreal
8:25
[Music]
8:45
i know we're going somewhere
8:48
[Music]
9:06
if you don't
9:09
the anchorage is exposed to swell so we
9:12
picked up the anchor and headed to one
9:13
of the few options nearby we decided on
9:16
karakoram a four and a half nautical
9:18
mile journey from butterfly valley
9:21
and we out
9:29
i wonder if this is what it felt like
9:31
back in the day when a pirate ship was
9:33
chasing you down
9:37
be pretty scary
9:44
how nice does this look ah it's really
9:47
nice
9:49
perfect spot oh yeah
9:55
[Music]
10:06
what'd you just ask
10:07
i asked what this was called this uh
10:10
restaurant
10:13
no actually i actually asked what my
10:15
hair was doing
10:16
um i wasn't sure how to answer that
10:20
um maybe someone can help me out with
10:22
that in the comments
10:26
honestly like good
10:28
yeah the hair looks good jason yes
10:31
um yeah we're at this restaurant
10:33
between federer and cash
10:36
and we've taken a boy so we go out for
10:38
dinner tonight and uh it's been a week
10:41
to the day since we went out so yeah
10:43
we're pretty excited
10:44
about heading out for dinner
10:47
the restaurant is known for its fresh
10:49
fish so jase ordered a dragon fish and i
10:51
ordered a groper oh we haven't eaten all
10:54
day
10:57
and
10:58
it's very appetizing yes so what have
11:00
you got fresh grapefruit fresh gravy oh
11:04
very popular
11:08
let's try that
11:13
[Music]
11:25
you've changed
11:27
jetty's on a bit of a lean jax you eat
11:29
too much i swear i only had one fish
11:32
it was small but you're on the side
11:34
although the restaurant itself is not
11:35
cheap we were happy to pay the 400
11:37
turkish lira for fish which has
11:39
increased recently it's worth
11:41
remembering turkey has strong inflation
11:43
the meal also comes with complimentary
11:45
homemade bread and mezes a mooring for
11:47
the night pick-up service for lunch and
11:50
dinner and jaan maintaining the moorings
11:52
the restaurant has a cool vibe and who
11:54
can forget the crystal clear water
11:56
stunning view of babadage and the
11:58
hundreds of paragliders a perfect day in
12:00
paradise
12:02
i hope you all enjoyed the video if you
12:04
did let us know in the comments give us
12:06
a like and if you haven't already
12:08
subscribe as we sail to unbelievable
12:10
destinations like butterfly valley
12:12
thanks guys
12:13
if you liked this video maybe check out
12:15
our shipwreck bay video one of our faves
12:18
to visit and just as spectacular
12:21
[Music]
12:26
i know we're going somewhere
12:29
[Music]