The real attraction of southwest Turkey’s coastline is the beauty of the deep blue Aegean and the fantastic boating culture here. There is a lively playground mix of millionaire’s toys and simple, locally built ‘gulets’ on the waters of the Gulf of Gökova. It is the Eastern version of nearby Greece - the island of Kos is directly opposite.
Guests at CASA DELL’ARTE can be very much part of the boating culture here: there are two amazing private yachts on offer - including a custom built 35-metre schooner. You can charter one for a moonlight cruise or party with friends - or explore the Turkish coastline for weeks and drop anchor anywhere anytime.
We were fortunate to explore the Bodrum peninsula on the hotels own speed boat. We headed west along the peninsula on the jagged north coast, past beautiful inlets, bays and villages further along like Golkoy and Gundogan. There is so much coastline variety to explore. It is not harsh terrain, like the Greek side of the gulf, but lush and green. We saw the most amazing villas and holiday homes built up on the hills, mountains and craggily beautiful clifftops. The overall look is white washed walls, stone and overflowing bouganvillea. Property developers and local councils together seem to have respected the local architectural and historical past with a uniform design style that fits into the landscape so well. TURKBUKU BAY where the Macakizi Beach Club was something else! I can’t even guess how many super yachts crowded the waters here? We have seen this in St Tropez, Capri, and Monte Carlo, but seldom seen such wealth in one small bay!
We had come all the way from Istanbul to Bodrum for the day,so we decided to bite the bullet and delay our flight until 11 pm so we could see the town of Bodrum and have dinner there before heading to the airport and back to Istanbul.
Although the team at Casa Dell’Arte kindly urged us to stay overnight, I felt we needed to get back to Istanbul...we had a lot of territory to cover in not many days. We had been warned Bodrum town may be too commercialized and touristy for us... I am happy to say, THAT'S NOT THE CASE! The picturesque port and marina was a pleasant surprise! THE BODRUM CASTLE OF THE KNIGHTS OF SAINT JOHN - an intact example of that very ‘dungeons and dragons’ style of medieval fortress was actually built by Crusader Knights in the 15th century and is one of the last examples of their architecture, giving the town that fairytale silhouette that still gives us a kick ! It is also a great attraction with its own Museum of Underwater Archeology and cultural tour for history buffs…
Apart from the amazing castle walls, the waterfront neighbourhood and harbour is lovely to walk around… There is a marina with beautiful boats of all shapes and sizes. Apparently Bodrum, like Hydra in Greece (where we had just visited), was once a famous boat building town. We saw some stunning examples of these large, old-fashioned timber yachts. Bodrum is well known as a party town, and tourists love to come here to party and kick up their heels; it has evolved a long way from its past as a base for sponge divers and fishermen…
As we walked the promenade before dinner, we came across fisherman selling their catch. We loved the way the fish were displayed in large plastic bins... it made for a really good photograph ! Pity I cant share this with you as by now you probably have read that I LOST ALL MY PHOTOS FROM OUR DAY IN BODRUM.
For those that know me, the idea of packing my running gear on a 14 hour day trip to Bodrum, will not come as a suprise. After our early morning flight and arrival at Casa Dell’Arte, it was a great chance to see Torba Bay on foot - which is how I like to discover new places anyway.
Once Sheira and the kids were settled into Casa Dell' Arte,...I was able to leave them for an hour or so, and follow the beachfront and coastline. I loved that there were few tarred road - and that the coast stretched out to a number of small beachside villages, with holiday homes, small hotels, restaurants, beach clubs one after another. Guilt set in after 45 minutes of running! How could I leaving Sheira and the kids having just arrived a short time earlier, so I headed back to Casa Dell’ Arte and had a swim off the jetty and was ready to play DAD to Zoe for the rest of the day.
I have unfinished business here in Torba Bay. I need to retrace my steps and some...and look forward to the day we return here so that my morning run, will be as memorable as it should have been that morning in July 2009, when we visited Bodrum for 14 hours...I will be back!
The great thing about the Bodrum peninsula is that 20 minutes away from the languid, arty atmosphere at Casa Dell’Arte there is a hectic, funky beach club with a completely different vibe. Further on from the city of Bodrum, is Turkbuku coastal village and Bay. Many of the clubs, bars and discos along the coast attract the bright young 20-somethings when the party season swings into gear.
We discovered MACAKIZI Beach Club quite by chance when we were heading out on the water during our day at Casa Dell’ Arte to search for a “small, authentic restaurant for lunch" - had been my brief to our driver of the boat, Mustafa. Alas the address we had been given was a dump with no distinguishing features. Luckily we had already passed the gorgeous Turkbuku Bay, so we headed back and changed gears from “small and authentic” to “cool and …lets say say - SUPER COOL”.
We had seen an insane pumping scene back on shore at the MACAKIZI Beach Club. The numerous floating wooden decks there project way out at the waters edge under sail sunshades or under the baking sun. It’s the party beach without sand! A playground for the cool and trendy. The girls in Jimmy Choo, Cavalli kaftans and diamond jewelry with perfect streaks and beautiful skin; everyone texting and BlackBerrying each other. Noah kept laughing, “Are we in Turkey? It all looked so chic, glossy and fashionable. How wrong our perception of Turkey had been? This place is super cool, as we were to find out over the next few days when we returned to Istanbul. Many of the people here had come in from their own super yachts. Our driver wasn’t comfortable negotiating into the jetty with that amount of small boats around so I called out to a guy who had his own tender boat. He spoke great English and was happy to let us hitch a ride onto the Masakizi jetty.
There is really good lounge music playing, white linen over stuffed cushions on wooden deck chairs and day beds right by the water, crammed with gorgeous people. There was a huge big square bar with lots of staff in the middle and bar stools all the way around, also under a giant sail. Instinct told me to not jostle for attention in a packed restaurant so we skipped that whole queue drama and just ordered burgers, fish and chips right there at the bar.
The kids were fine for a short time but also eager to get back to Casa Dell’ Arte as Zoe wanted to go to an art class, and Noah had his mind set on a jetski ride from the hotel; it was really more about cocktails and networking than sand castles and screaming! You could people watch all day: Macakazi is definitely the San Tropez of Bodrum. It was the ultimate Bodrum beach club experience - as full of energy as the Casa Dell’Arte is tranquil - and they are both in one beautiful summer spot…
The charm of Bodrum is its low rise, old - fashioned port ..
Read Story
