Day One
Your yacht will be awaiting you at 11am in Keci Buku - 30mins drive from the main town of Marmaris. A wonderful contrast to the buzzing metropolis, Keci Buku is described as a "gem" in the Turkish Waters Pilot - and it truly is. A wide, sweeping bay surrounded by pine forests, with a fascinating old fortress perched on the top of an island guarding the entrance - a view which is well worth the scramble up!

Boat briefings done, we'll set off for our first destination of Dirsek - an even quieter, very pretty little bay, with just one taverna nestled in a corner. Wonderful swimming, great chillout spot; and a shortish sail on the first day to get everyone's sealegs working !

Day Two
Enough of the quiet, relaxing evenings to recover from jetlag - tonight, we are heading for a night of belly-dancing in Bozburun - a small, very traditional Turkish village. It's full of gulets (wooden motor sailors), but not many yachts - and certainly not many tourists! We dock at a tiny wooden jetty just outside the village, at a little family place right on the waterfront. It is a shady, tranquil spot; we get to use their sunbeds, borrow their fun kayaks, and generally make ourselves very much at home here! Quiet though it may be usually, our groups often signal "party night" to the locals – the guys here love to dance - the most amazing belly-dancing moves which they delight in trying to teach us stiff-hipped types!

Day Three

Sail to Boyuk Buku, usually a gentle, relaxing downwind leg of around 2-3hrs. Boyuk Buku is scenically a total contrast to the other places we visit - the softer, pine-forested hills suddenly change into dramatically towering cliffs, arid and desolate as any desert. The ancient city of Lorimer used to be situated here, and the fortress walls which surrounded the entire bay can still be seen. Great for hiking, amazing views.

Day Four
Sail to Datca - a lively little town. The waterfront is lined with bars and tavernas; one street behind are several interesting craft & jewellery shops. Walking towards the beach, there is a tiny lake, with a surprisingly powerful "mini-waterfall" as it runs into the ocean; a great and very cooling massage experience !

For more of the "real thing" - the local haman (Turkish baths) is a not-to-be-missed experience. Lounge around on heated marble slabs, have those layers of old, dirty skin loofah'd off, complete the process with a smoothing oil massage, piles of soft white towels and general pampered decadence!

There's several other cultural/historic trips from Datca for those interested; a visit to a stately old-home-turned-olive-farm (complete with instructions on gourmet oil-tasting!); Old Town Datca, abandoned by the Greeks after WW2, when the Greeks & Turks did their "population swap".

If carpet-buying is on your agenda - Datca is a great place to do it ! There is not the over-abundance and confusion of the bigger towns (nor the elevated prices!), yet still plenty of variety to choose from.

Day Five
Sail to Ova Buku - a total contrast to the busy, modern ambiance of Datca, this is traditional Turkey as it has been for many years. It's also our home-from-home in Turkey, the family here always look after our sailors like visiting relatives ! Ogun - our young Turkish friend who created this fantastic little hideout - has seemingly boundless energy and warmth; he also has a collection of silly and fun after-dinner games which often catch out the unwary ! (Hey, you're on vacation - you're allowed to regress :>) Semra, his sister, creates a fantastic array of home-cooked Turkish food, very different to the usual tourist fare.

We dock on a tiny wooden jetty, with a lovely sandy beach which curves around the bay. It's shallowness and sandy bottom make it especially warm and one of our favourite swimming spots. For those looking for a little more privacy, a short distance away is a lovely long and isolated pebbly beach; a perfect afternoon retreat and/or hike.

Day Six
An early morning rise - yes, we are talking a sunrise sail here ! This is our long sailing day - potentially up to 6-7 hours in total, dependent on the wind. We will, however (again, wind-dependent), take a long lunchbreak at Knidos. Once upon a time, this was a key city/harbour in the ancient world, home to many thousands of people. Now it is just a tranquil and well-sheltered bay - but extensive remains of these former civilizations still lie scattered around the hills, surrounding the bay on all three sides. There are amphitheatres, stone pillars and carvings, statue and temple remains - all incredibly intact. It is really a time warp experience to wander around these hills and imagine the way of life all those thousands of years ago.

Our afternoon's sail will bring us up to Kos - and our entry point into Greece.

We'll dock in Kos town, a busy little harbor, whose entrance is guarded by a 12th century fortress. A popular destination with northern Europeans, Kos is quite the pot pourri of ancient and modern. One can go sit under the same tree which (reputedly!) shaded Hippocrates'students as he taught medical class, many centuries ago; or wander around the remains of amphitheatres and the old fortress. For the less historically-inclined, there are plenty of our day-and-age's entertainments - beaches, "bar street" , and shopping!

Day Seven
Disembark 9am in Kos.   For anyone wishing to stay longer in Kos, we have a couple of great little family pensions we can recommend - contact us for details.

Ongoing connection notes:
There are two ferries per day to Bodrum (Turkey), approx 50mins; 3-4 flights per day to Athens, and several ferry/hydrofoil connections to other islands. Pls request our KOS notes for more details.