What is Blue Cruise (Blue Voyage)?

Blue cruise is one of the most famous and unique attraction of a holiday in Turkey. It is also the least understood until you experience it. If you google “blue cruise” or “what is blue cruise?” the standard idea is renting a private yacht with captain and crew then cruising along the soutwestern coast of Turkey known as Turqoise Coast or Turkish Riviera. But this simple blue cruise advertisement type of definition miss the real meaning of the blue cruise.

What is blue cruise then? Blue cruise is simply a meditation. You basically cut your physical as well as the mental ties with the land. As your yacht sails away from the marina, your daily routine ceases to exist and a new, almost spiritual daily routine consumes you. This new parallel reality is a spiritual one: you are now in different existance and nothing outside this small boat matters or exists for you. This is an experience you cannot get from your ordinary cruise holiday on a large cruise ship.

In this sense, blue voyage, other translation of Turkish “mavi yolculuk”, is a better term than blue cruise to describe the experience.

The complete disconnection from your requirements and responsibilities and the freedom of absolutely doing nothing combines with beautiful and unhabited coves and clear blue waters as well as the mystical nights in the middle of the sea will bring you the most relaxing and refreshing holiday of your entire life.

This does not mean “action seekers” will be bored on a blue cruise. A typical blue cruise boat offers many activities today: from classical kayak tour, swimming and snorkeling to speed boats, jetskis and even bananas! You may also have an opportunity to hike on the land among ancient ruins littering the southwest coast of Turkey.

But the most mystical part of the blue cruise is the night. If you have not experienced it before, nights in the middle of the sea on a small yacht is a very unique experience.

So, as you may have understand from the above definition, blue cruise is probably the best that Turkey has to offer as a holiday destination. It is highly recommended if you are seeking a holiday experience where you can truely get lost.

Gulet

Gulet is “The Zen Temple” of the meditation called Blue Cruise. You can have a blue cruise experience on any type of private yacht but gulet, “The” sailing boat of blue cruise, is the type of boat which will truely give you blue cruise experience. This is the “boat” where all blue cruise experience has started.

Here we should also stop a little and give some background about the history of blue cruise: Yes, how did all this blue cruise experience has started?

A gulet on blue cruise along Southwestern coast of Turkey

The infamous beach resorts of Turkey were once far far away villages and sleepy fishing towns where nobody went. And then a court in Istanbul has  sentenced a writer named Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı to three-years’ exile in Bodrum. He loved the place so much so that  after serving the last part of his sentence in Istanbul, he returned and settled down in Bodrum where he lived for 25 years. He took the pen name of Halikarnas Balıkçısı (The Fisherman of Halicarnassus), name of the city in antiquity.

The Fisherman of Halicarnassus is the person who has brought the formerly sleepy fishing and sponge-diving town of Bodrum to the attention of the Turkish intelligentsia and their readers. This has led the formation of international tourist attraction the Turqoise Coast became today.

One of the activities Cevat Şakir enjoyed was taking his visiting friends to  tripon the sponge divers’ sailing boats, called gulets. These excursions became known as Blue Cruise (Mavi Yolculuk). He and his friends writers Azra Erhat ve Sabahattin Eyüboğlu has created the term. The first time blue cruise entered the Turkish literature was in 1957 with Azra Erat’s book with the same name.

Mavi Yolculuk by Azra Erhat

The original blue cruises were and many modern blue cruises are performed using gulets (Turkish word gulet comes from Italian word guletta which comes from French gouëlette or goélette meaning schooner).  If you will do one, try to have it on a gulet.

Modern gulets are of course not fishing boats. They are equipped with all the amenities a modern yacht can offer. Most gulets can carry eight to twelve passangers which makes a gulet cruise a very private experience. You can join tours with strangers or like many Turks do, you can rent an entire gulet with captain and crew for your group.

In practice, gulet is a full-service all inclusive hotel or a miniature cruise ship where every room offers fantastic sea view. This “hotel” moves from coves to coves, small harbours to small harbours and provides an intimate view of Turkey’s coast line which cannot be experienced with a cruise ship.

Blue Cruise Route in Turkey

Blue Voyage is offered along the Aegean and Mediterranean coastline. There are different routes including Bodrum, Gocek, Gokova, Knidos and Marmaris ports. A full Blue Cruise generally starts in Didim or Kuşadası, although tours may also depart from Bodrum or Marmaris. They usually terminate at the port of Antalya.

Blue Cruise Map – Source : www.chevvytours.com

Swissotel Resort Bodrum Beach

With its 5 kilometers of sandy beaches, waterfront restaurants and bars, Turgutreis town is a very popular holiday destination just 20 kilometers away from Bodrum. Named after Ottoman Admiral Turgut Reis who was born here in 1485 is also quite near to Greek islands of Kos and Kalimnos and is one of the important seaside resorts on Turquoise Coast of Turkey.

Turgutreis has some nice hotels especially on the waterfront. Swissotel Resort Bodrum Beach is one of the best hotels in the town. The 2-storey hotel with 66 rooms and suites offers spacious rooms. There are large villas and duplex terraces in front which house 60 serviced apartments that are 120-240 m2 in size. The bars and restaurants are created as places of entertainment where the ambiance is formal or casual and dishes are prepared with the finest local produce. With indoor & outdoor pools and Purovel Spa & Sport facilities, Swissotel Resort Bodrum Beach provides you with a wide variety of sport and leisure opportunities.

The hotel features 66 guest rooms, as well as 72 residences. At each Swissôtel, a wide selection of cleverly conceived accommodation choices are offered – the common denominator is that each bedroom provides all the services and conveniences needed for travellers to make business away from home a seamless experience. From the Swiss Advantage rooms to the luxurious suites and apartments, Swissotel  can provide the appropriate accommodation for all guests. Swissôtel properties have an imaginative modern design, state of-the-art technology, exclusive amenities and timeless elegance.

Swissotel Resort Bodrum Beach

A variety of restaurants and bars make sure that business travellers and leisure guests enjoy their time at Swissôtel Resort, Bodrum Beach. Dining at award-winning Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts exceeds your expectations time and time again. The bars, restaurants and meeting spaces are created to be places of entertainment, where the ambience is formal or casual and dishes are prepared with the finest local produce, served to perfection every day. Whichever special occasion you may be celebrating, we will ensure that every detail is attended to.

Ultra-modern meeting and conference space provide the flexibility to accommodate delegates and different sized events. When it comes to your conference, experienced organizers and state-of-the-art technical facilities help make every day run smoothly.

Pürovel is a distinctive group of deluxe spa and fitness facilities located within Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts worldwide. Catering for both the discerning business traveller and local clients, Pürovel provides the Alpine-inspired solution to healthy living within a stylish and contemporary environment.

Where to stay in Bodrum?

Bodrum, one of the most popular holiday resort in Turkish Riviera, offers fantastic beaches, unique yatching and cruising experience (see blue voyage a.k.a blue cruise), plenty of ancient ruins to discover, beautiful bays and coves, very colorful night life with bars, restaurants and night clubs and if you are sailing a very nice Marina. The promonade and the man-made but beautiful beach is quite a nice place for evening walks and the city indeed offers two different parts: an eastern half which is a typical mediterrenian resort and the western half mainly catering to marina.

Although you can swim and sunbath in the beach in Bodrum center (this is a man-made beach but quite nice), the nicest beaches of Bodrum are outside and a little far from Bodrum. So when people talk about Bodrum, they also talk about these nearby seaside towns and beaches but these are not districts in Bodrum but rather separate towns. Ortakent (20 minutes drive or bus trip to Bodrum), Yalıkavak (35 minutes), Gümüşlük (35 minutes) and Bağla (25 minutes) are some of the most known beaches. Most people staying in Bodrum prefer nearby beaches of Gümbet and Bardakçı.

Bodrum night life is the second most colorful in Turkey after Istanbul. Bodrum Bar strip (Bodrum Barlar Sokagi) runs parallel to the sea and offers many bars, night clubs, restaurants and cafes. For many Turks as well as foreigners, Bodrum holiday is something similar to an Ibiza holiday: sleep, sunbath and swim lazily all the day in a nearby beach and store energy for the night. Dine and start drinking in the evening. Then starting from 10:00 PM bar hop, dance and party until the next morning.

If you are in Bodrum for the night life, it is better you stay in Bodrum’s pretty city center. You can find all types of accomodation in and around Bodrum catering to all tastes and budgets. But usually Bodrum center and surrounding districts offer small hotels, motels and hostels. If you are looking for a typical luxurious Turkish beachfront resort, you will need to stay outside Bodrum. Here we will cover some of the places you can stay in and around Bodrum.

Bodrum Castle and Bodrum Marina

Bodrum City Center

Bodrum city center seems like a typical Mediterranean resort at the beginning. A nice beach and promenade and bars, restaurants and night clubs behind. But this is also ancient Halicarnassus of Caria where  Mausoleum of Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World once stood. Although ancient city disappeared in time, you can still find remnants of the old in Bodrum.

The western side of Bodrum has a large marina and yacht club. The seaside here caters mostly to boats and their guests. The eastern side has a nice promonade (fantastic in the evening to take a nice walk) and the beach between the Castle and Halicarnassus is great for swimming. But if you decide to stay in Bodrum, visit Bitez and Gumbet for swimming. The natural beaches and the sea is just fantastic in these two small towns.

If you want to be near the “action” in Bodrum, right next to Bodrum night life, you should stay in Bodrum city, as near to sea as possible. For hotels in Bodrum with their prices and guest reviews, you can check Bodrum hotels page.

Gumbet and Bitez

Gumbet is just 3 kilometers away from Bodrum center and has a very nice beach drawing a gentle arc in a small bay. This 1 km long beach is great for swimming, sunbathing and water sports. This place was once a sleepy fishing village but now is a mini Bodrum with its own share of hotels, resorts, bars, restaurants and night clubs. Especially popular among British tourists.

Bitez is 4 kilometes to the west of Bodrum and is almost a part of Bodrum now thanks to the fast construction effort. Bitez offers blue flag beaches and you can find some of the best hotels and resorts of Bodrum in this small town.

Both Bitez and Gumbet are very close to Bodrum center and can be considered a part of city center. Still they keep their small town atmosphere a little. If you would like to stay in these places, take a look at Bodrum Gumbet hotels and Bodrum Bitez hotels pages for more details.

Turgutreis

Turgutreis is 20 kilometers away from Bodrum and indeed it is a separate resort on its own. Named after a 16th century Ottoman Admiral, Turgut Reis offers 5 kilometers of sandy beaches, beachfront restaurants and bars as well as a nice Mediterranean town center. The saturday market here is very famous and draws thousands from nearby towns and Bodrum. Turgutreis offers 5-star luxurious hotels and resorts right next to a developed town center. Its winds also makes it a magnet for wind surfers.

For hotels in Turgutreis, refer to Turgutreis hotels page.

Bodrum map and nearby towns

Yalikavak, Torba, Gumusluk

Yalikavak is one of the most beautiful towns near Bodrum city (25 minutes drive) and is famous for its 29 kilometer long coast and clear sea. It is so popular that it is the fastest growing town of the peninsula. A gentle wind is always blowing here so it is quite “cool” in Yalikavak and you can find quality hotels here.

Torba is a small resort town between Bodrum and Guvercinlik and just 5 kilometers away from Bodrum. Torba beaches and sea is famous but this small place does not offer a lot of things to do. From Torba you can take a boat to Didim, Milet and Priene.

Gumusluk is for those who would like to be away from Bodrum’s hustle and bustle.