Blue Cruise - Sailing the Turquoise Coast

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May 13th 2011

Published: December 14th 2012

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Backpackermatt

Mediterranean magic

Overnight stop on the Blue Cruise

So having spent the previous day cruising around Fethiye Bay and it's twelve or so islands, and with perfect weather predicted for at least the next four days, it was with great excitement that I bid farewell to my hosts of the previous five days, Gokan and Ahmet, and headed downstairs to wait for my ride to the harbour. And there I waited... for about forty-five minutes in all... before a minivan finally arrived to take me down to the harbour - though having missed my transfer altogether the day before, I was already well aware that pick-up times in Turkey are 'approximate only'!

So off down to the harbour (saturday May 7th) I went to meet my thirteen fellow passengers, the three crew members who would be looking after us, and the boat (Sevi 5 - whatever that means) that would be my floating home for the next three-and-a-half days - and with the benefit of hindsight I would have to say I got pretty lucky on all three counts! The boat - a traditional Turkish wooden sailing boat, known as a 'gulet' - was every bit as impressive as each of the other boats in the harbour; while

Paradise found

Approaching Butterfly Valley on day one

the crew - Turgay (the captain), Murat (the deckhand) and Chengiz (the cook) - were all friendly, attentive and professional (though spoke very little English!)

Meanwhile the passengers were a good mixture of different ages and nationalities, with five Canadians (an older couple from Quebec, a mother and daughter from British Columbia and another woman from BC), three Australians (myself and two slightly younger girls), a couple from California, a couple from Switzerland, an older guy from Denmark and a young woman from Kazakhstan... who somehow managed to miss our departure from Fethiye and had to be brought to our lunchtime stop by minivan and then ferried across to the boat!

After lunch we headed to Butterfly Valley, a secluded valley opening onto a beautiful beach that sits wedged between two almost-vertical valley walls, which effectively cut the area off from the rest of the coast - with the only way in or out being by boat or on foot. After heading ashore to hike up to a picturesque waterfall, we were soon back onboard the boat and heading to our overnight stop, St.Nicholas Island, where we were able to watch the sunset from atop the highest point

Sheltered cove

Lunch stop on day two

on the island.

With half of us sleeping up on deck - being gently rocked to sleep while watching the stars twinkle overhead - we then had to endure an early start the next day, as Turgay fired up the engine at 4:30am in order to get the longest stretch of the trip out of the way as early as possible. As a result, by the time we arose from our beds - sunbeds to be exact - we were already in sight of Kaş, a large coastal town that sprawls up the lower flanks of a mountain; and it wasn't long before the bell was being rung to alert us that breakfast had been served. Although we didn't go ashore at all on the second day, we did have a couple of stops for meals and/or swimming opportunities, before bedding down for the second night in a sheltered corner of the bay fronting Kaş.

Day three started with a rendezvous in Kaş harbour so that we could go ashore for an hour or two, before we headed off towards a town named Kaleköy (meaning 'castle village', and occupying the site of an ancient town named Simena) which

Scenic location

The town of Kaleköy, on the site of ancient Simena

clings to the sides of a narrow promontory, with a brilliant turquoise-coloured lagoon separating it from the mainland on one side, and a narrow channel separating it from the elongated island of Kekova (home to the remains of the 'Sunken City' - an ancient town that slid into the sea after an earthquake, and now lies just below the surface of the water) on the other side. Needless to say, the wonderful 360-degree view from atop the ruined castle that crowns Kaleköy was one of the highlights of the entire trip for those of us that made it up there.

Upon leaving Kaleköy, Turgay gave the order for Murat to set the main sail, so that we could experience some actual sailing - as opposed to the motorised cruising that we had been doing up until that point - though with the winds being quite low and our sailing speed even lower, it wasn't long before the motor was switched on and we were back to our regular cruising speed. Our next stop was Pirate's Cave, where a hole in the rock-face opens into an atmospheric and partially-submerged cave, which then leads to a second, smaller cave housing a

Pirate's cave

Or maybe just a really cool hole in the rock

large flat rock that looks remarkably like a naturally-occurring treasure chest! After jumping in for a quick swim around inside the cave, we were soon back onboard and heading to our final overnight stop, at the scenic and secluded Skyrock Bay.

And it was from Skyrock Bay later that night that some of us were whisked away by boat (sort of a courtesy bus service on water) to a nearby bar - predictably named Smuggler's Inn - despite the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere! It was certainly a surreal feeling whizzing along just above the water in complete darkness, with the stars twinkling overhead, to a waterfront bar that seemed to be completely isolated from the rest of the world... it was as if we were re-creating a scene from Apocalpyse Now, venturing into the 'Heart of Darkness' in search of Colonel Kurtz! Not only was there no sign whatsoever of any settlements anywhere near this bar - which is clearly positioned to take advantage of the countless sailing boats that cruise up and down the popular stretch of coast - but I doubt there were even any roads connecting it to the rest of

Ripples in time

Fading daylight at Skyrock Bay

the mainland!

And in what was surely the funniest moment of the night, not long after the rest of us had been ferried to the Smuggler's Inn, Turgay turned up at the bar and said to me rather stealthily "Matt, come with me - I have something to show you"... at which point he led me down to the boat/water-taxi and pulled a shiny metallic object out from his jacket, explaining to me "once everyone from the Alaturka (one of the other sailing boats doing the same cruise as us) had gone to the bar, I went over there, took the dinger from their bell, cut the wire to their speakers, and stole some of their beers - just like I told you I would!"

Apart from being utterely hilarious, it was also very good news indeed for those of us on Sevi 5, since the Alaturka - a renowned party boat - had made a point of mooring right alongside our boat at all three overnight stops, with the guests and crew then doing their best to keep anyone else in the vicinity wide awake until at least midnight by playing loud dance music and constantly ringing

Easy excursion

Going ashore on the final morning of the cruise

the dinner bell on board! In fact it had come as no surprise to any of us that when we arrived at the bar the captain of the Alaturka was not only already there, but already drunk and leading the festivities on the dance floor!

Having slept soundly on deck, woken up with a refreshing dip in the sea, and then filled up on another delicious breakfast (tuesday May 10th - my birthday, though this hadn't even occurred to me until someone wished me a happy birthday after we had finished breakfast!) we then set off to another secluded cove nearby where Claus, Megan and I had Murat run us over to the shore so that we could hike up to a nearby cave, before pressing on to the top of the ridge to take in another beautiful view of the surrounding coastline.

Once back on board though it was time for the final stretch of our voyage, which took us to the harbour in Demre where we said a fond farewell to the crew and left the boat behind, as a new (though much smaller) group of people climbed aboard for the return trip back to Fethiye...

Hostel among the trees

Bayram's Treehouse in Olympos

along with Zedina, the Kazakh girl who had decided to stay on board for the return trip after apparently sharing a romantic interlude with Murat the night before! The irony certainly wasn't lost on me that the same person who had missed our departure from Fethiye three days earlier had now managed to missed our arrival in Demre as well!

For the rest of us though it would be a long and drawn-out bus ride to Olympos, which despite being no more than a hundred kilometres away would take us about four hours to reach due to all of the stops the bus made along the way, where we each then said goodbye and headed off to our different hostels. And despite neither of us having pre-booked anything, Claus and I had no trouble getting a nice little 'bungalow' (twin room) at a peaceful little place full of shady trees called Bayram's Treehouses, where the nightly room rates included both breakfast and dinner each day.

So having left our things in the room and grabbed our towels, we took the hostel receptionists advice and followed the almost-dry riverbed down to the beach, since anyone walking along the road

Graceful curve

Soaking up the sun on Olympos Beach

has to pay for a ticket to enter the ruins of Ancient Olympos - which are scattered along both sides of the riverbank, all the way down to the beach - even if they only want to pass straight through! And with the sun still shining overhead and more beautiful, clear Mediterranean water beckoning us, we enjoyed what would be the final swim of the holiday for both of us, sitting contently in the water and skimming stones across the surface whilst marvelling at the untouched beauty of our surroundings; before retiring to our hostel for a delicious, all-you-can-eat buffet dinner - not a bad way to spend a birthday at all!

Having decided to stay on in Olympos for an extra day rather than returning to Fethiye, wednesday started out with a short hike/scramble up the side of a nearby mountain that overlooks the beach, after which the immaculate weather of the past week finally came to an end and the heavens opened - though thankfully by this time Claus and I had already filled up on gözlemes (traditional Turkish pancakes - though actually more similar to crepes than what we would call pancakes - and served with

Stunning sunset

View of sunset from the top of St.Nicholas Island

either savoury or sweet fillings) and retired to our bungalow for a siesta.

And with the sun once again peaking out through the clouds in the afternoon, I spent a leisurely couple of hours wandering around the ruins of Ancient Olympos - still without having had to pay the entrance fee - which lie in a most atmospheric setting surrounded by trees on either side of the Olympos River. Safely back at the hostel and having tucked into another wonderful buffet dinner, I drifted off to sleep to the sound of a thunderstorm raging outside - probably the first thunderstorm that I have experienced since arriving in England over nine months ago.

The following day brought a four-hour bus ride back along the same stretch of coast that I had just sailed past - including a sighting of a pod of dolphins along the way - as I headed back to Fethiye for the final night of my holiday. And with that, my stay in Turkey had come to an end, leaving me with a stack of fantastic memories and longing to return to Turkey as soon as possible!

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