Türkiye becomes 3rd country globally with most eco-friendly beaches

Türkiye became the third country in the world with the highest number of Blue Flag beaches in 2025, meeting environmental standards along its coastline, the country’s tourism minister has said.

A Blue Flag beach means it has been awarded an internationally recognised eco-label.

“A total of 577 beaches, 29 marinas, 18 tourism boats, and 8 individual yachts... Once again, our Antalya leads this success with 233 beaches,” Tourism and Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said on his social media account, X.

The Turkish minister also noted the success achieved through joint contributions by the Türkiye Environment Education Foundation (TÜRÇEV), all stakeholders, and environmentally conscious citizens.

The Aegean coastal province of Mugla has followed Antalya with 110 beaches, and Izmir with 64, according to the Ministry's data.

Other provinces contributing significantly to the total include Balikesir with 48, Aydin with 39, Samsun, Mersin and Canakkale, each with over a dozen Blue Flag beaches, data shows.

Billionaire yachts anchor along coastlines

In the marina category, Mugla leads with 10 Blue Flag marinas, followed by Antalya with six and Izmir with five.

Antalya also holds the top spot for tourism boats, with 13 vessels flying the Blue Flag.

Recently, Amazon’s founder and long-time CEO Jeff Bezos’ yacht, Flying Fox, anchored off the coast of Mugla.

Last year, about $670 million worth of yacht, Blue, owned by Sheikh Mansour of Manchester City, and the ultra-luxury yacht, Mar, owned by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, also visited Mugla coasts.

According to statistics, over 52.2 million tourists arrived in Türkiye in 2024, surpassing both the previous year’s record and the announced target.