Cesme Peninsula,Turkey

Turkey's beautiful coastlines and clear waters draw legions of visitors each year, but those looking for reliable winds tend to descend on a scenic, formerly sleepy fishing village called Alacati. Between May and October north winds blow reliably here across a turquoise bay on the Cesme Peninsula. Competitors of the Professional Windsurfers Association hold World Cup events at Alacati, which lend the town a festive flavor, but the area may be best suited to beginners, and the area’s surf schools thrive.

Few foreigners make time for little ole forgotten Çesme, located only 81km (50 miles) west of Izmir but far enough off the beaten trail to keep it out of the tourist loop. Ferries arriving into Çesme from the Greek island of Chios have turned the seaside town into a depot rather than a destination, and passersby get only a fleeting glimpse from the bus window of the cultivated fields, windmills, and celebrated mastic gum trees of the peninsula.
But as much as Çesme is a suburb of Izmir, it is also a beach resort in its own right, blessed with picturesque beaches that number well into the double digits. When tourists discovered the jet-set haunts of the Bodrum Peninsula, the smart set migrated north to the crystalline beaches of Çesme. Çesme still manages to remain relatively untarnished, offering a perfect balance between sybaritic and simple pleasures, such as the appreciation of unspoiled stretches of fertile fields of aniseed.
Most importantly, Çesme, named after the many springs found in the area during the 18th and 19th centuries, has finally begun to harness the full appeal of its natural resources, with the opening of several luxury thermal centers.