Things To Do in Ovacik

This great little family-run place is tucked away behind the Blue Pearl Hotel. It’s a top spot in a garden with pool-side tables. Food wise, you’ll get a mix of Turkish, British and Asian – so expect spicy noodles, seafood pancakes and homemade houmous. The ice-cream goes down well with the kids too. Yengec is popular, so it’s best to book ahead.

As Ovacik is a traditional village, the eating places mostly serve fresh, no-nonsense Turkish food. On the central road there are a handful of restaurants cooking up Turkish meatballs – AKA mullah kofti. On the menus you’ll probably also find karides – a spicy shrimp salad – and delicious pastries known as borek. And you really should try pide – it’s Turkey’s answer to pizza.

On Ovacik’s main road you’ll find a couple of no-frills restaurants. You can tuck into freshly-made Turkish food like grilled lamp fish, mullah kofti – meatballs with potato – and pide, a kind of Turkish pizza. If you’re looking for Brit faves, you’ll get rib-eye steaks, and homemade chicken nuggets for the kids.

Piled with handbags, jewellery and all kinds of souvenirs, the Monday market at Hisaronu is a great place to try out your haggling. You’ll see lots of nazar charms – a deep-blue stone with a turquoise eye in the middle. Apparently, they ward off the evil eye. Take sterling, if you can, as you tend to get a better deal than with lira.

Strung along the main street are a few bars, which offer relaxed evenings sipping a raki on the rocks. They’re also a good place to get acquainted with Kalecik Karasi, a sweet red wine that’s produced locally. Ten minutes away, lively Hisaronu picks up the pace with neon-bathed pubs and clubs that keep British tourists entertained long into the night.

Ovacik doesn’t make a big noise about its nightlife. The bars along the main road have a laid-back vibe – they’re the sort of places where you can chat over cocktails. If you want to liven up your evening, head for the neon lights of Hisaronu. You’ll get pubs, bars and clubs spinning the tunes until the early hours.

At Olu Deniz’s much-photographed Blue Lagoon, the water doesn’t get more than a few feet deep, and it’s very calm. It’s like swimming in a big pool, and there’s plenty of room for pedalos and kayaks, too. Sunloungers hug the narrow, sandy strip, while the snack bar and ice-cream kiosk do a brisk trade. The lagoon is a protected nature reserve, so it costs a few lira to get in.

Thousands of holidaymakers turn up here to just to paraglide off Babadag Mountain. A tandem flight costs around 200 Turkish Lira, which includes transport up through the cedar forest to the mountain. While you’re airborne, you’ll get top views of the Blue Lagoon and Butterfly Valley. The landing pad is the promenade at Olu Deniz – a great spot to share flying stories over a cold beer.

Angel’s, on the north side of the main road, is a family run late-night bar and eating place. As well as a comfy seating area and an extensive cocktail menu, there’s lots of entertainment – you might come across belly dancing, Elvis impersonators or live bands any night of the week. Jenga and bingo make an appearance, too, as well as a pub quiz, all run in English.

The Blue Lagoon is a nature reserve and you pay a couple of Lira to get in. The water here is as calm as a bath, and it stays shallow a long way out so it’s great for kids. It makes easy work for kayaks and pedalos, too. There’s a thin curve of sand for sunloungers, and a snack bar on hand for lunch.

Halfway up the central road, you’ll see Teras’ big blue menu board. Owners Ali and Sybel pride themselves on a warm, authentic Anatolian welcome here, with food to match. Cheese-topped casseroles, freshly baked pide and sac kavurma – stir-fried lamb and peppers – all make the cut. The free wi-fi and pool table are the cherry on the baklava. Which, in fact, comes drenched in honey and sprinkled with almonds.

Down at Hisaronu, haggling comes free with the shopping. Have a go and you could snap up a bargain on one of the ‘designer’ handbags. You can also root around for handmade crafts and souvenirs, or wander round the Monday market for more holiday knick-knacks. Back in Ovacik, meanwhile, the supermarket’s got things covered for foodie bits.

The Mirage does triple duty as a bar, café and restaurant. It’s the kind of place you pop into at least once a day for morning coffee or a post-dinner drink. There’s free wi-fi and a little play area for the kids. And the entertainment comes courtesy of the friendly staff – who’ve been known to dance on the bar.

The sky’s not the limit for this annual air games festival – it’s packed with hundreds of paragliders. You’ll also get to see base-jumping, micro-lighting and sky-diving shows. The Turkish airforce turns in some top loop-the-loops, and keep your eyes peeled for Mad Mickey. He finishes off his spectacular freefall with a tap-dancing finale. As you do.