Geotourism activities via marine excursion: Muğla, SW Türkiye

Abstract

The coastal areas have important potentials for geotourism due to aesthetic appearance, distinct morphological formations (spit, beachrock, lagoon) and special sediments (ooid). Although geotourism studies are increasing in trend, studies on coastal areas are limited. Muğla province, which has the longest coastline of Türkiye, has great potential in this sense. This region is visited by millions of domestic and foreign tourists every year. Some of its coastal areas of it has been declared as protection zones due to archaeological ruins, special flora and fauna or small ooid beach. In some areas, although information about marine-land biology and local archeology is given, no information about their geological importance is provided by the guides, and also there is no informative board. A total of twenty-two locations has been proposed in this study for coastal geotourism purposes. It is possible to reach twenty-one destinations by sea. At these points, numerous geological formations such as sandy-gravely beach sediments fed by different rocks (in pocket beach, in front of the delta), delta sediments, small beach with ooid, active normal fault plane, faulted coastal areas, coastal dunes, spit, lagoon and geothermal springs can be visited on the coast and without going too far from the coast. It is thought that these areas, which can be partially visited with daily tours, will contribute to the diversification of tourism with proper planning and promotions. It is also suggested that with increasing geotourism awareness, it would be highly possible for these locations with very high geological importance to reach an open-laboratory status and taken under protection program.