Oymapınar Dam - A canoe trip to the source of the river

Sunday, 21 October 2018 00:00

Oymapinar Dam, located approximately 18 kilometers from downtown Manavgat, is the third largest dam in Turkey and is now used as a recreational destination for locals and guests, too.

It is the larger of the two dams that have been built on the Manavgat River. The Oymapinar dam was built specifically for the production of electrical energy during the years from 1977 to 1984.

Almost at the end of Oymapinar Street, after passing through a gate and entry fee, you enter the area of the Alternative Tourism Region Oymapinar. You will arrive on a rather bumpy road along the river to a bridge that you have to cross. After passing the bridge continue to the left to the driveway to the top of the dam, where we had the opportunity to observe a solar eclipse on a previous visit some years ago.

Power station Oymapinar dam

Based on the foundations reaching far into the depths of the winding valley, the dam was completely constructed in concrete using additional sealants. The height of the dam top, calculated from the top of the foundation, is almost exactly 185 meters, the length of the dam is 360 meters. With a storage capacity of about 300 million m3 of water, the reservoir reaches a surface area of about 47 km2. The average depth of the reservoir is more than 100 meters. The turbines on the dam produce about 1.62 trillion kilowatts per year. The region Alternative Tourism Oymapinar is one of the areas that you should have visited as a tourist.

All visitors will be amazed by the surrounding scenery of the high Taurus mountain ranges, especially as there are numerous excursion boats on the reservoir. Some restaurants tempt with culinary local delights. Together with some friends we decided to go on a canoe tour on the Oymapinar Reservoir, which should lead us to the side valleys and thus to the point of influence of the Manavgat River into the reservoir. In addition to our inflatable Gumotex Palava, we were accompanied by two hardshell boats, which later caused wet pants, as much water had got into the boat. Relaxed, we first went across the reservoir into the side valley.

A canoe tour through the gorges to the spring of Manavgat river

First, along steep rocks, there were a variety of interesting encounters on the way. So we came to some caves, then to a variety of dead tree giants, some of which still towered high out of the water. Then again, there was interesting flotsam, as well as a number of photo opportunities, the time passed by in flight. Of course we had organised some food on the way, so we had a hearty picnic when we arrived at the destination of the excursion, the influence point of the Manavgat River into the reservoir. The current here was so extreme that we had to use the protection of the rocks to get even closer to the rapids. The time had passed infinitely fast, so that we made our way back on time, a crucial point as we should later notice. On the way we met some excursion boats, which are heavily frequented as the tourist attraction on the reservoir. Once out of the gorge, it was a really exhausting task to get back to the starting point. Strong wind had come up, which blew against us, so that we really had to fight. Quite apart from the unexpected high waves. A real adventure came to an end.