To get to the Paradise Motel in Aðva you must first ring a large metal bell and then wait while a strange contraption rather like a giant, open-sided orange comes rattling across on wires to pick you up from the far side of the river.  

In the silence of the countryside, you sway across the limpid green Göksu River beneath you, then step out into a world of complete tranquility a mere 100 kilometers away from downtown Ýstanbul. It’s the perfect place to come for a weekend break, either with a loved one or a group of friends.

Aðva is one of those places well known to Ýstanbul high-fliers, but not quite so well known to the rest of us. In the early 1990s, a few far-sighted individuals who wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life started to move up to the Black Sea coast beyond Þile where the river flowed down into the sea. First one hotel opened, then another. Now there are a whole string of them lining the river, most of them with their own distinctive personalities. Think Olympos for grown-ups with chalets and wooden houses in place of the tree-houses, and a river instead of the beach, and you won’t go far wrong.

The Paradise cleaves most tightly to the original feeling of bohemianism. A straggle of bungalows line the riverbank interspersed with wooden platforms where you can lounge in chairs or hammocks and watch the world float by in canoes, pedalos or tour boats. There’s a large swimming pool at the heart of the complex and a pleasant lounge and restaurant. As with all of the Aðva properties, you’ll be obliged to take half-board terms, but it makes perfect sense anyway as there’s little in the way of alternative dining options out here.

The Paradise is far from being the only choice, although it’s certainly the one in the most rural setting and the one with the most adventurous access arrangements. Farther downstream, the Acqua Verde and Riverside Hotels are also inaccessible by car. In both cases you either phone across the river or wave frantically and something rather like a raft with high sides on a pulley will be dispatched to pick you up. (Cars can be left in a guarded car park, so there’s no need to worry about security.)

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Sounds great, a new spot on my Turkey-to-see list!

Agva is quite close to  downtown Istanbul. I never stayed in a hotel there but I´ve heard, hotels there tend to be a bit pricey though I don´t know exactly what the rates are.

Secondly, the Black Sea can be very rough. It is not the safest sea to swim in. Unless, you are very good at swimming or unless you are taking a sea bath at one of those calm coves there, it may prove very dangerous. Be especially careful of your children. When the sea is rough, the large waves hitting the shore cause whirlpools sucking the sand underneath and causing you to find yourself in the middle of the sea fighting with the waves. This phenemenon is caused by the unique angle of the seabed.

Again this does not apply to well protected coves in the Agva region.

We have the same problem here, it´s called undertow here.  Every year people get pulled out to sea, never to be found again. I´ve stood at the water´s edge and felt the surf remove the sand under my feet....it´s an odd feeling.

It´s also called a Riptide...

here is some advice how to survive them.

 We also have that problem at the Mediterranean, but not through all the shore, just at some specific area and not the others

Even sometimes it can be at same place, part of the beach secure or protected asvineyards  and part not, but they know where is where and warn about it.

And yes i felt that alameda, its odd and sometimes scary too.

 Thanks for the help, I didn´t know either of these words and was trying to describe the phenomenon in odd vocabulary

 You did an excellent job of if....I knew what you were talking about.  I think riptide is the proper word.  Undertow is a regional term.