Last year we visited the wind-delicate island of Karpathos (Greece), which lies between Crete and Rhodos. This year we traveled to to Alacati... Alacati is on the peninsula Cesme (Turkish mainland) north of Samos in the Turkish Ägais. As we all know, we need alot of stuff for a well-equipped Surftrip! We were checking-in at the airline with a lot of excess luggage! Due to a 5% overbooking of the flight, the girl at the check-in informed us that our stuff might not be carried with the same plane. After long discussions with the airline, our gear flew with us! When we landed in Izmir everything arrived, no problem! We had all items needed for a beautiful surfjourney!
The transfer from the airport Izmir to Alacati took about 1 hour. Upon arrival at our Surfhotel we checked the weather forecast; good winds for the whole of our stay!
The hotels, bars and surfschools are all equipped with wireless LAN!... you can check your mails and send some pictures home- anywhere! Alacati can be described as an entertainment park for Windsurfers ;-)
In Alicati surfing seems to be a kind of national sport. Many large surf organizations such as ASPC (www.alacati.de) are represented here.

A few years ago, Alacati was a small attractive overslept village, in whichfishermen, workman and farmers lived well. A few years ago lovers of this scenic & delightful area have restored the island-typical stone houses of Alacati. Lifestyle-magazines and different trendsetters have discovered Alacati for themsleves.
Alacati has many “chilly vanilly” beachbars... you have to see it! A lot of pillows, couches and hammocks invites you to snuggle, dream and to observe the beachlife. In the evening we look at the sky with all its facinacion. This surf-city, is rich... locals gave you the feeling of being welcome.

Now about Windsurfing!
The bay of Alacati is a shallow water district in the south of the Cesme peninsula. Owing to its geography, the outstanding wind conditions are usually winds from the left (sidshore wind). Over 500m large, Alacati is an outstanding training and exercise district.
Normally the winds freshen at noon quite strongly, so that the Slalom and Freestylecracks get what turns them on.

The beaches can become quite crowded, but if you go upwind and to the other side over the blue water edge you will have ample space for training. Small note here: Only jump into the water if you see a sandy ground! A local sea-urchin has no more spines because I jumped on it!
In Alacati the windsurfing level is here unbelievably high! Freestyle guys from Bonaire like Ruben Petrisie and Bjorn Saragoza are training here and fly to the EFPT European tour. Besides freestyle, slalom is also a popular
discipline.
There are many other good windsurfing spots close by- such as Boyalik- where wavesurfers also have fun. If the wind dies one can explore the island, especialy the outback with its natural beauty.

From mass tourism the peninsula Cesme remained spared- so far. Its proximity to Greece influences its history. The modern metropolis Izmir and summer tourism shape the everyday life in Alacati. Still, one can find hidden routes to find wonderful places- lonely beaches and pictorial bays to snorkel!
For accommodation we recommend the Herman Surf pension as well as the Shaka. Ralf and Arkin the chiefs of ASPC- they are planning a new hotel for 2008 located directly behind the ASPC Surfcenter. The first pictures you can see at www.alagura.com. A good price relationship is here given.
There are flights to Alicati from all large German airports to Izmir with SunExpress, Germanwings, LTU, Sky Airlines, Turkishly Airlines etc..
Mondays bring an open air cinema to Babylon, the movies are always in English with a Turkish sub-title, so you can also learn the language! Weekends we found lots of parties!... one can look to the beautifully starry sky seated on big pillows and look the newest Hollywood movie.
In Alacati Thursday’s there is in illicit market where you find from copied T-Shirts and exotic spices such as saffron and indian curry. Evenings are beautiful, explore Alacati`s narrow pictures lanes and experience Turkish hospitality.
Against all tips and advices of my family not to look at the beautiful girls there... don´t worry, you don´t go directly to prison!… and yes, we respect Turkish culture!

Result: Really nice Spot for everyone with good infrastructure. All in all, Alacati offers everything which a surfhead needs!

by Sebastian Groitzsch