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Kaş was founded by Lycians and its first name was Habesos or Habesa. Under the Roman Empire it served as the port of Phellus (the small town located just above its mountains), and that's the reason why they gave it the name of Antiphellus. In the Greek language, anti means “across” and Phellus means “rocky place”. The place is now known as Kaş, a modern seaside fishing town that belongs to the province of Antalya in Turkey, famous for its freediving scene.
Kaş is located on the Mediterranean coast in southwestern Turkey. To get to Kaş you need to fly to Istanbul, the capital of Turkey. From Istanbul, there's a flight to Dalaman and a bus to Kaş. The bus ride can take up to three hours and costs between 160 – 210 TL.
Kaş is a very touristic town so finding a place to stay isn’t difficult, however during the peak tourist season, prices can be expensive. The average prices for accommodation vary between 300 – 30.000 TL per night. If renting a car or other transport is not a problem, there are plenty of nearby towns and several camping sites near the main training spots for freediving.
Turkish food is a mixture of cuisines such as Mediterranean, Balkan, Μiddle Εastερν, Asian and Εastern European. It inherits many of the elements of Ottoman cuisine, moderate use of spices, a preference for rice, wide availability of vegetable stews, and meals largely centered on bread. Meat based foods such as kebabs are very common in Turkish cuisine. Due to the abundance of olive trees in the western part of the country, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking. One of the best parts of Turkish cuisine you don’t want to miss is the breakfast. Breakfast is made up of cheese, olives, bread, eggs, butter, muhammara, tomatoes, cucumbers, jam, honey, kaymak, sucuk, pastırma, börek, simit, poğaça and pişi among others, accompanied by Turkish tea. Also don't forget to try the dough-based desserts such as baklava, şöbiyet, kadayıf, and kunefe to complete a wonderful flavor experience in your stay in Kaş.
Conditions in Kaş are among the best in the world in regard to what you’d expect of a deep training session. It is very easy to find big depths of over 100 meters within swimming distance from the shore. During the months previous to the world championship the organizers from CMAS Turkey set a small platform in the peninsula where you have access from a beach called Kaş Belediyesi Halk Plajı. The swimming distance to the platform is about 300 meters where there is a line that can be set to around 100 meters. Therefore, the only thing needed to train in Kaş is your own equipment and a dive buddy capable of doing proper safety.
Now if you want to train with conditions more similar to the ones used at the competitions you have two options. One is to go training with Adnan Yanbay, the owner and founder of Life Aquatic Freediving and Yoga School. With them, you can go and find depth in their big boat from where you can train using the arm and the mechanic wench that serves as a counterweight system. The depth is not a problem with these guys and the safety is excellent also. The second option is to go with the big boats that are used for the official training. With them, you have the same arm and wench system to use in case of an emergency but you also have all the attention of the world championship staff and the safety and medical team that work with them during the competitions.
The water conditions in Kaş are great, with visibility of 30-40 meters depth and water temperatures that vary from 20° in May and 28° in August. The reef and coral are healthy, along with a great variety of fish and sea life. One of them, a monk seal that lives in the harbor of the town, is possible to see from time to time when you’re taking off to your daily training sessions.
The Kaş canyon is a diving spot for experienced freedivers, it goes down to 23m of depth between two faces of rock. Then in the same area, you have the Dimitri Koster wreck, a ship that sank 70 years ago with a cargo of cotton. The depth of the wreck varies from 27-40 meters. In this spot you must be careful, since it’s located between two different islands you can have strong current sometimes. The tank - a 45-ton disused battle tank that was submerged by Antalya’s government in 2017 at a depth of 15 meters has become a must-see for all divers, freedivers, and underwater enthusiasts in Kaş. It is located near the Güvercin Island. The Dakota C47 airplane was sunk in order to create an artificial reef. The depth is 14-23 meters, the wingspan is 22 meters and the length 20 meters. The divers can enter the cargo area making it a great spot for fun-diving and taking cool pictures. Another wreck is the TCSG 119 coastguard patrol boat, it was also sunk in order to make a reef. It is another great freediving spot located at 5-40 meters depth.