The Gulf of Gökova
The sheltered classic. Pine forest down to the waterline, an afternoon wind you can set your watch by, and anchorages an hour apart.
The Logbook
NIMARA · CARIAN COASTHow the week runs
Boarding is at 15:30 on the first day, disembarkation after breakfast on the eighth. In between, the captain sets the order of the anchorages each morning from the forecast — the stops stay the same, the sequence moves.
What is included
- The vessel, the full crew, fuel for the standard route and all anchorage fees
- Three meals a day cooked aboard, plus five o'clock tea
- Bed linen, towels, snorkel gear and the tender
- Not included: drinks, meals ashore, port taxes on Greek islands, crew gratuity
What you eat
Turkish breakfast every morning — white cheese, olives, tomato, honeycomb, eggs to order. Meze at anchor for lunch: stuffed vine leaves, olive-oil artichokes, grilled octopus, whatever the market had. Dinner aboard most nights, ashore two. Tell us about allergies, vegetarians and halal at booking, not on the day.
Gulf of Gökova
Thirty-five miles running east from Bodrum, pine forest down to the waterline on the north shore and bare mountain on the south. A no-take marine reserve since 2010, which is the reason there are still fish here and why the snorkelling is better than anywhere else we sail.
What there is to do here
Cleopatra's golden sand
Oolitic sand on Sedir Island, genuinely unlike anything else on this coast. Protected — you may not carry a grain off the beach and wardens check.
Snorkel the Seven Islands
A cluster of islets with channels between them you can thread if you read the chart. Best visibility in the gulf, usually twenty-five metres.
Find English Harbour
Three lobes of water behind an entrance you cannot see until you are in it. A Royal Navy squadron used it in 1944 for exactly that reason.
Hear the Çökertme song
A working village with three restaurants on the water and a folk song written about it that every Turkish guest on board will sing.
Read the anchor at Orak
The clearest water within an hour of Bodrum. At eight metres you can see the fluke bite. Thirty day boats between eleven and three, nobody after five.
The week, day by day
Saturday to Saturday: aboard from 15:30 on the first day, one bay that evening, then two bays most days and the last night on the Friday. Ashore after breakfast on the second Saturday. Want five nights, or ten? Say so and we redraw it.
Aboard from 15:30, papers and a safety briefing, then one short hop to the first anchorage for dinner and the first swim.
A morning swim where you woke up, a two-hour passage at most, lunch at anchor in the second bay and the night wherever the wind is kindest.
A morning swim where you woke up, a two-hour passage at most, lunch at anchor in the second bay and the night wherever the wind is kindest.
A morning swim where you woke up, a two-hour passage at most, lunch at anchor in the second bay and the night wherever the wind is kindest.
Breakfast alongside, then ashore by 09:30. Most guests take the late flight and leave their bags with us for the day.
The afternoon wind gets up around two and drops at sunset, every day, and it is what makes this the best sailing week of the four. Book the north shore for the night if it is blowing hard.
What guests say about this route
Sailed this week? Leave a star and a sentence. It helps the next family more than anything we could write ourselves.
Ready to pick your week?
Tell us the dates and the number of guests. We reply with availability, a full price breakdown and a 72-hour hold on the boat.