Yachtcharter Bodrum, sailing in Bodrum 

The three main yacht charter bases in the Bodrum area

• Bodrum

• Turgutreis

• Yalikavak

Bodrum Marina

is in town, although it's quite a trot to the centre. Usually very full, the marina offers all the usual services, plus the buzz of the town. As always the restaurants in the marina are over-priced, but the on-site supermarket is highly convenient and reasonably priced. The Kofte restaurant just along the front is worth a visit.

Turgutreis

is a newer marina in the eponymous town 35 Kms from Bodrum. Although notably lacking a chandlery, the marina is otherwise a great favourite of ours. The facilities are magnificent with a wonderful free swimming pool. Prices (at the moment), are much lower than in Bodrum, and the town itself is full of charm and good restaurants at modest prices. Notable is the municipal beach and the easy access to a day's scuba diving at Poseidon Diving. There is a daily ferry to and from Kos as well. Turgutreis is a much better base if you are thinking of going to the Greek Dodecanese, or the Turkish Gulf of Gulluk, but obviously less attractive if you are heading for the Gulf of Gokova or the Datça peninsula. Try to visit Gumusluk, famous for its beachside fish restaurants.

Yachtcharter from Yalikavak

Yalikavak Marina is very confusingly called Port Bodrum, when it is not in Bodrum at all, but Yalikavak - a smart beach resort to the north-west of Bodrum. The closest of the three to Bodrum Milas airport, it is also new, and has excellent on-shore facilities. Like Turgutreis, it is a less attractive base if you are heading south, but excellent if you are heading north. The other advantage of starting here is that our charter partner here is British owned, offers Monday starts to tie in with charter flights, and with the yachts being British flagged, many also have Greek Transit Logs.

There are numerous charter flights to Bodrum from most European airports.

Although windy in summer, the Bodrum area is perhaps the most flexible of all yacht charter bases in Turkey, offering three distinct cruise itinerary options:

• A starting base for the Greek Dodecanese

• The gulf of Gokova

• Symi and the Gulf of Datça.

 It was our home base for many years, and we thoroughly enjoyed the area.