Gulf of Fethiye to Marmaris
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Life is pretty good, bay hopping every day in 35 degrees, blue sky and little wind. The Bay of 12 islands is off Gocek, surrounded by hills covered in lush green pine trees, and is a very peaceful and beautiful place to cruise. It reminds us of the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. We Med moor to the shore, that is drop anchor in 20-30 metres of water and then back to the shore to 4 metres and tie our stern too a rock or pine tree. This is bliss with boats everywhere of every size and nationality.
From Rhodes we crossed 30 miles to Turkey with spinnaker up in 20 knots and only taking half the time calculated. Just off the coast I decide I would like a photo of the Cadiz under spinnaker and try an Ian Mainsbridge photo from the dinghy. Well once again it's a story I can't tell but the spinnaker became 4. As Ian loves sending his charts you can now spot the point of no photo. Lunch was in silence but soon forgotten in a bay of pristine water, especially when we run into some Australians yachties from Newcastle Jill and Greg Burke and far too much Ouzo. 
Gulettes and yachts line the bay. Gulettes are the traditional wooden crafts of Turkey and are used as charter boats. They vary in size but normally have 6 doubles with a crew of three and cost A$ 460 per person per week all food included, very good value.
Fethiye the next morning to check into customs and another lot of paper work. Four different departments, some twice, four stamps and $170 later we have our transit log. The only consolation we have is the Pilot book says the worst place in world is Australia. Kevin leaves us here and we have a few days on our own so head south to Oludeniz (Blue Lagoon). .
We chartered a yacht here 6 years ago with Juliett and Keith Piggin and Christine and Ken Allan and had the best time. Wanting to repeat some of the highlights we are not disappointed mooring off the island of Saint Nicolas with 20 Gulettes and its NZ and Aussie flags everywhere. This island has ruins tucked among the pines from the Byzantine Period (AD 330) and you actually tie to the ruins.
Oludeniz is one stop tourist holiday resort with paraponting from the top of the mountain down to the beach in a spectacular setting. The mountain is 2000 metres high and it can take up to an hour to glide down to the beach. An exhilarating experience. We did this 6 years ago and didn't repeat as it's a long time away from your boat. This part of the coast has developed a lot in 6 years and now has great marinas and naturally the prices to go with it. Gocek Marina has the cleanest clearest water we have been to in a marina (only place we have come across where you have to use your holding tank).Prices for a night are now Euro 40.
Jane and David from Spain met us here and we head out to the bays. 
Big decisions have to be made, is it Ruin Bay, Tomb Bay, Cleopatra's Baths, Santa Klaus island, ancient sites etc etc. It's relax time and enjoy swimming and bay hopping.
We are very pleased to see some marine life here this time even though they are small it's a start. You also get the feeling they are trying very hard at tourism with the best brochures we have seen from any country so far. Prices have certainly risen a lot but the service is here and you get value for money still. I like the exchange rate, getting millions of lira but reality hits when it costs half a million to have a pee.1000000 lira equals A$1.We were actually told before we got here by fellow cruisers that Greece is now cheaper than Turkey and we have found this to be the case.
Leaving the boat at anchor off the island of Delikli we transfer to an excursion craft into the Dalyan Delta. Winding through the river surrounded by bulrushes we visited the ancient harbour city of Caunos (600BC) now land locked and high on a cliff face the magnificent tombs carved into the rock built for the Carian King and his family in the 4th Century BC. After a very hot day we head for Ekincik Bay and enjoy a very typical Turkish meal in a very nice restaurant frequented by the rich and famous.
Since arriving in Turkey we have only sailed 40 miles along the coast a pleasant change.
Get over here and charter your own boat, you won't be disappointed. The coastal history and enclosed bays to free anchor in, make this area one of the best cruising grounds in the Med.