Yacht charter Bodrum

What a gulet actually is

A gulet is a broad-beamed wooden motorsailer, traditionally built in the yards along this coast, with cabins below and an enormous amount of deck. The rig is real but largely ceremonial — these are motor vessels that carry sails, and a week aboard one involves very little sailing.

That is not a criticism, and pretending otherwise is the main way clients end up disappointed. What a gulet does supremely well is provide space: a shaded aft deck laid out for long lunches, a foredeck of cushions, a swim platform, and a crew who cook. It is an outdoor living room that moves between bays.

The range, which is very wide

“Gulet” covers everything from a thirty-year-old twenty-metre boat with basic cabins and a two-person crew to a forty-five metre modern vessel with air conditioning throughout, a chef, a tender and a jacuzzi. The word tells you the hull shape and very little else, and the price range across the category is enormous.

The three questions that separate them

• Air conditioning, and when it runs. Many gulets run the generator only at fixed hours. In August in the Aegean, a cabin without overnight air conditioning is a genuinely bad night’s sleep. Ask specifically whether it runs all night.
• Cabin size and en-suites. Traditional gulets have small cabins with compact shower rooms. The boat is designed for you to be on deck, and the cabins reflect that.
• Crew count against guests. Two crew for twelve guests is a very different week from five crew for twelve, and both are sold as full-crewed charters.

The Blue Cruise

The Mavi Yolculuk — the Blue Voyage — is a Turkish institution rather than a marketing term. It describes an unhurried week of short hops between bays, anchoring for lunch, swimming, eating long meals on deck and going ashore rarely. The pace is the point.

The classic route from Bodrum runs south into the Gökova gulf, which is a long, deep, largely undeveloped inlet with pine forest running down to the water. English Harbour, Seven Islands, Çökertme and Löngoz are the well-known anchorages, and none of them is more than a couple of hours from the last.

The alternative is west and north around the Bodrum peninsula — Turgutreis, Yalıkavak, and the smaller bays on the northern side. Busier and more developed, with better restaurants ashore and considerably more nightlife. Yalıkavak in particular has become a serious superyacht marina and looks nothing like the fishing village it was.

The honest recommendation for a first Turkish week is Gökova, which is quieter, greener and closer to the thing people imagine when they picture this coast.

The Greek islands question

Kos is around twenty miles from Bodrum and visible from it. Symi, Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese are close. Charterers ask about combining the two coasts constantly, and the answer is more complicated than the geography suggests.

Crossing between Turkey and Greece is an international border. It requires formal clearance out of one country and into the other, involves port police and agents at both ends, costs most of a day, and requires the yacht to hold the correct documentation for it. Not every Turkish charter vessel does.

On a seven-night charter we would generally advise against it. Half a day of paperwork each way is a fifth of your week spent alongside filling in forms, and the Turkish coast has more than enough to occupy the time. On a ten- or fourteen-night charter it becomes entirely reasonable and the contrast between the two coasts is genuinely interesting.

If a crossing matters to you, raise it before booking rather than aboard. It determines which vessels are even eligible.

Transit log, blue card and the rest

Turkey runs a well-organised system that is largely invisible to guests on a crewed charter, but it is worth knowing it exists.

• The transit log is the vessel’s cruising document, listing the yacht and everyone aboard. Names must match passports and changes mid-charter are an amendment, not an informality.
• The blue card records the discharge of waste to shore facilities and is checked. It is one of the reasons this coast has stayed as clean as it has.
• Marine park zones in parts of the Gökova gulf restrict anchoring and fishing, protecting fish stocks that have measurably recovered as a result.

As everywhere, the item to verify yourself is that the vessel holds a valid commercial charter licence. Turkey enforces this, and the consequence of an irregular boat lands on your week.

The meltemi, from the Turkish side

The same northerly that dominates the Greek islands reaches this coast, where it is called the poyraz. It blows hardest in July and August and is at its most insistent around the exposed western end of the Bodrum peninsula.

The Gökova gulf is substantially sheltered from it, which is the practical reason the classic route runs that way. Inside the gulf you can have a comfortable week in conditions that would be tiring in the open Aegean, and this is worth knowing if anyone in the party is uneasy on the water.

A gulet, being heavy and beamy, is a comfortable platform in a chop and an unhurried one in a headwind. She will not beat to windward in any meaningful sense, so a route that requires punching into a strong poyraz is a route that becomes a long motor. Plan north-west early in the week and run home with it.

What it costs

The best value in the Mediterranean, and not marginally. A gulet week here delivers space, crew and coastline at a fraction of what the equivalent would cost in Italy or France.

Most gulet charters are quoted on a half-board or full-board basis rather than the plus-APA model of the western Mediterranean, which makes them look simpler and occasionally makes them harder to compare. Establish what is included: fuel within a normal cruising range, harbour dues, food, and which drinks.

Berthing on this coast is inexpensive by Mediterranean standards and most nights are spent at anchor in any case. Turkish VAT applies to the charter and should be a stated line. Crew gratuity is customary and generally around ten per cent.

Questions