Are there mosquitoes in Antalya? Yes, and they come out with dinner.

Yes. On the Turkish Riviera, from Kemer through Antalya city, Lara and Belek to Side and Alanya, the biting starts around dinner, from evening mosquitoes and tiny sand flies that can carry cutaneous leishmaniasis. West Nile is rare in the province, no local dengue has been reported in Türkiye, and CDC recommends no malaria medicine, so an evening repellent habit and a protected room cover most of it.

Two night shifts

The first belongs to Culex mosquitoes, which bite in the evening and at night and breed across the province. Researchers collected their larvae from April to October 2017 in five districts, Alanya, Kemer and Manavgat among them, and every population tested was possibly or fully resistant to deltamethrin, a common spray. The second belongs to phlebotomine sand flies, which are tiny and bite from dusk to dawn. A 2012–2013 survey caught them at 42 localities in seven of the province's districts.

The daytime biter is missing, for now. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) lists the Asian tiger mosquito as absent from Antalya province on its April 2026 map, while neighboring Muğla has it established. Turkish researchers say its range is expanding quickly, so this may change.

The likeliest biting spots are resort pools, lawns and gardens at dusk, open-air bars and restaurants, and village or forest stays around Kemer and Olympos. Put repellent on before dinner outside and reapply through the evening; picaridin 20% and DEET 20–30% deter sand flies as well as mosquitoes, and our guide to how long repellent lasts helps you time it. Sleep in an air-conditioned or screened room or run a plug-in vaporizer, and use a bed net if you sleep exposed to the outdoors, as CDC suggests.

Leishmaniasis and the rest of the list

CDC lists leishmaniasis for Türkiye, and Antalya province has its skin form, cutaneous leishmaniasis. Officials notified 220 cases in the province from 2005 to 2012, about 27 a year, mostly from suburbs and villages rather than the resort centers, and numbers fell over that period. The 2012–2013 survey found the parasite in 5 of 27 pools of sand flies, without naming the districts. For a resort guest who uses evening repellent, the risk is low. A skin sore that doesn't heal in the weeks or months after the trip is a reason to see a doctor.

West Nile is rare here. ECDC listed 1 case in Antalya province in 2024, the year of Türkiye's largest outbreak, centered on Istanbul and Thrace, and none in 2025. Türkiye doesn't appear in ECDC's 2026 weekly table at all, which may mean no cases or no reporting. All 36 malaria cases diagnosed in the province from 2012 to 2017 were acquired abroad, and no local dengue, chikungunya or Zika has been reported in Türkiye. CDC recommends no malaria medicine, and the yellow fever vaccine is neither recommended nor required. CDC also lists Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, spread by ticks, a risk in rural central and northeastern Anatolia, far from the coast.

Summer, and the months around it

June to September is peak season for evening mosquitoes and sand flies on this coast. In neighboring Muğla, sand flies are active from March to early October and peak in August, and the 2017 study found Culex larvae in Antalya from April to October. A May or early-October trip still calls for repellent at dusk.

Where you're staying

How the main resort areas compare for a June–September trip.

Going on to Istanbul, Bodrum or Cappadocia? The Türkiye briefing covers the rest of the country.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from TripAdvisor forum threads and linked so you can read them in full. None is dated, and bites at the resorts vary with the week, the weather and where you stay.

• Lara Beach, Antalya · August

  Posters described repeated mosquito bites at Lara Beach in August, one after an evening in an outdoor bar area without repellent. Others said bites were not a problem in the room with a plug-in repellent. TripAdvisor ↗

• Side

  In a thread about mosquitoes and other biting bugs in Side, a poster said the drains had been treated for mosquitoes the week before. TripAdvisor ↗

• Belek · May

  In an older thread, a May visitor said a mosquito bite near the eye left half their face swollen for three days. Posters recommended repellent and, for people who react badly, starting an antihistamine about two weeks before the trip. TripAdvisor ↗

• Belek

  Posters listed sand flies, black flies, earwigs and spiders among the biting pests, recommended repellent and hydrocortisone cream, and suggested keeping the bathroom door closed because insects seemed to come up through the drains; some said they take a daily antihistamine for about a month beforehand. TripAdvisor ↗

One rule outlasts the trip. Any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and so does a skin sore that won't heal. Tell the doctor you were in Antalya.

Traveler questions