Dawn SUP on the Bay — Glassy Water, Aegean Sunrise, Zero Crowds

The Meltem wind that makes Alacatı a windsurfing destination doesn't start until late morning. Before it arrives, the bay is completely flat — mirror-flat, the kind of water where you can see the seabed at 3 metres — and the village is still asleep. I do stand-up paddleboard sessions at 6:30am when the conditions are perfect and the only things moving are the fishing boats coming back in from the night. No experience is required: SUP is significantly easier than windsurfing and most people are paddling comfortably within 15 minutes. We paddle across the bay, around the small headland to a sheltered cove that you cannot reach from shore without a boat, and back. I bring coffee in a thermos and we float on the boards in the cove while the sun comes up over the Çeşme peninsula. Then I take you to the best village breakfast in Alacatı — the one the local fishermen eat, not the tourist terrace version.