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Natural pools formed over thousands of years line the coast of Gazipasa, a district on Türkiye's Mediterranean shore known locally as the "quiet paradise."
Carved where rock formations called yali tasi meet the sea, the pools draw both local residents and foreign visitors to the area, located 180 kilometers east of Antalya's city center.
Gazipasa sits on the Mediterranean coast, built along the steep slopes of the Taurus Mountains 180 kilometers east of Antalya.
Coastal roads wind through the district past banana groves and greenhouse farms, industries that anchor the local economy alongside the area's natural and historical sites.
The road toward Koru Beach in Gazipasa's Ekmel neighborhood leads to a stretch of coastline where rock formations meet open water.
The beach lies roughly 6 kilometers from central Gazipasa and is accessible by a coastal route that ends at the shoreline where the pools become visible.
At Koru Beach, a series of natural pools sit where the sea meets rock formations known locally as yali tasi.
The pools formed gradually as waves shaped the coastline, creating enclosed pockets of water separated from the open sea by ridges of stone.
Yali tasi, or beachrock, forms when sand and gravel along the shoreline bond together as lime carried in groundwater crystallizes and acts as a natural cement.
Over thousands of years, this process produces the layered rock formations that shape the pools at Gazipasa.
Local accounts describe the sea at Koru Beach as self-filtering because of the surrounding rock formations, a characteristic cited as unusual among Mediterranean beaches.
The beach is also listed among nesting sites for loggerhead sea turtles, known as caretta caretta, along Türkiye's Mediterranean coast.
When waves are calm, the pools become temporarily separated from the open sea, and the shallow water inside warms in the sun.
Residents and visitors use the pools on weekends for swimming and picnics, while the area sees fewer visitors on weekdays.
Beyond the pools, Gazipasa district includes the ancient city of Antiochia ad Cragum, the Yalandunya Cave and Kral Bay, sites that draw additional visitors to the area.
Together with the coastal rock formations, they form part of what district officials describe as the area's natural and historical appeal.
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