Turkish Riviera: Introduction: Why Go Now

Turkey’s southwest coast may not be a new destination (my husband and some friends chartered a gulet more than ten years ago), but in terms of tourism, the region is still somewhat undiscovered not overly gentrified—yet. For example, at the sprawling farmer’s market in Fethiye, not a single stand sold touristy trinkets or crafts made in China; instead, I bought fresh honey and a small bag of sweet paprika. The ancient city of Kaunos, one of the area’s main attractions for travelers, has no fancy visitors’ center or restaurant, only a small shop at the entrance that sells postcards, soda and water. And the lauded mud baths in the Dalyan delta consist of a large sulfur pond out of which tourists are encouraged to scoop mud and cover themselves in it. (I like to think of myself as an intrepid traveler, but the lack of supervision and changing facilities here discouraged me from participating.) Except for some larger ports, like Marmaris and Bodrum, the towns along the coast are quaint, and their residents give you an incredible welcome. In a place like Ekincik, a sleepy seaside village between Dalaman and Fethiye, you’re likely to end up chatting with the owner of the beach bar you choose for sunset cocktails and meeting his entire family before you return to your gulet.

And considering the region’s astounding natural beauty and history, the Turkish Riviera won’t remain a secret much longer: already there’s a boom in the construction of vacation homes, which are being snatched up mostly by Turks from Istanbul and Ankara, as well as German and British expats. People already refer to Bodrum and its surrounding area as Turkey’s Ibiza (though the party scene seems to be less intense than that on the Spanish island). And the cheap shops of Marmaris, the Riviera’s main port, where many yachts, boats and gulets dock, draw mass-market tourism at its most toxic. But you can easily avoid the overdevelopment, especially when you travel by boat, when your main concerns are how often you can dip into the crystal sea and how many historic sites—from Lycian, Hellenic, Byzantine, Ottoman and prehistoric times—you can see on one trip. After a week on a gulet traveling from Marmaris to Fethiye, I made plans to return to this glorious part of the world as soon as possible.