THE HIGHS and lows of Didim’s tourism season was apparently witnessed in the spate of a few days as families piled into the resort for last week’s Şeker Bayamı festival.

Thousands of tourists, both international and domestic, hit the roads to come into the town for an extended holiday and the likes of Main Beach, as well as Third and Tuntas beaches, saw an unprecedented number of people.

Most tourists had a great time and the boat cruises, restaurants and bars were used to their full capacity to keep everyone happy in the 40 degree heat.

A number of five star hotels were also reported to be at full stretch, with many at 100 per cent occupancy.

However, despite the upsides of the tourism push and cementing Didim’s place in many people’s hearts, there were still some drawbacks filtering through. 

There were some criticisms about the traffic management in the area, with car parking becoming a major problem, as well as touts trying to charge foreign nationals for car parking, while turning a blind eye to locals.

Noise pollution and the prevalence of street dogs remain the height of concerns for some residents, while others obviously angry at reports that local Aegean fishing stocks were impacted adversely by spear fishing holidaymakers.

Equally there were reports of two Caretta Caretta turtles being found dead, apparently deliberately killed, in coves around Altinkum. 

Elsewhere, local media reported that two people had died in separate drowning incidents off the coast.

Meanwhile, the illegal immigrant runs to Greece continue unabated – with 36 Syrians, including children, were detained by the Turkish Coast Guard as they attempted to cross the Aegean.