Day Boat from Gümüşlük

Alternate departure for a Day Boat

The biggest selection of daily boat trips on the peninsula head out from Bodrum and Turgutreis, but you’re not limited to these two main harbours if you fancy a day on the water.

Even small villages like Gümüşlük advertise daily boat trips during peak season.

Just head down to Gümüşlük Bay/Harbour and look out for the signs.

Day Boat from Gümüşlük

Bodrum to Datça by Ferry Boat

Bodrum Ferry Boat run twice daily services from Bodrum to Datça.

Datça is small town located on the Datça peninsula, which is the long, narrow finger of land that separates the Mediterranean and Aegean seas.

This area of Turkey offers un-spoilt natural beauty as well as a countless string of secluded bays to explore.

Datça is 22 miles south east of Bodrum (approx 2 hrs by ferry), and 75 km away from Marmaris. The ferry docks at Datça Ferry boat port (also known as Körmen), which is about 9km from the town of Datça.

Portions of the Datça Summary: (c) Bodrum Ferryboat Routes

BODRUM-DATÇA

Bodrum Ferry Boat

Vehicle-Passenger Ferry

105 minutes

Prices for Bodrum Ferryboat Timetable for Bodrum Ferryboat Where to catch the Datça Ferryboat in Bodrum: email: info@bodrumferryboat.com Bodrum Office Phone: (252) 316 0882 and (252) 313 2509 Datça Office Phone: (252) 712 2143

Bodrum Peninsula Route Map: (c) Aegeantourtravel.com

View other Bodrum Peninsula Ferry Routes

Just west of Datça is a chain of three bays - Ovabükü, Hayıtbükü and Kizilbük, which are an ideal location to wallow in peace and tranquility. Read about these three bays at alaturkajournal

.Bodrum to Datça by Ferry Boat

Quiet Boat? Not our Destiny!

Day Boat Trip from Turgutreis Part 2:

In my first post in this Day Boat trip from Turgutreis series, I mentioned that there were 4 points of negotiation for our trip:- Direction, Noise, Cuisine and Cost. Cost had been achieved, so we only had 3 more to go.

Off to meet our Destiny

We headed to Turgutreis in plenty of time to secure a good spot on the good ship Destiny, but although we arrived 1/2 hour early – there was already a large contingent of 20, waiting to board. We managed to find an area where the 4 of us could sit together, at the bow of the boat. I patted myself on the back for nabbing such a prime location; and sat smugly on my lounge cushion like the sultan who’d got the cream. Bag, snorkel, towel and reading material strategically arranged around me.

My tranquility was shattered when we prepared to pull away from the dock. I hadn’t taken into account my close proximity to the anchor. I had to move swifty out of the way, as a nimble crew member vaulted me and my belonging to retrieve the anchor.

I scanned the boat for another location, but the die was cast. I quickly came to terms with the realization that each time the anchor was thrown or retrieved – I’d have to uncurl myself, and move out of the way. Strike 1.

North Island Tour, or South Beach Tour?

The boat nosed it’s way out of the harbour and started to head North. We were hedging our bets on whether the boat would actually change direction, and take the South Tour instead of the scheduled one North. It wasn’t looking good. The owner who sold us the tickets the day before, wasn’t on-board.

As we headed into open sea, the waves became choppy and rough, and the bow of the boat dipped and rose like a roller coast. Each time wood met water, it created a thunderous belly-flop “SLAP!”, and we were in prime position to get covered in spray.

Huddled under towels, whispering like conspirators, we ruminated on whether the water really this rough, or if the boat captain was playing his part in the “change of direction” scam to the T.

Just then the tinny speakers burped into life, and music spewed out. The cocophany of sound joined forces with the ocean spray and rained down on us. So much for a “Quiet” boat. I think we’ve just hitStrike 2!

One thing you quickly learn in Turkey, is that things don’t always turn out as planned, so you have to roll with the punches, or you’ll spend your entire time in the country with a continual scowl and petulant attitude. It wasn’t the first time we’d raised our eyebrows, slipped into a grin, and muttered “Welcome to Turkey!”, with a tilt of the head and a shrug of acceptance.

It could be worse. Although we were riding a roller coaster, getting wet and auditorily assaulted on our quiet boat – It was a glorious sunny day, and we were on heading out of the harbour and into the Aegean for a day of R&R. Life ain’t all bad.

Just then our optimism paid dividends. The music was silenced, and the captain announced that the water was too rough to take us on the North Island tour, and instead we’d be going on the South Beach tour. We suppressed a knowing grin, and things went from better — to even better.

When the music reappeared it was as a lower volume, and because there were no speakers at the bow of the boat, the music receded into the distance and became less intrusive. We breathed a sigh of relief – we’d got the direction we requested, and with a little bit of imagination, you could class the music as “background”.

So a win for Direction, and a partial win on Noise — at least it wasn’t a party boat.

Just one more negotiation point to go – Cuisine.

© Both photo’s of Destiny are from their Facebook page

Quiet Boat? Not our Destiny!

Day Trip to Kos from the Bodrum Peninsula

An Introduction to the Greek Island of Kos

Kos is a fingerling-potato shaped island about 4 km (2 ½ miles) from theBodrum Peninsula, making it a convenient location for a day jaunt from Bodrum or Turgutreis.

Bodrum and Kos as Historical Parents

Whereas Bodrum is known as the birthplace of Herodotus - the father of History. Kos, is the birthplace of Hippocrates, the father of Medicine.

On our list – but not visited yet

Each time we have visited the Bodrum Peninsula, I suggest ”we should take a day trip to Kos this time” – but the nooks and crannies of the Bodrum Peninsula distract us, and it remains on our “next time” list.

So although I can’t speak to Kos as a destination, there are plenty of websites that can, and below are my Top 3, which will give you a feel for the place, and help you decide whether you want to visit the ‘neighbours’ when you’re in town!

Reference websites:

Click on the icons/images to open the home pages in the same window, or click on the hyperlinks to open the page in a new window:

---

Greekisland.co.uk promotes itself as an antidote to the flowery language of Greek holiday brochures, and offers visitor reviews of Greek islands and beaches. Their site covers all Greek Islands, split into 4 groups: Popular, Peaceful, Sleepy and Offbeat. Kos is on the Popular list, and you can read the summary recap of Kos and the Postcard Reviews here.

---

If you’re heading to Kos for some history and culture, this travel-to-kos.comwebsite may start your culture-bells ringing. Their Top 10 List of things to see while on Kos — only has 5 historical sights on the list, and one of those is a tree! But there’s some nice 360° graphics and good selection of photo’s: Asklepion ; The Neratzia Castle;Hippocrates Plane Tree; Complex of Early Christian Basilica of St. Stephen; Epta Bemata

---

The greektravel.com website/blog is a labour of love, and it shows. Matt Barrett started his Travel Guide as a hobby in 1995, and since then it has grown in popularity. His site covers all of Greece, but this link will take you to Matt’s Kos Information Page , which provides a succinct historical overview, and a description of the attractions. If he were to create a Top 10 list – it would definitely have 10 in it!

---

And lastly, you can visit the Ferry Route information page within this site:

• Ferry and Catamaran Routes between the Bodrum Peninsula and Greek Islands

© All icons/images are sourced from the referenced websites, and the lead photo includes an in-picture credit.

Day Trip to Kos from the Bodrum Peninsula

Boat trips from Türkbükü

Daily Trips from Türkbükü

Unlike the gauntlet of day boats and captains you have to run in Turgutreis Harbour, the day boat cooperative in Türkbükü is decidedly more laid back. There are currently 8 boats in the cooperative, and they’re moored half way around the bay, anchored close to the beach - you can’t miss them:

There’s two tours on offer:

Tour 1 goes East – first stop Paradise Bay. I haven’t visited there yet, but it looks blissful.

Tour 2 goes West - and is a little Island drive-by. You’ll see the remains of a Byzantine church on the hillside of Apostle Island.

Tour 1	Tour 2
Cennet Koyu (Paradise Bay) Gök burun (?) Kızılkoy (Red Bay) Derin Liman (Deep Port)……	Apostol Adasi (Apostle Island) Tavşan Adasi (Rabbit Island*) Prasa Island (?) Ada Koyu (Island Bay)

*This is the Rabbit Island off the coast of Gündoğan (the next bay over) not the one near Gümüşlük

The Türkbükü Day Boat Tours leave the bay at 10:30am and return at 6:00pm

Whilst researching the stops for this cruise – I came across a good reference site for the Mugla coastline

Boat trips from Türkbükü

Day Boat from Turgutreis

Day Boat Trip from Turgutreis Part 1:

Negotiating our Destiny

After a hectic week sightseeing in Istanbul, the first thing I wanted to do when I arrived on the Bodrum Peninsula, was to spend a relaxing day on a boat. Our Saturday arrival, meant we headed straight to the weekend market in Turgutreis (video link) to shop for Mediterranean essentials – fresh fruit and vegetables in season, olives, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and Olive Oil.

Then headed to the waterfront to enjoy an Efes while the heat of the day subsided. I’d planned on arranging a boat in one of the smaller locations, like Yalikavak or Gundogan. But as we could see the flotilla of day boats lined up in Turgutreis harbour, we decided to run the gauntlet of captains to see if there was a potential vessel for our Sunday jaunt.

As anticipated, we were met with full enthusiasm, as we dodged and weaved our way along the line of Captains, to tour the boats that sparked our interest.

Our last stop was at a boat called “Destiny”, where were chatted to the Turkish Captain, who spoke great English with a Cornish accent (picked up during winter’s spent in St. Ives) — quite distracting.

There were 4 points of negotiation – Direction, Noise, Cuisine and Cost:

Direction:

• “Destiny” offered North (Islands) and South (Beaches) tours, and a Northern tour was scheduled on Sunday. I really wanted the Southern tour, so the Captain offered to change the tour to the South tour, and assured us they would start out North – but aim the bow through the waves at an odd angle so that it appeared really rough. Then they’d announce that we were going South, because it was too rough to take the North Tour. Sounded like a plan…. but would it happen? Direction agreed.

Noise:

• We didn’t want any! We wanted a quiet, chilled boat trip, with no blaring music. Tranquility was assured. Noise level agreed.

Cuisine:

• We didn’t like to sound of the menu, so asked to be served Sea Bass for lunch. Menu agreed.

Cost:

• Well it’s Turkey. Cost is always negotiable – but it was more of a challenge than the direction change. He insisted on showing us his Ticket stubs for the other confirmed passengers to show how much they were paying, but we eventually got him down another 10tl.

We strolled away contented – with happy visions of tomorrow’s quiet Southern boat trip. I tiny voice in my head, questioned whether all of our negotiation points would be delivered against, but…….. only tomorrow will tell….

Read: Day Boat Trip from Turgutreis Part 2:

Day Boat from Turgutreis

Lazy Sunday - day before the storm

After all the rain last night - the air smelt really fresh. Wasn't sure what our plan were, but on our way to breakfast we bumped into Hassan - our very own Captain Pugwash - shouting "Booooooat Treeeeeeeep" trying to round up participants for the daily trip out into the bay for a bit of sunbathing and snorkeling.

It was a bit of a windy day - after effects of last nights storm, but we figured it would be a good way to while away the day. The last day before becoming official homeowners in Turkey.

About 20 of us opted for the day's outing on the Hotels Gulet, and it was a good bunch of people - not big party heads. Just folks out for a mellow cruise across the ocean.

From the Outside Looking In (a view of Bodrum Castle from the back of the boat)

edited in Photoshop by Roving Jay

First stop was at Cleopatra Cave - on Kara Ada Island, about 6km from Bodrum Harbor. The story goes, that Cleopatra made use of mud from the cave to keep herself beautiful, and the other story goes, that she hid is this cave from her enemies. Now both stories were told by different people on the boat -- and I'm not sure of the validity of either. But the Bodrum Peninsula Guide backs up the mud & beauty story.

So did I visit the cave? No.

Did I swim in the healing waters? No?

Instead I bought a corn on the cob and watched the tourists getting on and soaked in the scenery.

We boarded the Skylark again for about 1 1/2 and ended up in a gorgeous bay for some snorkeling.

I'm in love!