Gökova & Bodrum

Typical afternoon wind

3–4 Beaufort · Afternoon thermal

Passage lengths

2–4 hours

Suits

First charter

Season

May–October

A long protected gulf with flat water, a breeze that arrives on schedule each afternoon and pine forest down to the shoreline.

The Gulf of Gökova is enclosed on three sides, so the sea stays flat even when the thermal is up. That breeze is remarkably punctual: light mornings, a building westerly from early afternoon, calm by dusk. Many bays have restaurant pontoons where the berth is free if you eat ashore, which changes the economics of a week considerably.

A typical week

1. Day 1 Bodrum to Çökertme
2. Day 2 Sedir island and Cleopatra's beach
3. Day 3 English Harbour
4. Day 4 Seven Islands
5. Day 5 Longoz and the head of the gulf
6. Day 6 Orak island
7. Day 7 Bodrum

Roughly 80 to 100 nautical miles over the week

Worth the detour

• English Harbour and the Seven Islands
• Cleopatra's beach at Sedir
• Restaurant pontoons where dinner buys the berth
• The Datça peninsula

Watch out for

• Clearing in and out takes a day if you start in Greece
• Some bays are restaurant-owned, the berth is free but dinner is not
• Afternoon gusts off the high ground at the head of the gulf

Compare with