Göcek & the Gulf of Fethiye

The most forgiving water in the Mediterranean

Göcek is a village of two thousand people with more marina berths than residents, and the reason is geography. The Gulf of Fethiye is closed to the south by the Kapıdağ peninsula and scattered with islands, so even in August, when the open Aegean is blowing, the water here lies flat enough to serve soup on deck. Twenty-five minutes from Dalaman airport, it is the place we send guests who want to be swimming within an hour of landing, and guests who would rather never feel the boat move at all.

The cruising ground

The Twelve Islands

Yassıca, a cluster of low islets with a sandbar between them, is the first-day swim. Tersane Island hides the walls of a Byzantine shipyard and a farm that sells goat's-milk yoghurt to passing yachts. Domuz and Göcek islands shelter the gulf's inner bays; between them lie Bedri Rahmi Bay, where the painter left a fish on the rock in 1974, Sarsala, Boynuzbükü, Göbün and Kille. Kapı Creek, a narrow inlet with a pontoon restaurant, is where most crews spend the last night. None of these is more than ninety minutes from the next, so a day can hold three bays and a long lunch.

South to Ölüdeniz and the Lycian shore

Leave the gulf and the coast rises into cliffs. Gemiler Island, with its ruined Byzantine churches, is the overnight; Ölüdeniz's blue lagoon, a protected nature park, is the swim everyone comes for, and the paragliders launching from Babadağ 1,900 metres above provide the afternoon entertainment. Butterfly Valley, a slot canyon with a beach at its mouth, is the next bay east. From Fethiye town the day trip up the Dalyan river to the Lycian rock tombs of Kaunos and the turtle beach at İztuzu is well worth a morning.

When to go

Because the gulf is sheltered, Göcek is the one cruising ground we recommend without reservation in July and August; the bays are busier, but the water is calm and the sea is at its warmest. May and early June are green, quiet and cool at night. September and October are superb: warm sea, empty anchorages and the first autumn light on the pines.

Getting there

Dalaman airport has direct flights from across Europe in season and Istanbul connections year-round. The marina is twenty-five minutes by road. Fethiye's Ece Marina is an alternative embarkation for yachts over fifty metres; both towns provision well, and Göcek's waterfront restaurants are among the best on the coast for a first night ashore.

Which yacht suits Göcek

This is motor-sailor country. The traditional gulet was built for exactly these distances, and a day of two short hops and long swims suits her wide decks and shaded aft table perfectly. Catamarans are equally at home in the shallow, sandy bays. Motor yachts come into their own if you want to add Kaş and Kekova, two hours east, or cross to Rhodes.