Sailing in Turkey with BusAbout

This is the second installment in a series about my experiences traveling through Turkey with BusAbout. For part 1, which covers the overland Turkey Adventure, see this post.

Before I even thought about traveling overland through Turkey, I knew I wanted to sail there. I had heard about the Sail Turkey trip that BusAbout offered through my friend Cole of Four Jandals, who had taken the inaugural tour the summer before.

I was interested in comparing experiences to see what had been adapted as well as to spend more time on the water. Ever since my life-changing summer sailing Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast with the same company, I’ve longed to recreate that experience.

I was admittedly exhausted from the constant movement of the Turkey Adventure tour and spent nearly three days in Fethiye just lounging by the pool and gorging on pide. I met the rest of the group in town at the V-Go Yachting office, where we were taken across the street to our home for the next week, a traditional Turkish gulet. 

Sail Turkey is another BusAbout tour that contracts out to a local company, but thankfully V-Go Yachting is the best company around. Not only do they run tours from Fethiye, but also have their own hotel and cafe in town! I cannot say enough good things about them, as they helped me grab a dolmus to the bus station and let me store my bags there all day. They were also prepared when the tour hit some bumps, as I will discuss later.

We met our captain and crew, who were all in their twenties like most of the travelers. They spoke good English and were able to tell us what our route would be. Since the tour didn’t leave the harbor until 4 pm, we sailed around the twelve islands of Fethiye before settling into a spot to have dinner and spend the night. The next morning we awoke to the bluest waters I’ve ever seen as we jumped in the little boat to explore Butterfly Valley.

That night I watched the sunset over St. Nicholas Island, one of the most beautiful of the trip. Next, we visited the town of Kas, our captain’s hometown. I excitedly grabbed some ice cream and WiFi. We saw the sunken city of Kekova before swimming in a pirate cave.

Most of our nights on the boat were spent playing drinking games on the boat with toys from Kinder Surprise but one night brought us to a pirate-themed bar where we danced on tables and in the rain. There was a change of plans at the end of the trip when we hit rough waters and had to dock in Kas overnight instead of returning to Fethiye. We made the best of our situation by going out in style in Kas before waking up early to take the bus back that V-Go had arranged.

I couldn’t help but to compare Sail Turkey with my experiences on the Sail Croatia tour, as did others in my group who had recently done the latter. They are certainly different, as Croatia has much less time spent on the boat and docks in harbors every night, allowing travelers to experience the nightlife.

It also means that the cost is higher, as there are fees involved for docking. I did, however, like Sail Turkey more in many regards, as the food was phenomenal. The group became much closer as there wasn’t much else to do apart from reading, swimming, playing backgammon and, of course, drinking plenty of Efes beer.

There were only a few things I would change because I think it ran very smoothly, all things considered. There were optional excursions available, but they weren’t really mentioned. I was interested in scuba diving, but there wasn’t enough people who signed up.

The sea kayaking was also mentioned, but no one ended up doing it. However, you can do this on your own. Near Smugglers Cove and St. Nicholas Island, guys came by our boat in speedboats that had wakeboards and other gear you could play with. I also recommend taking any excursion onto land since you are on the boat for so long. The excursions to Butterfly Valley, St. Nicholas Island, Simena Castle, and Demere cost extra but were well worth the trip.

My fellow travelers were mostly Australian, with the exception of me, a Brit, and a Kiwi. Ages ranged from 18 to 40, but we all got along well. Rooms were both doubles and triples and included bathrooms. The majority of the trip is inclusive, mainly transportation, all meals, afternoon tea and coffee, floats and snorkels and board games.

A few excursions cost extra, but are optional. Alcohol costs extra, but is reasonably priced and is subject to happy hour specials. You simply mark down what you’re drinking and pay at the end of the cruise.

There is always the chance that the trip will stray from the itinerary, as ours did, so you have to be prepared to roll with the punches. Our group was into drinking every night and having a good time, so I rarely missed the fact that we weren’t on land. However, this could be a problem for others.

Whether or not this is the atmosphere completely depends on the group, so it’s hard to say whether or not you should take this tour if you don’t like that environment. I also recommend bringing plenty of books to read as well as games to play on board because the point of the sailing trip is relaxation.

I received a discounted rate for my BusAbout Sail Turkey tour, but all opinions are my own.