Turkish Gulet (Yacht) Day Cruise

Every port town along Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts has a marina filled with Turkish gulet yachts, some of which take visitors on day cruises along the coast or to nearby islands.

The day-long excursion cruise may include a visit to some ancient ruin or coastal village, a swim in a quiet cove, and lunch.

You usually weigh anchor around 09:00 am and return to port around 17:00 or 18:00 (5 or 6 pm). The cost is quite reasonable.

It's important to find a boat that will have congenial passengers who enjoy the same sort of cruise that you do, and who speak your language.

Go to the port the evening before you'd like to cruise, look the boats over, and talk to the captain (who will probably be on the boat just for that purpose). Be sure to ask what sort of passengers he usually accepts:

—Young single people wanting to party?

—Families?

—Retirees interested in archeology?

Also ask what language most of the other passengers may speak. If everybody else is speaking some language you don't know, it could get boring for you.

If lunch is included, you should ask about it in detail (some boats are happy to furnish menus). A day cruise for TL50 with a very basic spaghetti or sandwich lunch may not be as good a bargain as a TL60 cruise offering a great multi-course Turkish feast.

You can easily find day excursion boats in all these ports:

For a longer cruise, with nights spent on the yacht, consider a full charter or cabin charter.

—Tom Brosnahan

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