At the very tip of the peninsula is the antique city of Knidos (at the locality called Tekir today).

Both the town and the peninsula were called Resadiye till recently, in honor of the penultimate Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V Resad. Today, Resadiye is the name of one of the quarters of the town along with Eski Datca (literally "Old Datca") and Iskele ("the quay") quarters, each separated from the others by a distance of about a mile to form, taken as a whole, the town of Datca proper.

Datca Peninsula is a prized location for tourists visiting Turkey, especially by sea, because of the beauty of its many coves and larger bays, which are favored ports of call for those undertaking the celebrated Blue Cruise along Turkey's spectacular southwest coast. Boats (usually gulets) depart either from Bodrum or Marmaris, or from Datca itself for these tours.