Fethiye
Route · 7 days · round-tripYacht charter route · Gocek

Fethiye round-trip.

Seven-day yacht charter loop from Fethiye: Gemiler, Butterfly Valley, Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon, Kapı Creek, Ruin Bay and Sarsala, all in the sheltered gulf.

The route

Day-by-day route

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Gemiler
Day 1

Fethiye → Gemiler Island

An easy eight-mile warm-up south to Gemiler Island, where Byzantine ruins climb the hillside and cold spring water meets the sea across the bay.

Distance

5 NM

Sailing

~1h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

April – November (peak May – Oct)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Fethiye

Sailing area

Gocek

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 7
Gemiler
1
Day 1

Fethiye → Gemiler Island

The first leg is deliberately gentle, eight miles down the coast while everyone finds their sea legs and works out where the winch handles live. Gemiler sits just off the mainland, its hillside stacked with the roofless shells of Byzantine churches and cisterns. This was St Nicholas Island long before the saint's relics were carried off to Bari, and the walking paths that thread the ruins are worth an hour before the light goes flat. We usually cross to Coldwater Bay for the night. Freshwater springs feed the shallows here, and you feel it the moment you dive: a cold seam sliding under the warm surface layer. Take a mask and swim the rock edge. Dinner is meze at the quay taverna, and the buoy comes free with the table.

Things to do

Walk the Byzantine church ruins on Gemiler

Climb the vaulted path to the summit church

Snorkel the cold spring seam in Coldwater Bay

Meze dinner at the Coldwater quay taverna

Mooring tip

Coldwater Bay has free restaurant buoys, so take one and settle your bill over dinner. If they are full, the sand holds well at five to seven metres just off the buoy field.

Butterfly Valley
2
Day 2

Coldwater Bay → Butterfly Valley

Short day, so there is no rush. Butterfly Valley opens as a green cleft in the cliffs, a gorge that climbs more than three hundred metres inland to a waterfall at its head. The Jersey tiger butterflies that give it its name gather here in high summer and nowhere else on the coast. Anchor off, walk in through the reeds, and go for the waterfall if the water is running. It is a daytime stop only; the canyon funnels a gusty afternoon draught that makes for a poor night. We move a mile east to Ölüdeniz for that. The lagoon itself is protected, but the open bay outside holds fine on sand in five to seven metres. Look up around six and you will usually see the paragliders spiralling down off Babadağ.

Things to do

Hike the gorge to Butterfly Valley waterfall

Anchor swim off the Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon

Watch paragliders land off Babadağ mountain

Spot the Jersey tiger butterflies in summer

Mooring tip

Treat Butterfly Valley as a lunch stop only, dropping on the rocky bottom in six to eight metres and keeping a watch on the swing. For the night, anchor in the open Ölüdeniz bay on sand at five to seven metres, clear of the marked swimming zone.

Kapı Creek
3
Day 3

Ölüdeniz → Kapı Creek

This is the biggest passage of the trip, so we like to slip the buoy by nine and get the miles in before the afternoon breeze fills. Rounding into Skopea Limanı, the water flattens and the pine hills close around you. Kapı Creek is tucked at the end of a slot that pinches to about eighty metres at its mouth, which makes it feel more like a Norwegian fjord than a Turkish bay. Inside, it is glassy and fully enclosed. There is a pebble beach at the head for a swim and a little taverna that runs the buoy field. Tie stern-to, run a long line ashore if the boy asks, and settle in. Order the mezes, a jar of thyme honey for the morning, and let the crew paddle out to the narrows before dinner.

Things to do

Paddle to the 80-metre creek entrance

Swim off the pebble beach at the head

Tie stern-to at the Kapı Creek taverna

Buy thyme honey and rakı at the quay

Mooring tip

Kapı Creek is stern-to against the taverna pontoon or on its buoys, both free if you eat ashore, and it fills fast on July evenings. Arrive by early afternoon in peak season to be sure of a spot; the sand at five to seven metres is your fallback.

Ruin Bay
4
Day 4

Kapı Creek → Ruin Bay

Another lazy morning is fine, because Ruin Bay is only four miles on. The draw here is under the boat rather than ashore. Part of an old Lycian settlement slid into the sea long ago, and its stonework now sits in two or three metres of clear water along the base of the cliff, close enough to snorkel without ever kicking deep. Swim slowly and you will pick out worked blocks and column drums furred with weed. Above the bay, a rough track leads up to the scattered ruins of Lydae, shared these days with goats and old olive trees. It is a good sundowner spot. Fire up the deck barbecue as the cliff turns gold, and keep an eye out, since the bay is open enough that a night northerly can find its way in.

Things to do

Snorkel the submerged ruins along the cliff

Hike up to the Lydae ruins

Barbecue on deck at sunset

Swim off the bow in the warm shallows

Mooring tip

Ruin Bay has free taverna buoys and good sand at five to seven metres, but it opens to the north, so check the forecast before committing to the night. If a northerly is due, Kapı Creek or Tersane Island a short hop away are calmer bets.

Göcek
5
Day 5

Ruin Bay → Göcek

Halfway through the week it is worth trading a wild bay for a proper marina, and Göcek is the obvious call. It is only six miles, so make a morning of the islands on the way. The Yassıca group sits barely above the water, a cluster of flat rock and turquoise channels where the fish hang thick over the seagrass; drop the hook, swim, and let lunch run long. Domuz Adası nearby offers the same clear shallows if Yassıca is busy. Come into D-Marin in the early afternoon, hit the fuel berth by the entrance first, then take a lazy line and back onto the pontoon. The evening is for solid ground: a shower, an ice cream, a wander round the chandlers and pottery shops, and a table at one of the meyhanes off the main street.

Things to do

Snorkel the seagrass channels at Yassıca Islands

Swim off Domuz Adası's clear shallows

Browse the pottery shops at D-Marin Göcek

Dinner at a Göcek meyhane off the square

Mooring tip

D-Marin Göcek is stern-to with lazy lines and runs roughly a hundred to a hundred and sixty euros a night in peak season, so book ahead in July and August. Refuel at the fuel berth by the entrance before you take your berth, not after.

Sarsala Bay
6
Day 6

Göcek → Sarsala Bay

Stock the fridge and top up water in Göcek before you leave, because Sarsala has nothing but pines and quiet. It is a five-mile amble down the gulf to a deep, green inlet ringed by hillside forest and sheltered from more or less any direction the wind decides to blow. Anchor on sand in four to six metres and take a long line back to a tree if you want to lie still overnight. The shallows at the head are worth a slow paddle; herons work the margins at dawn and dusk, and there is usually an octopus or two along the rocky edges for anyone with a mask. Save your best provisions for tonight. Grill something simple on deck, kill the cabin lights, and let the sky do the rest away from any town glow.

Things to do

Anchor with a long line to the pines

Snorkel the rocky edges for octopus

Watch herons in the shallows at dusk

Stargaze with no town light nearby

Mooring tip

Sarsala is free anchoring on good sand at four to six metres, usually with a long line ashore to a tree because the inlet is narrow. There are no shops or water here, so provision fully in Göcek before you come down.

Fethiye
7
Day 7

Sarsala Bay → Fethiye

Home day, and no reason to make it a chore. It is twelve miles back to the marina, so slip out mid-morning while the water is still oily and the breeze has not built. Point east-southeast and let it be a sail if the wind cooperates. There is time for one more swim on the way, ideally under the rock-cut Lycian tombs carved high into the cliffs behind Fethiye, which look their best from the water. If it is a Tuesday, the town market is in full swing, so tie up early and go for figs, olives and a bag of pomegranates. Aim to be alongside at ECE by around two, which leaves the afternoon to refuel, rinse the salt off and pack. Confirm your handover slot the day before so the checkout runs clean.

Things to do

Final swim beneath the Lycian rock tombs

Shop the Tuesday market in Fethiye town

Refuel and rinse down at ECE Marina

Pomegranate juice at a quayside café

Mooring tip

Marina di Fethiye ECE is stern-to with lazy lines, roughly seventy to a hundred and ten euros a night in peak season. Refuel at the entrance fuel berth on your way in, and confirm your handover time twenty-four hours ahead so the berth and checkout are ready.

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