A traditional gulet charter Turkey still does properly is getting harder to find. Most of the fleet has moved upmarket into fibreglass-and-marble territory, and what has been lost along the way is the thing that made the boats worth taking in the first place: mahogany below, a long table on deck, and enough berths that a large group can travel together without anyone being priced out. This 30-metre wooden gulet does all three.
Nineteen guests in eight cabins is the headline. Five doubles and three cabins with a double and a single bed each, every one with its own WC, shower and separately enclosed shower unit. That last detail sounds trivial and is not: a wet-room heads with the shower over the toilet is the single most common complaint on older boats, and she does not have one. That is the mark of a traditional gulet charter Turkey worth booking twice.
She was built in 2001, refitted in 2009, and she is timber — properly built and properly maintained rather than restyled. The interior is varnished mahogany throughout, warm and dark in the way the classic Bodrum boats were before the current fashion for pale everything. Thirty metres overall on a 6.80-metre beam, drawing a single Iveco of 360 horsepower at nine knots cruising.
She is air conditioned throughout, with two generators of 30 and 21 kW, a watermaker, deep freeze and ice machine, and 8,000 litres of fresh water aboard. A traditional gulet charter Turkey at this price point often skips one of those; she does not.
Five double cabins and three triples, the triples taking a double bed and a single. All eight are en-suite. The aft cabin is the one to ask for, but the difference between cabins here is smaller than on most boats — they are of a piece, which is what you want when nineteen people are dividing a traditional gulet charter Turkey between them.
Nineteen is a number very few boats on this coast can take. Most cap at twelve. For a family reunion, a company week or a group of friends travelling together, a traditional gulet charter Turkey at this capacity is often the difference between one boat and two — and one boat is always the better week.
The saloon carries an interior dining table, a television and DVD, a music system, a computer and internet access. Washing machine and dishwasher below. Electrical heads throughout rather than the marine pump arrangement, which on a traditional gulet charter Turkey of this vintage is not a given.
The crew is four: a captain and three who run the deck and the galley between them. On a traditional gulet charter Turkey at this size the crew are the boat — they cook, they clean, they anchor, and they know every bay on the coast by name and by weather.
Food is handled differently here from the deluxe end of the fleet, and it is worth understanding. The charter rate does not include food and drink. Full board — breakfast, lunch and dinner — is offered at EUR 400 per person per week, which for a week of three cooked meals a day is among the better value on the Turkish coast.
Everything is cooked aboard, from the market. Breakfast is Turkish: eggs, white cheese, olives, honey, tomatoes, bread from the bakery. Lunch is mezze at anchor. Dinner follows the day and the catch. Dietary requirements should be given at booking, because provisioning for nineteen happens ashore before departure.
The case for a traditional gulet charter Turkey rather than a hotel comes down to access. The good kitchens on this coast sit at the head of bays that no road reaches, and the only way in is a tender from an anchorage. Nineteen people at a village taverna is an event; the crew book it a day ahead on the VHF.
Cokertme, on the northern shore of the Gulf of Gokova, has a lamb dish named after the village. Sedir Island has Cleopatra beach and a kitchen behind it. English Harbour is one restaurant, one beach and a bay so sheltered that ships used to hide there. Longoz and Seven Islands are quieter again.
Aboard there is a bar, an ice machine and a deep freeze, stocked before a traditional gulet charter Turkey departs. Turkish wine repays exploring — the Bozcaada whites with fish, Kalecik Karasi from Anatolia with anything from the grill.
Bodrum has an international airport 35 kilometres from the harbour, which for a group of nineteen arriving on different flights matters more than it does for four. She is Turkish-flagged and based there year-round.
West and south into the Gulf of Gokova: Cokertme, Sedir, Longoz, English Harbour, Seven Islands. Sheltered, green, undeveloped, and the classic week for a traditional gulet charter Turkey out of Bodrum. North into the Gulf of Mandalya for Didim and the ruins at Iasos and Miletus, quieter and better for a group that wants archaeology between swims.
Greek crossings to Kos, Kalymnos and Leros are arranged with notice and need a transit log and passports lodged in advance. Aquinox also charters from Gocek and Fethiye if a different base suits the party.
The deck is where a gulet week actually happens. A long table aft seats the whole group under a shade awning; sun mattresses run along the side decks and forward; and a shaded lounge sits between them for the middle of the afternoon.
A 60-horsepower service boat handles shore runs, and on a traditional gulet charter Turkey it runs all day. Windsurf, canoe, snorkelling equipment and fishing tackle are aboard, and full sailing equipment on two masts. Navigation runs to radar, GPS, AIS class A, EPIRB, SART, SSAS, depth sounder and fish finder, with smoke detectors, life raft, life jackets and full regulation safety equipment.
Length overall 30.00 metres, beam 6.80 metres, wooden hull. Iveco 360-horsepower diesel, nine knots cruising. Generators of 30 and 21 kW. Fuel 3,000 litres, fresh water 8,000 litres. Nineteen guests in eight en-suite cabins, four crew, Turkish flag, home port Bodrum.
Weekly rates run from EUR 12,000 in May and October, EUR 14,500 in June and September, to EUR 18,500 in July and August, Saturday to Saturday. Divided across nineteen guests, that is a remarkable number, and it is why a traditional gulet charter Turkey remains the best value week in the Mediterranean.
The rate excludes food, beverages, transfers, harbour dues, water sports fuel and VAT, which is standard for a traditional gulet charter Turkey at this level. Full board is EUR 400 per person per week. Aquinox provides a written estimate of the total before any deposit so there are no surprises at the end of the charter.
July and August at nineteen berths go early, because there are few boats that can take the group. May, June, September and October are easier and the water is warm from June through October. Send your dates and group size to Aquinox Yachting for availability, a written quotation and the full cost breakdown the same working day.
Nineteen guests in eight en-suite cabins: five doubles and three cabins with a double and a single bed. Four crew. Very few boats on this coast take nineteen.
EUR 12,000 in May and October, EUR 14,500 in June and September, and EUR 18,500 in July and August, Saturday to Saturday, for the whole yacht with crew.
No. Full board covering breakfast, lunch and dinner is EUR 400 per person per week. The rate also excludes beverages, transfers, harbour dues, water sports fuel and VAT.
Yes. Every one of the eight cabins has its own WC, shower and a separately enclosed shower unit rather than a wet-room heads. Air conditioning runs throughout.
Kos, Kalymnos and Leros are within reach of Bodrum. Crossings need a transit log and passports lodged in advance, arranged with notice.
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