Cliff Diving in Kusadasi

This summer I (Laura) went on a study abroad trip through my college to Israel, Greece, and Turkey. We had a group of about twenty students and each one of them was absolutely incredible. Throughout the three weeks that we were together abroad our group bonded through many amazing experiences.

One of my favorite days of the trip, and probably of my life, was in Kusadasi, Turkey.

It was our first free day and a group of us decided to wake up early and go cliff jumping. The first challenge of the day was scaling a sheer cliff in order to get to the best spot for jumping. After a while of struggling on the sharp cliff some of us decided to jump in and swim to the end point. The water was freezing and the current was strong but we finally made it to the jumping spot. When I took my first look over the edge of the jagged cliff I felt my nerves set in.

I’ve never been afraid of heights but I quickly found myself thinking, “What if I don’t jump far enough out?” and “What if the cold water shocks me and I get carried away in the current?” Well, luckily I had my new study abroad buddies to make sure I didn’t back down. They gave me a countdown and I plunged off the cliff.

It was completely exhilarating!

We spent the rest of the afternoon jumping and diving off the 50 ft cliff into the crystal clear turquoise water and relaxing in the sun with one of the most spectacular views I had ever seen. Upon heading back to the hotel I realized that I had gained a few battle scars from the sharp rock. To me its just proof of an amazing day and luckily we all had worldwide travel insurance just in case something had gone terribly wrong.

{top photo credit to victoriat}