Alanya → Dim Cave Transfer

Alanya to Dim Cave private transfer

Dim Cave is the outing for a morning when the beach can wait. It sits east of Alanya on the western flank of Cebireis mountain, looking down over the green cut of the Dim river valley, and from a hotel in town the whole visit fits comfortably before lunch or after it. From the entrance, steps lead down onto a lit walkway of about 360 metres that threads through four chambers of stalactites, columns and dripping flowstone and ends at a lake in the last hall. The air holds near 18 degrees whatever the month, so the change hits you on the first step in from a summer car park.

The leg is 12 km and about 20 minutes. The car follows the D400 east out of Alanya, under the castle headland and along the eastern beaches, and turns inland by the mouth of the Dim river, between Tosmur and Kestel. From there the road climbs the slope through pine, the valley opening below on one side, and ends at the cave's own car park. The return is what gives the half-day its shape: the restaurants along the Dim Çayı serve on wooden platforms built out over the water, a short way downhill from the cave, and a lunch there with the current almost under your feet rounds off the morning before the coast.

• A thin long-sleeved top in the day bag is worth it even in July and August, since the cave stays near 18 degrees and the switch from the car park is abrupt.
• Shoes with grip matter more than anything else here: the steps and walkway stay wet from constant dripping, and the stairs back up to the entrance are the only real effort of the visit.
• The booking covers the drive up from Alanya; if the car should wait at the cave, or collect you later from a restaurant down by the river, settle that when you book, along with the time.
• If you plan to eat by the Dim Çayı, do the cave first and the river second, so the long lunch is not cut short by a visit still waiting to be done.