The Captain's Log

Thursday, July 27, 2006

In Turkey, Sailing Into The Exotic

The New York Times Travel Section has a recent article chronicling a cruise along the carian coast to friendly villages, unusual cafes and cleopatra’s beach.  Here is an excerpt and a link to the rest of the article…

The Carian coast, in southwestern Turkey roughly between Bodrum and Marmaris, is Turkey’s most popular sailing area, thanks to it’s large, protected gulfs, secluded bays and coves, tranquil waters and wild coastlines.  Here the religious and secular, East and West, ancient and contemporary Turkey combine to make sailings trips like no other.

In the United States and Europe, port towns are often playgrounds for the world’s rich and famous.  The smaller ports we called on were more about local, everyday life than international, second-home escape, more about culture than consumption.  And the people welcomed us more like guests than like tourists.

We set sail from Turgutreis, on the western side of the Bodrum Peninsula, and headed for the Gulf of Gokova, a national park area stretching some 45 miles east from Bodrum, where the warm, salty water ranges from brilliant turquoise to seductive sapphire.  Pine-clad mountains unmarred by human development enclose every view, and few other boats spoil the fantasy that the water is all yours and only yours.

NYTimes.com: In Turkey, Sailing Into the Exotic on a Blue Cruise (you’ll need to register for free to read the article on NYTimes.com)