This week the town of Alaçatı will be on a lot of people’s minds as more than a million people are expected to flock to Turkey’s most popular summer holiday destination for the annual Alaçatı Herb Festival. While Alaçatı is arguably the most in-demand vacation spot in Turkey, especially among the country’s urban professionals, many of us seasoned expats who have been in Turkey for more than a decade may have glossed over this particular spot due solely to its reputation for being costly and crowded during the tourism season. However, Alaçatı is truly one of the most spectacular towns to visit in Turkey and I would like to share my own experiences in the area to provide insight.

You see, I was lucky to have discovered Alaçatı early and personally witnessed its transformation into Turkey’s top "boutique" destination, I even took part in it. In fact, the word "boutique" became synonymous with Alaçatı and it could even be argued that the concept of transforming traditional stone buildings in to chic hotels and upscale restaurants gained momentum throughout the country after the success of Alaçatı’s renaissance. You see Alaçatı was once just a sleepy town with dilapidated "Rum" stone buildings and narrow, windy cobblestone streets. However, over the past decade and a half, practically every single one of the traditional homes in this town has been renovated and brought back to life in the form of a "boutique" establishment. Each hotel, restaurant and shop seems to compete in adorning their precious spaces with visually inspiring elements in that very unique design sense that can surface here. Walking the streets of the town makes you feel like you are in some sort of wonderland that defies borders. In fact, when in Alaçatı one tends to ask oneself, "Is this really Turkey?" This is because the town could easily compete with the Aix-en Provences, Capris and Amalfis of the world.

I arrived in Alaçatı in the early 2000s to visit my Turkish father who resided on his boat at what was soon to become Port Alaçatı. Coincidentally, we had also just finished a three-month sailing journey to Italy, where I got to visit some of the aforementioned destinations. You see my father had a language school in Istanbul, but in the summers he would live on his beloved tirhandil – a gulet geared for sailing called "Froggy" – and in those years in Turkey he would anchor in Alaçatı. His partners in the language center also doubled as his shift crew and as you can imagine we were all basically like family.

That’s why when his partners found the most perfect spot to open a restaurant in Alaçatı, it always felt like it was our venture together. My dad would give key ideas that I believe helped make their "Kalamata" restaurant extremely successful and they would go on to open up a boutique hotel with the same name. But it was truly this couple’s innovative vision, Nuray and Süreyya, that I believe inspired many others as when they showed us the space they were about to rent for something like five or 10 years, all I saw was half of a dilapidated building and a muddy garden. They rebuilt that building into a spectacular open kitchen, lined the street with tables and turned the garden into a visual spectacle. In the garden the tables were placed around trees that had enormous antique chandeliers hanging from them and tuille curtains to enclose the table should any guest not want to be spotted. This was because many of my father’s students were either well-known in the business and political spheres or were simply blatantly famous writers, movie stars and musicians. My dad’s partners had arranged a back entrance for when these "students" would visit and thus these highly recognizable figures were able to dine out discretely, which for them was truly a rare treat.

The restaurant served an array of international fish dishes, mezes and tapas from paella to tuna boreks, basil-based salads and divine tiramisu, which are just some of the items I remember. I know I learned about the chickpea-based meze "topik" from them and how to fry up "pişi" and bake the mini mastic cookies the region is famed for, along with its wide variety of wild greens and herbs and where to pick them and how to prepare them, which is actually the focus of the festival happening in Alaçatı this week.

As for Port Alaçatı, which is now one of the most luxurious yacht residences possibly in the world, equipped with triple story homes that open onto a canal where boats can be directly docked, it was once just a fisherman’s wharf, which we called home. I remember skipping home to the boat in the darkness after the sunset to suddenly having to walk through a major construction site with dozens, if not hundreds of workers suddenly staying at the port. Thus, this was the end of our Alaçatı chapter and we moved on as it was evident that the town would no longer remain the secret haven it was when we felt we first discovered it. My father’s partners went on to open a boutique hotel of the same name with a pool and balconies that looked on to it, with reading nooks in each of the bathrooms, which also had bathtubs. I remember the laborious hours my father and his team spent conjuring up what aspect of the hotel could be completely unique and help it stand out from the plethora of similarly chic accommodation options that were opening up.

At the time Alaçatı was solely known for being an ideal place to windsurf and is regularly cited as one of the top destinations for the sport in Europe. The windsurfing beach, which lies a few kilometers away from the town itself was first discovered by German windsurfers who would camp out there. Soon locals joined in, learning and excelling in the sport leading to the development of Turkey’s most highly equipped windsurf schools and the country’s most skilled windsurfers becoming teachers. I remember taking lessons from the likes of the now-famous Bora Kozanoğlu as just a beginner and being swept away at sea when I couldn’t maneuver turning around before quickly being saved by the rescue boats on hand. The windsurf beach in Alaçatı is also surprisingly shallow, which coupled with strong winds and a sheltered cove make for the ideal conditions to learn the sport, which I eventually did.

In fact, Alaçatı was just the beginning of my own windsurfing adventure in Turkey, which I will save for another story. But I will say that I return to Alaçatı regularly to purchase my own personal gear as it remains the country’s headquarters for the sport. From Alaçatı, my gear and I have since windsurfed throughout the Muğla, Izmir, Edremit and Çanakkale provinces. Now, I will try my hand at kite surfing, which is Turkey’s newest and most popular extreme sport, which is headquartered in my new stomping grounds in Muğla’s Akyaka.

As for Alaçatı, with each and every corner of the town carefully thought out and inspiringly decorated in what could be described as a creativity competition among local vendors, it is and will always remain a beautiful enigma in Turkey. In summers the streets get so crowded every night is like Mardi-Gras as you waddle your way through the winding streets lined with festivities. The windsurfing beach lined with windsurfing schools and beach clubs is packed with paparazzi and the sea itself, where the actual surfing takes place, becomes like a crowded highway. And so, if you get the opportunity, I would highly suggest paying a visit to this special town, which still charms in the off-season, especially at the start of spring when the local herbs the region’s cuisine is famous for are showcased throughout the town for a worthy feast for any foodie or traveler likewise.