A fethiye olympos gulet cruise runs one way along the Turquoise Coast on a wooden sailing boat, from the bay of Fethiye to the beach at Olympos. This trip sits apart from the island routes in the wider list of tours in Greece, because it stays on the coast of Turkey.
Read on for the sailing season, the four days of the route, Fethiye, Butterfly Valley and Oludeniz, Gemiler Island, Kas and Kalkan, Kekova and Simena, Olympos, the documents and the questions travellers ask.
What is a fethiye olympos gulet cruise, and how does the route run?
A fethiye olympos gulet cruise is a four-day, three-night trip on a gulet, a wooden sailing boat. It runs one way along the Turquoise Coast, from Fethiye in the west to Olympos in the east. Each of the three nights is spent at anchor.
On the Turkish coast, a gulet is a timber-built sailing boat that carries two masts or three. Wikipedia puts the length between 14 and 35 metres. The term blue cruise came from a Turkish writer, the Fisherman of Halicarnassus, who used gulets for yachting holidays. A fethiye olympos gulet cruise is a blue cruise, shorter than a full week.
The fethiye olympos gulet cruise has four steps, one for each day. Day one starts at Fethiye and makes three stops. Day two visits Kas and Kalkan, day three reaches Kekova, and day four ends at Simena and Olympos. The route is one-way, so the trip finishes at Olympos, not back at Fethiye.
Wikivoyage names Fethiye, Marmaris and Kas as starting points of a blue cruise. Olympos lies in Antalya Province, as Wikipedia lists it. Wikivoyage gives the bus ride from Antalya to Fethiye as three and a half hours. The sections below take the season, the days and the stops in turn.
Which season suits a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
Wikivoyage names late spring into June, and again September and October, as the ideal times to visit the Turkish Riviera. That region holds Fethiye, Kas and Olympos. A fethiye olympos gulet cruise sails the same coast, so those months are the first to check.
The Riviera page says midsummer heat approaches 40 degrees Celsius, eased by the sea breeze. It adds that the European school holidays bring crowds to the resorts. Wikivoyage also says the Oludeniz resort population grows in the hot, dry summers. Day one of a fethiye olympos gulet cruise calls at Oludeniz, so a quieter month helps there.
The Riviera page says morning is the quieter time on the sea, then wind and waves grow stronger by afternoon. It adds that the sea stays at 25 degrees Celsius into November, and after that storms and strong winds arrive. So a morning swim in a bay on a fethiye olympos gulet cruise meets the calmer water.
Wikivoyage’s Kas page says Republic Day, 29 October, marks the end of the season and businesses shut after it. The Oludeniz page describes mild winters with occasional heavy rainstorms. The Fethiye page lists winter closures of tourist facilities and says spring returns in March. The four days of the trip sit between spring and the late-October close.
What happens on each day of a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
A fethiye olympos gulet cruise has four days and three nights. Each night is spent at anchor in a different place. Day one begins at Fethiye, and day four ends at Olympos. The outline below follows the route from west to east.
- Day 1: Leave Fethiye and stop at Butterfly Valley, Oludeniz and Gemiler Island; the first night is at anchor there.
- Day 2: Swim in quiet bays near Kas and Kalkan, walk in Kas, and anchor between the towns for the night.
- Day 3: Cruise the Kekova islands and bays, view the sunken city, and anchor there for the third night.
- Day 4: Visit Simena, the village with a castle above it, then reach Olympos in the evening, where the cruise ends.
The pace of a fethiye olympos gulet cruise is set by the bays rather than by the clock. Wikivoyage describes a blue cruise as sailing from cove to cove, with stops at fishing villages and coastal towns. A Wikivoyage page on small craft says coast cruisers can leave in the morning and arrive in the evening.
The Blue Cruise article lists ancient cities, tombs and beaches in small coves as the stops of such a trip. Short walks ashore at Kas and Olympos break up the sailing, while bays between the stops are for swimming. Routes can be as short as a couple of days, so a fethiye olympos gulet cruise is compact.
What does Fethiye add to a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
A fethiye olympos gulet cruise begins in Fethiye, where the Lycian city of Telmessos once stood. Wikipedia calls Telmessos the largest city in Lycia. Its Hellenistic theatre sits beside the main quay, so a traveller can see part of the old city before boarding.
Lycian rock tombs look down on the town from the cliffs. Wikivoyage places them on the south side of town. The Tomb of Amyntas, a large Lycian tomb built around 350 BC, is the centrepiece. Wikivoyage adds carved stone sarcophagi in the streets. Lycia is the ancient region that a fethiye olympos gulet cruise sails through.
Wikivoyage says the harbour of Fethiye escaped the silting that was the downfall of ports such as Ephesus. Wikipedia says an island separates the well-protected harbour of Telmessos from the gulf. Wikivoyage names Fethiye Island, also called Knight Island, as the island that shelters the bay. The spine of town runs east from the marina along Ataturk Street, Wikivoyage adds.
Wikivoyage calls Dalaman Airport the normal arrival point, one hour west on the D400 road. Wikipedia says Kayakoy, eight kilometres south of Fethiye, keeps around 500 ruined houses under the protection of the Turkish government. Both belong to the start of a fethiye olympos gulet cruise, not to the sailing itself.
What do Butterfly Valley and Oludeniz add to a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
Butterfly Valley and Oludeniz are two of the three stops on day one of a fethiye olympos gulet cruise. Wikipedia describes Butterfly Valley as a narrow canyon with a sand beach. It describes Oludeniz as a beach resort around a blue lagoon.
Wikipedia gives the canyon a length of 3 to 4 kilometres, with steep walls 350 to 400 metres high. A trail in the valley leads to two small waterfalls. Wikivoyage calls the valley isolated. Wikipedia says a shuttle boat runs hourly in the daytime from Belcegiz Beach. A fethiye olympos gulet cruise arrives by sea in the same way.
The valley takes its name from its butterflies. Scientists recorded 105 butterfly species there, and Wikipedia says they can be seen between June and September. The valley is a nature reserve of the first category, so construction is strictly prohibited. The Lycian Way, a marked hiking trail, passes above the valley.
Oludeniz means Dead Sea in Turkish, and Wikipedia ties the name to calm water even during storms. Wikipedia and Wikivoyage both call the lagoon a nature reserve. Wikivoyage says the water looks turquoise and ultramarine in the right light. Wikipedia calls the beach an official Blue Flag beach. A fethiye olympos gulet cruise stops at the lagoon for a swim.
What does Gemiler Island add to a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
Gemiler Island adds the first night at anchor to a fethiye olympos gulet cruise. Wikipedia says the island’s crescent-shaped bay can be used as a safe anchorage and that large Turkish gulets call there. The island is one kilometre long.
Wikipedia counts five Greek churches built between the fourth and sixth centuries AD. It adds over fifty Christian tombs and a processional walkway 350 metres long. One church was cut directly from the rock at the island’s highest point. Wikipedia says the remains are visible from the water, where a fethiye olympos gulet cruise spends the night.
Gemile, the original Turkish name, comes from the Greek kamila, meaning camel, after the island’s shape. Medieval seafarers called it St Nicholas Island. Archaeologists believe the original tomb of Saint Nicholas stood in the rock-cut church here. Wikipedia says the relics stayed until the 650s, then moved to Myra, 40 kilometres east.
The bay holds the first night of a fethiye olympos gulet cruise. Wikipedia says smaller private boats anchor there as well. A small makeshift restaurant stands in the bay for summer sailors. Wikivoyage lists the island among the sights of Oludeniz, an islet with Byzantine ruins.
What do Kas and Kalkan add to a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
Kas and Kalkan fill day two of a fethiye olympos gulet cruise with swims and a walk ashore. The gulet stays outside both harbours and anchors in quiet bays. Kas brings Lycian rock tombs, a theatre and an old town, and the second night falls between Kalkan and Kas.
Kas lies 168 km west of the city of Antalya, and Wikipedia ties it to fishing, diving and yachting. The Lycians seem to have founded it, and under Hellenistic and Roman rule it served as the port of Phellos. A walk in Kas on a fethiye olympos gulet cruise crosses that old port town.
Rock tombs line the cliffs behind Kas, says Wikivoyage. The ruins of Antiphellos hold an amphitheatre and the king’s tomb, the finest of the sarcophagi and rock tombs there. The town also holds jazz concerts in a Hellenistic theatre. Kastellorizo, a Greek island about 6 km offshore, appears in the view from the theatre of Antiphellos.
Kalkan is an old fishing town and the only safe harbour between Kas and Fethiye. Brightly coloured bougainvilleas and white-washed houses running down to the sea mark Kalkan. Its marina is crowded with yachts, gulets and other pleasure craft. A fethiye olympos gulet cruise stays outside the harbour; the swims happen from the gulet at anchor.
What do Kekova and Simena add to a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
Kekova and Simena add the sunken Lycian and Roman ruins to a fethiye olympos gulet cruise. Day three explores the islands and bays of Kekova, with the third night in the Kekova area. Day four visits the castle village of Simena before the cruise goes on to Olympos.
Wikipedia describes the sea at Kekova as so clear that stairs and columns of city buildings show from a boat. Earthquakes sank those cities over the centuries, and wrecks of ancient ships lie in the bays. Day three of a fethiye olympos gulet cruise is the day to look down from the deck.
The northern ruins of Kekova belong to a town that flourished again in Byzantine times before Arab raids ended it. Tersane, a bay on the northwest side, means dockyard and was the site of the ancient city Xera. An Early Bronze Age shipwreck found off Kekova dates back 4,700 years, according to Wikipedia.
On day four a fethiye olympos gulet cruise visits Simena, and its village Kalekoy can be reached only by sea. Grave inscriptions and coin finds indicate that the town of Simena existed in the fourth century BC. A castle stands above the village, with the old ruins and houses around it.
What does Olympos add to a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
Olympos ends a fethiye olympos gulet cruise with an ancient city, a beach, tree houses and the Chimaera flames. The cruise arrives there on the evening of day four, after the stop at Simena. It is one-way, so it finishes at Olympos, not at Fethiye.
Tahtali Dag, 2,366 m high, rises behind this coast, and the ancient Greeks called it Mount Olympus. They named it after Mount Olympus in Greece. The ancient city of Olympos in Lycia flourished again in the fifth century as a bishopric. Olympos is now a popular tourist area.
The Chimaera flames at Yanartas are gas fires that have burned for at least 2,500 years. The vents and flames seem to be stronger in winter. Francis Beaufort, a British naval officer, concluded that Yanartas was the fabled Mount Chimaera, but others disagree. The last evening of a fethiye olympos gulet cruise falls near those flames.
Wikivoyage calls Olympos a backpacker spot, with tree houses in the forest near the beach and Roman ruins. The ruins end in a valley with pensions and guest houses. Yanartas, near Olympos, is 80 km southwest of Antalya. A fethiye olympos gulet cruise is one-way, so a traveller plans the road back to Fethiye before sailing.
What else do travellers ask about a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
What do the boat names mean on a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
The Blue Cruise article on Wikipedia names three types of traditional wooden yacht, and the gulet is the popular one. The square sterned boat adds space for extra cabins. The tirhandil is the oldest type, with a pointed stern. A fethiye olympos gulet cruise takes its name from the first type.
The Gulet article adds detail. The Bodrum gulet pairs a clipper stem with a round stern. Charter talk calls that stern karpuz kic, or watermelon stern. The aynakic has a square stern and gives more deck space. Only a small number of tirhandils remain among blue cruise boats today.
The word gulet comes from Venetian and Italian, where goletta means schooner. Ask the crew which hull type the boat has.
Which clothes and kit go ashore on a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
The shore stops mix swims, ruins and short walks, so the kit stays simple. The Lycian Way article on Wikipedia covers a trail along the same coast. It lists headgear, sunglasses, sunscreen, a swimsuit, a towel and a backpack. Pack the same short list for a fethiye olympos gulet cruise.
Check the shoes first. Wikivoyage calls the beach of the Oludeniz lagoon peninsula gravel, pebbles and rocks and says beach shoes are needed. It lists the beaches of Kas as shingle and Olympos as a pebble beach.
On the Lycian Way, Wikivoyage notes little shade near Oludeniz and advises enough sunscreen and water. It also says tap water is not safe to drink, so carry bottled water.
What do the passport rule, the e-visa and the lira mean for a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
Entry rules come first for Turkey. The Turkish foreign ministry limits its online visa to trips for tourism or commerce. Work and study visas go through embassies. For the passport, its own advice is to hold six months of validity counted from the arrival date. Exemptions vary by nationality, so read the ministry list before a fethiye olympos gulet cruise.
Cash matters on this coast. Wikivoyage reports cash machines and card use in the larger towns on the Lycian Way. A small village shop or guesthouse can be cash only. Small notes and coins help at the shore stops. The currency is the Turkish lira, with TL as its sign. No rate is quoted here, because rates move.
How does the Lycian Way meet a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
Wikivoyage describes the Lycian Way as a 540-km waymarked trail from Fethiye to Geyikbayiri, near Antalya, along the Lycian coast. The official start is at Ovacik, the northern suburb of Oludeniz. The walk and a fethiye olympos gulet cruise therefore both begin around Fethiye.
The Wikipedia article notes that the trail passes above Butterfly Valley. It also lists Oludeniz, Kalkan, Kas, Olympos and Yanartas, the site of the Chimaera flames, as places of interest. Wikivoyage says the sections near the main towns suit day walks. The plan of this page sets no trail day, so a walk is an extra.
Wikivoyage names the standard waymark as a half white, half red rectangle. Side paths use the same mark with yellow in place of white.
How does a traveller reach Fethiye before a fethiye olympos gulet cruise?
Dalaman Airport serves the Fethiye area, as both Wikipedia and Wikivoyage state. Wikivoyage places it an hour’s drive away along the D400, west of Fethiye. An airport bus covers the same stretch via Gocek in one hour. Antalya Airport lies a three-hour drive to the east.
Wikivoyage adds that the upgrade of Dalaman Airport put the Oludeniz coast within a one-hour coach transfer. Fethiye has an intercity bus station too, and Wikivoyage lists the bus from Antalya at three and a half hours.
Dolmus minibuses, the shared local minibuses of Turkey, link Fethiye with Oludeniz and Hisaronu, as Wikipedia states. Plan the arrival for a fethiye olympos gulet cruise around one of the two airports.