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"Don't
just dream about a holiday sleeping on deck, under a velvet, star filled sky, listening to the sea lap at the hull
below you
...we can make it a reality for you."
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"No
part of the world can be more beautiful than the western and southern coasts of Turkey. Their remote valleys break
from the treeless plateau, whose oozing snows feed them with harvests wherever the land is flat enough to grow
wheat or barley; and to travel in and out of them is like the circumventing of an immense natural fortress, whose
walls are precipices with a flacis of fertile stretches before them and whose bastions are toilsome capes that
dip, one after another, to the sea."
Freya Stark, in Alexander's
Path
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 Göcek
Bay
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Imagine for a moment you had your own yacht - and with it
complete freedom to visit any of the beauty spots along the stunning Turquoise Coast without the need to worry
about practicalities such as road access or suitable accommodation on land. Then consider how many of those who
do have exactly this privilege choose to visit Gocek again and again and you will realize that this must be a very
special place indeed.
Set at the north-west end of the Gulf of Fethiye, Gocek is blessed with magnificent scenery. Backed by majestic
mountains and substantial pine forests it looks out over the Twelve Islands.
The islands also provide further shelter for Gocek's almost circular
bay which has made the village such a perfect natural harbour. Lured by such perfection, the yachting community
has made Gocek a favourite - amongst them such luminaries as President Özal and Britain's Princess Margarete
- and it is also a popular stop for gulet cruises. Perhaps this explains Gocek's impressive range of facilities
for a place that remains so blissfully untouched by the trappings of large-scale tourism: there are less than a
handful of small hotels and less than a dozen even smaller pensions, and no building stands more than two storays
tall. Yet all along the wide, immaculately landscaped promenade that fringes the quayside, there is no shortage
of cafes to excellent restaurants specializing in delicious freshly fish caught in the bay that same day.
 In
the backstreets and around
the old village square by the mosque, there is a surprising array of shops. You will find colourful greengrocers
and fascinating art and crafts shops, carpet bazaars and exclusive jewellers, designer boutiques and shops selling
hammocks, even a traditional village barber should you fancy a really close shave! There is also a handful of atmospheric
cocktail and jazz bars, hut noisy, boisterous entertainment does not feature on Gocek's menu: by local law, all
bars must turn down their music by 11:30 p.m. so as not to be audible from outside and must close altogether by
02 am.
With its charming, laid-back
atmosphere, Gocek is the sort
of place where you can happily while away whole lazy days watching the world go by from a quayside patisserie,
but life does of course revolve around the sea here. From the harbour you can take boat trips around the Twelve
islands and a boat is also the natural choice of transport to reach.Gocek's beaches.
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Göcek
Bay
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Cleopatra's Baths, (actually The bay of Cleopatra's Baths), is a large
bay full of lots of pine trees, and has a dark blue sea which goes to light blue, as you reach the shore. In the
south - western part of the bay, there are some ruins which came down because of the earthquakes in Fethiye. According
to the myth, in one of the visits of Cleopatra to Anatolian coasts, her close friends decided to build a Roman
Bath for Cleopatra as a present. Because, they found a hot water spring in this part of the bay. The water here
was very good for the skin, with the minerals and elements it contained like Calcium, Magnesium, etc. Some say
that the mystery which lies behind the beauty of Cleopatra is the water here. (however, it may be true..) The water
here, was coming from a crater lake (dry now)which was behind the mountain you see at the northern side of the
bay. Even today, if you look
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Kapi Koyu, Göcek Bay
© 2004 Ahmet Eltekin
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at the bottom of the sea, where the ruins are, before the wind starts very early in the morning, you can see the
sands at the bottom are still a bit moving. This means that there is still a bit amount of hot water coming out
today. If you want to try your chance to be as beautiful as Cleopatra and to look 10 years younger(!), you are
allowed to swim around and in the ruins!!!
Given Gocek's unspoiled charm;
you might think it would take a great effort to reach this idyllic haven, but it is only just half an hour from
Dalaman airport and the Gocek tunnel is ready since middle of 2006. Less than an hour's drive takes you to Dalyan
with Caunos and the Rock Tombs in the west or the deserted ghost town of Kayaköy near Fethiye. With so much
in its favour, it is almost a miracle that Gocek has not been swamped, by the developers.
(partly credit by "Simply
Travel")
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