Antalya Airport to Dim Cave transfer
Dim Cave lies in the hills behind Alanya, above the valley of the Dim river, and unlike the archaeological caves further west it is fully fitted out: a lit walkway runs through roughly 360 metres of chambers, past stalactites and stalagmites to a small pool at the far end. The air inside holds at about 18 degrees all year, which in August is the real attraction. Below it the valley is lined with restaurants built on platforms over the cold river. It is a cave for people already at this end of the coast: a short run up the valley from Alanya, a serious drive from anywhere west of Manavgat.
For the Alanya hotels this is the local excursion: a quarter of an hour from Kestel and Mahmutlar, twenty to twenty-five minutes from the town centre and Kargıcak, half an hour from Konaklı, thirty-five minutes from Türkler, forty to forty-five from Avsallar and Okurcalar. From Side reckon an hour and ten minutes each way and from Çolaklı nearly an hour and a half, which turns a cool hour underground into a full day. Belek, Lara and Kemer are simply too far. Alanya castle or lunch by the Dim river usually fills the rest of the day; a coach fixes both for you, while your own car lets you take the castle late, once the heat has gone.
Landing and driving straight here means 141 km and about 115 minutes: the whole D400 run to Alanya, then on past the town to Kestel and up the hillside. It makes sense only if your hotel is in Alanya anyway, and even then the cave is a further twenty minutes beyond the town — one more stop at the end of the airport run, with everyone tired and the cases in the car. The valley is far better on your first full day.
Visiting Dim Cave
Underground, this is a there-and-back of about an hour, and the pace is only partly yours: the walkway narrows in places, so a group ahead sets the speed until the next chamber opens out. Early in the day, or well into the afternoon, you can have long stretches of it to yourselves; the hot middle of the day is when everyone on this coast has the same thought at the same time, and that queue is the one thing about Dim that catches visitors out. Below, the valley floor is the other half of the outing, which is why an hour underground usually turns into half a day.
The route in goes downwards on concrete and metal steps with a handrail, wet the whole way from condensation and slick where the slope steepens. Because you descend to get in, the climb out is what your legs remember, and that is worth thinking about before setting off with a child who will want carrying by the end. The air is properly cold against the valley outside. At the far end the small pool is a turning point rather than a destination — people look, take the photograph and start back. Nobody need worry about tight spaces: the chambers are large and the walkway wide enough to let others pass.
The sensible shape of the day is cave first, valley second: come out of the cold, drop down to the river where the air still beats the coast, and let the afternoon go slowly. The transport has to allow for that, because the cave is an hour and the day is not — say at booking whether the valley is part of the plan rather than deciding in the car park, since nothing passes on that road to flag down. Alanya castle sits on the way back and takes late light far better than midday. In the cool months the valley is a quieter place altogether, so ask what you will find before the day is built around it.
- A bag that closes beats an open one: the walkway drips from one end to the other.
- The way in is downhill and the way out is not, and that climb is the entire physical demand of the visit.
- Steps plus a handrail leaves one hand free, so carry as little as possible and leave the rest in the car.
- The pool at the far end is only the turning point, so anyone tiring can wait at the last wide chamber instead of pressing on.