Turquoise Coast
Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon
How to visit the Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon from Fethiye: the dolmuş, the nature-park entry fee, what tandem paragliding actually costs, and whether the paid beach is worth it.
Where
Fethiye, Turkey
Opening hours
The Blue Lagoon nature park is open daily, roughly 08:00 until sunset in summer; the gate stays staffed through the main season. Belcekız public beach next door has no gate and no closing time.
Tickets
About 150 TL (~£2.40) to walk into the Blue Lagoon nature park; ~750 TL (~£12) by car including parking. Sunbed and umbrella sets run roughly 600 TL on Belcekız up to about 1,500 TL inside the lagoon (~£10–£24). The neighbouring Belcekız public beach is free.
Time needed
Half a day at the beach, or a full day if you add the cable car up Babadağ. A tandem paraglide is about 25 minutes in the air plus an hour or so of transfer and waiting.
In short
Visiting Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon is the calm, shallow inlet at the tip of Ölüdeniz, inside a fenced nature park (Ölüdeniz Tabiat Parkı) that charges about 150 TL (~£2.40) to walk in. Get there on the dolmuş from Fethiye — roughly 25 minutes for about 115 TL cash (~£1.90). If you only want a swim, the free public Belcekız beach next door is just as good; pay for the lagoon for the sheltered water and the sandspit. Most people come for the tandem paraglide off Babadağ, which lands on Belcekız and costs around £95–£140.
Getting there, and which gate you actually pay at
The Blue Lagoon is the curl of calm, shallow water at the tip of Ölüdeniz, fenced off as a nature park called Ölüdeniz Tabiat Parkı. Don’t pay for a transfer to reach it — the dolmuş (a shared minibus) leaves Fethiye every ten to fifteen minutes in summer from behind the Yeni Hamidiye mosque or the otogar, takes about twenty-five minutes down the switchbacks through Ovacık and Hisarönü, and costs roughly 115 lira in cash or 89 by card. That’s under £2 each way; a taxi for the same trip is many times that.
The catch most visitors miss: the lagoon entry fee of about 150 lira (~£2.40) only buys you the sheltered inner inlet and the sandspit. Immediately next door, Belcekız is a free public beach with the same headland view and the same turquoise water — it’s where the paragliders land. So pay for the lagoon if you want the still water, the shallow shelving for kids, and the walk out along the sandbar with sea on both sides. If you just want a swim and a sunbed, stay on the free Belcekız side and keep the money.
Paragliding, sunbeds, and whether to go
The reason Ölüdeniz is on most itineraries is the tandem paraglide off Babadağ, one of the highest commercial launch sites in the world at nearly 2,000 metres. You ride the cable car up, run off the mountain strapped to a pilot, and spiral down for about twenty-five minutes over the lagoon onto Belcekız beach. Expect to pay roughly £95–£140 in 2026, usually with the cable car and a hotel transfer included; photos and video are £20–£40 on top. Book a day or two ahead in peak season and take a morning flight — the air is calmer before the afternoon breeze builds, and queasy landings are far more common after lunch.
The flight is the genuine highlight and worth the spend if heights don’t frighten you. The lagoon itself is lovely but small and gets packed by mid-morning, so go early, and don’t feel obliged to pay the gate fee just to tick it off — the free beach beside it is the same sea. Sunbed sets run from about 600 lira on Belcekız to 1,500 inside the lagoon (~£10–£24), so a towel on the sand is the budget move. Pair a morning flight with an afternoon on the water and you’ve got a full, well-priced day out of Fethiye.
Planning the rest of your trip? See the Fethiye city guide.
More to see in Fethiye
Book the essentials
Tours & tickets
Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon FAQs
How do you get from Fethiye to the Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon?
Is the Blue Lagoon entry fee worth paying?
How much does tandem paragliding at Ölüdeniz cost?
Can you swim in the Blue Lagoon?
Ready to book?
Check tickets & tours