Sapanca Lake: Getting There, What to See, Where to Stay
A freshwater lake in Sakarya province, 17 km long: how to reach it from Istanbul, what each shore offers and how to check a home rental permit.
Table of Contents
Sapanca Lake is a freshwater lake in Sakarya province, 17 km long and 5 km wide, with its west end in Kocaeli province. The district town of Sapanca stands on the south shore, about 135 km from Istanbul, with the E-5 road along the north shore and the TEM motorway and the railway along the south.
In short · checked 26.10.2026
A freshwater lake in Sakarya, reached from Istanbul by road or rail.
- 47 km², 61 m deep at the deepest point. It is 17 km from east to west and 5 km from north to south, and its surface lies 31 m above sea level (Sakarya Governorate, page of 15.07.2019).
- Sapanca district is in Sakarya province, about 135 km from Istanbul. Maşukiye and the Kartepe district are in Kocaeli province.
- By train: the Ada Ekspresi. TCDD, the state railways, runs it; in 2023 it ran between Adapazarı and Gebze. The stops, times and fares are on the ticket site of TCDD Taşımacılık.
- A home let to tourists for 100 days or less needs a permit. The plaque at the door and the permit number are the first checks; the tool turns them into a message to the host.
Tool · permit rules checked 26.10.2026
Check the home before you pay
A house, villa or flat let to tourists for 100 days or less needs a permit, and the listing is where the checks start. Press a tag to mark what the listing already shows. The Turkish message asks the host for the rest, with the English beside each line.
Merhaba, evinizi kiralamayı düşünüyorum.Hello, I am thinking of renting your home.
Turizm Amaçlı Konut İzin Belgesi numaranızı yazar mısınız?Could you write the number of your tourism-home permit (Turizm Amaçlı Konut İzin Belgesi)?
Belge numarasını Bakanlığın listesinde kontrol edeceğim.I will check the permit number on the ministry’s list.
Giriş kapısındaki plaketin fotoğrafını gönderebilir misiniz?Could you send a photo of the plaque at the entrance door?
İzin belgesi kimin adına düzenlenmiş?In whose name is the permit issued?
Evi ev sahibi mi kiraya veriyor, yoksa bir aracı mı? Aracıysa yetki sözleşmesi ve seyahat acentesi belgesi var mı?Is the owner letting the home, or an agent? If an agent, is there an authority contract and a travel-agency licence?
Fiyat kaç kişi için? Giriş ve çıkış saatleri nedir? Teşekkürler.For how many people is the price? What are the check-in and check-out times? Thank you.
Nothing you tap is stored or sent. The ministry’s list of permitted homes is at ktb.gov.tr.
The lake: size, depth and water
Sapanca Lake fills the east half of a long hollow that joins the Adapazarı plain to the trough of the Gulf of İzmit. Sakarya is both a province and a river, and the province’s main city is Adapazarı; the lake’s surplus water reaches the Sakarya River. Old Turkic sources call the lake Ayan Gölü.
Sakarya Governorate · page of 15.07.2019
47 km², 61 m deep, 31 m above the sea.
The lake is 17 km from east to west and 5 km from north to south. The basin around it covers 252 km².
The Sapanca Municipality (updated 15.12.2025) gives a range instead: about 45 to 47 km² and 55 to 60 m deep.
Water in, water out
- Seven streams in
- Karaçay, Kuruçay, Kurtköy, Mahmudiye, İstanbul, Karadere and Kaymakçı. Springs also feed it from the bottom.
- One stream out
- The surplus leaves at the east end through the Çark stream into the Sakarya River.
- The level
- It rises in winter and early spring and falls toward autumn.
- Fish
- All kinds of freshwater fish are caught.
Sakarya Governorate, page of 15.07.2019 · checked 26.10.2026 · governorate page
Sakarya
The province holds most of the lake’s shores, its east end and the town of Sapanca. The river takes the lake’s surplus water by way of the Çark stream.
Sapanca
The lake is named after the district on its south shore. The district belongs to Sakarya province and has a municipality of its own.
Kocaeli
The lake’s west end and the Kartepe district, which takes in Maşukiye, are in Kocaeli province. More on the province: Kocaeli province.
Drinking water
The Sapanca Municipality calls the lake the most important drinking-water source of Sakarya and Kocaeli provinces. In July 2025 SASKİ, the water and sewerage administration of the Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality, was cleaning the intake lines it draws from the lake. A diving supervisor said the lake’s drinking-water quality is very high but its capacity is limited: dense population, rising use and falling rain push the limits. In August 2025 SASKİ brought a source found by drilling in Sapanca’s Memnuniye neighbourhood into use, 110 m deep and 4 litres a second, to take pressure off the lake.
Sapanca Municipality, updated 15.12.2025 · Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality news of 16.07.2025 and 06.08.2025 · checked 26.10.2026 · July news · August news
Getting there: from Istanbul by road or rail
Istanbul is about 135 km from the district, and the centre of Sakarya province 12 km. The TEM motorway, the D-100 (E-5) road and the railway all pass through the district.
How do you travel?
- The roads
- The E-5 (D-100), the old main road, runs along the north shore. The TEM motorway, the Trans-European Motorway, and the railway run along the south shore. Sakarya Governorate, 15.07.2019
- The distance
- About 135 km from Istanbul to the district. For the fuel and tolls on your own route, use the Turkey trip cost calculator. Sapanca Municipality, 15.12.2025
- A hired car
- Prices, rules and what to check are in Car rental in Turkey.
- The train
- TCDD, the state railways, runs the Ada Ekspresi, a regional train; in 2023 its route was Adapazarı to Gebze. Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality, 26.11.2023
- Stops, times and fares
- The ticket site of TCDD Taşımacılık, the passenger company, shows the stops, today’s timetable and fares: tcddtasimacilik.gov.tr.
- The Istanbul end
- At Gebze the Marmaray line runs on into Istanbul. The lines are in Istanbul metro and Marmaray and the fares in Istanbul public transport.
Coaches: tickets, bags, cancellations and routes are in Kamil Koç bus.
The shores: what lies on each side
The lake is 17 km long and 5 km wide. Touch a dot on the satellite picture for one shore.
- The town of SapancaThe district town on the south shore. The lake is named after the district.
- The south shoreThe TEM motorway and the railway run along it, and the Samanlı Mountains rise behind it.
- The north shoreThe E-5 road (D-100) runs along it.
- The east endThe Çark stream carries the surplus water out to the Sakarya River. Arifiye district lies east of Sapanca district.
- The west endThis end of the lake is in Kocaeli province; the rest of the shore is in Sakarya.
South of the lake: the Samanlı Mountains
- The town centre lies 36 m above sea level, and the southern uplands rise above 1,000 m. About 65% of the district is forest.
- Snow falls on the higher southern parts in winter, for example on the Soğucak plateau (Soğucak Yaylası). The climate is transitional, and the district is one of the wettest places in Marmara.
Sapanca Municipality, updated 15.12.2025 · checked 26.10.2026 · page
What to see: town, mosque, hammam and forest
Rüstem Paşa, grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent, endowed several works in Sapanca, and the lake has its own camps, forest and races. A hammam visit itself is explained in A day at a Turkish hammam.
Rüstem Paşa Mosque
A 16th-century mosque, built for Rüstem Paşa and said to be the work of Mimar Sinan, the empire’s chief architect. It has been repaired many times and is still open for prayer. The TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (the Encyclopaedia of Islam of the Türkiye Diyanet Foundation) lists his endowments in Sapanca as a mosque, a school, a soup kitchen (imaret) and a dervish lodge (zaviye); the municipality also lists a caravanserai, a roadside inn for caravans.
Rüstem Paşa Hammam
Rüstem Paşa founded 32 hammams, and the one in Sapanca is Mimar Sinan’s work. Its men’s part has a star-shaped hot room, and its women’s part a square hot room with private cells.
Hasan Fehmi Paşa Mosque
A 19th-century mosque in Mahmudiye village.
Roman and Byzantine sarcophagi
Stone coffins found in the district stand in front of the district government building.
Arifiye Forest
Camp and picnic areas lie in the forest above the lake.
Maşukiye
A neighbourhood of the Kartepe district in Kocaeli province, between the foothills of the Samanlı Mountain and the south-west shore of the lake. It is known for its nature, spring, valley, waterfalls, streams and orchards.
Races on the lake
The lake hosts national and international surfing, sailing and rowing races.
Kartepe and Maşukiye: the winter district of Kocaeli
Kartepe is a district of Kocaeli province, created by a law of 06.03.2008 (no. 5747). The Kocaeli Culture and Tourism Directorate calls it the winter-tourism centre that draws the most visitors in the Marmara Region after Uludağ, the mountain above Bursa.
The district and its neighbourhoods
- Neighbourhoods
- Köseköy, Uzunçiftlik, Uzuntarla, Eşme, Acısu, Maşukiye, Büyük Derbent, Arslanbey, Sarımeşe and Suadiye. Kartepe Municipality
- Maşukiye
- It lies between the foothills of the Samanlı Mountain and the lake’s south-west shore, close to the main routes. Kocaeli directorate
- Snow
- Heavy snow falls on the higher southern parts of Sapanca district in winter. Sapanca Municipality
Checked 26.10.2026 · Kartepe Municipality · Kocaeli directorate
Where to sleep: the permit behind a holiday home
A house, villa or flat let to tourists is not a hotel. The state treats it as a home with a permit, the Turizm Amaçlı Konut İzin Belgesi (tourism-home permit), which the Ministry of Culture and Tourism gives through the provincial directorate. The 2026 amounts are those of the Sakarya Culture and Tourism Directorate.
Hotel, motel, holiday village, pension, apart-hotel, camping
These are the lodging types the ministry names. A business with a business-opening licence as a pansiyon (guest house) must also get the ministry’s tourism-facility certificate (turizm işletme belgesi); a home with a pansiyon licence cannot take the home permit.
Flat, villa or detached house
The owner holds the permit, and a plaque hangs at the entrance. The 2026 fees are 10,000 Turkish lira (TL) for the permit and 10,000 TL for the plaque, per home.
Let without the permit
A host who lets without the permit is fined 180,617 TL and has 15 days to get it, then 903,088 TL and 15 more days, then 1,806,177 TL. A permitted home that lacks the minimum features is fined 180,617 TL and has 15 days to fix them, or the permit is cancelled.
Who can hold the permit
- The owner of the home, or a person or company that holds a right of use (intifa) or a building right (üst hakkı) in the title deed. A tenant cannot get it and cannot sublet.
- One application, through e-Devlet. e-Devlet is the state’s online services portal. The decision comes within 60 days; missing papers must be added in 5 days and the payment slip uploaded in 15, or the application is refused.
- Flats: at most 25% of a building. In a building of more than three units one person can hold permits for at most 25% of the units, and above five units a business-opening licence is also needed. Detached houses and villas with their own entrance are outside this rule and apply one by one.
- A manager or agent who markets the homes needs an authority contract with the permit holder and a travel-agency licence.
Sakarya Culture and Tourism Directorate · checked 26.10.2026 · page
What the ministry’s guide asks of the host and the listing
- In every advertisement
- The permit certificate, legible. Each advertisement also states the location, capacity, floor, balcony or terrace, bedrooms, living area, bathrooms, bed types, equipment (kitchen, washing machine, TV, hairdryer, heating and cooling), pool, sports or spa, parking, accessibility, pets, internet, house rules, check-in and check-out times, and whether cleaning is given.
- Capacity
- Two guests for each bedroom and at most two more; 12 at most. Children under 3 are not counted.
- Each change of guests
- The host cleans and services the home, keeps pest-control records and gives the building rules in writing or online. The rooms of one permitted home cannot be let separately to different people.
Application guide of the ministry, resting on Law no. 7464 of 25 October 2023 · checked 26.10.2026 · guide (PDF)
Look it up
The ministry publishes a list of permitted homes. It can be searched by permit number, permit holder, type (flat, detached, high-end residence or timeshare), province and district: Ministry list of permitted homes.
Who is paid
The permit is in the name of the owner or of a holder of a use right. If someone else takes the booking or the money, the tags Name on the permit and Owner or agent are the questions to ask.
When to go: what the lake does through the year
- Winter and early springThe lake level rises, and snow falls on the higher southern parts of the district.
- Toward autumnThe level falls. Sakarya Governorate, 15.07.2019
- WeekendsVisitors from Istanbul and the other big cities nearby come for a day out or a night’s stay, above all at weekends.
- HolidaysThe dates for the year are in Turkey public holidays 2026 and 2027.
The canal that was never dug, and the railway beside the lake
The lake lies 31 m above the sea in a hollow between the Adapazarı plain and the Gulf of İzmit, and rulers returned to the idea of joining the two with a canal.
- 111Pliny the Younger, Roman governor of Bithynia, thought of a canal between Sakarya–Sapanca and İzmit but could not carry it out.
- 1591Grand Vizier Koca Sinan Paşa put the idea into practice to carry goods, above all the timber the İstanbul shipyard needed, from Bolu to İstanbul. Only a third of the Sapanca–İzmit section was dug, and the work could not be completed.
- 1869A canal project between Sapanca Lake and İzmit came up again, with no result.
- 1873 and 1890The Haydarpaşa–İzmit railway opened in 1873 and the İzmit–Adapazarı railway in 1890.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, İzmit entry · checked 26.10.2026 · entry
Quick answers in a few lines
Is Sapanca Lake in Sakarya or Kocaeli?
Mostly in Sakarya province. The lake’s west end is in Kocaeli province, as are Maşukiye and the Kartepe district.
How big and how deep is it?
47 km² and 61 m at the deepest point, by the Sakarya Governorate. The Sapanca Municipality gives about 45 to 47 km² and 55 to 60 m.
Can I come without a car?
Yes, by train: TCDD runs the Ada Ekspresi, a regional train; in 2023 its route was Adapazarı to Gebze. The stops, times and fares are on the ticket site of TCDD Taşımacılık.
What is the permit for?
A home let to tourists for 100 days or less needs a Turizm Amaçlı Konut İzin Belgesi, even for one booking. It is held by the owner or by a holder of a use right.
Is a pension the same as a home with a permit?
No. A pansiyon works under a business-opening licence and needs the ministry’s tourism-facility certificate. A home with a permit holds the home permit, and a pansiyon licence rules the home permit out.
Where does it snow?
Heavy snow falls on the higher southern parts of Sapanca district in winter. The Kartepe district in Kocaeli is a winter-tourism centre.
Where does the lake’s water go?
Out at the east end, through the Çark stream into the Sakarya River.
Where does the drinking water come from?
The Sapanca Municipality calls the lake the most important drinking-water source of Sakarya and Kocaeli provinces.
Sources and limits
Show the pages checked
- Sapanca Gölü (page of 15.07.2019) — Sakarya Governorate, checked 26.10.2026
- Sapanca Gölü — Sapanca District Governorate, checked 26.10.2026
- Sapanca Gölü — Arifiye District Governorate, checked 26.10.2026
- Sapanca Coğrafyası (updated 15.12.2025) — Sapanca Municipality, checked 26.10.2026
- Sapanca Tarihi — Sapanca Municipality, checked 26.10.2026
- İlçemiz — Kartepe Municipality, checked 26.10.2026
- Kartepe — Kocaeli Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate, checked 26.10.2026
- Sapanca Gölü’nün su kalitesi koruma altına alınıyor (16.07.2025) — Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality, checked 26.10.2026
- Sapanca için alternatif su kaynakları sırayla devreye alınıyor (06.08.2025) — Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality, checked 26.10.2026
- ADA Treni restorasyon çalışmaları dolayısıyla Arifiye’den hareket edecek (26.11.2023) — Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality, checked 26.10.2026
- İzmit — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, checked 26.10.2026
- Rüstem Paşa — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, checked 26.10.2026
- Hamam — TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, checked 26.10.2026
- Turizm Amaçlı Konut ve Başvuruları (2026 amounts) — Sakarya Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate, checked 26.10.2026
- Turizm amaçlı kiralama izni başvuru kılavuzu — Ministry of Culture and Tourism, checked 26.10.2026
- Bakanlık Turizm Amaçlı Kiralanan Konut İzin Belgeli Konutlar — Ministry of Culture and Tourism, checked 26.10.2026
Photos and the map are from Wikimedia Commons, each with its author, date, licence and file page in the caption. The satellite picture is a NASA public-domain file.
This guide is general information about rules and amounts that change. Read the ministry’s pages before you pay for a stay.
