Bozburun

Bozburun sits at the end of a slow, twisting road down its own peninsula south of Marmaris, and its trade is boatbuilding. Gulets - the broad wooden two-masted vessels used for the blue cruises along this coast - are built in yards along the shore, and the yards are working ones: hulls on stocks, frames being steamed and fitted, planking, caulking, the smell of timber and resin. The craft has been practised here and at neighbouring Selimiye for generations, and the village is counted with Bodrum and Güllük among the gulet-building centres of the coast. The village itself, home to some 2,200 people, is a small harbour, a row of restaurants, some pensions and a mosque, and it still lives from tourism, fishing, sponge diving and bees - its thyme honey is known across Turkey; across the water lie Datça and the Greek island of Symi. There is no beach to speak of and no nightlife; people come to sail, to eat fish, and to be somewhere the coast road does not pass through. Boats run out to the surrounding bays and islands.

Highlights

• The boatyards - gulet hulls under construction on the shore.
• The harbour - fishing and charter boats along the quay.
• The village - a few restaurants, pensions and the mosque.
• The bays - coves and islands reached by boat.

When to go

May to June and September to October. August is the charter season and the harbour fills; winter is very quiet with most places closed.

Before you go

There is essentially nothing to do beyond boats and eating - that is the appeal, and it disappoints anyone expecting a resort. No real beach. The road from Marmaris is long and winding; a car helps.

Nearby

Selimiye is on the same peninsula; Marmaris and the Gulf of Gökova are north.

Key facts