Yalıkavak

Yalıkavak is a resort in the Southern Aegean region of Turkey. It's on the peninsula 18 km northwest of Bodrum, and marketed to tourists as "Bodrum region" along with the neighbouring villages of Gündoğan and Göltürkbükü. These sprawl into each other and in 2014 their population was 14,160.

Understand

Bodrum in antiquity was important and developed a fine harbour castle. The little coves and harbours on the north peninsula had maritime trade but were of no great account, so they never attracted population, fortifications or embellishments. They were quiet fishing and sponge-diving villages until the 1980s, when Turkey and especially Bodrum attracted a mass budget tourist market. Hotels, apartment villas and holiday homes for Turkish city dwellers spread along the inlets and scrubby headlands. The villages sprawled into each other and in 1988 the township called Yalıkavak was created by combining them.

Get in

For long-distance travel see Bodrum, which has flights from Europe, and inter-city buses from Istanbul, Izmir and beyond.

Yeni Otogar the new bus terminal is 5 km northeast of Bodrum city, at the D330 junction for Torba. It might be quickest to take a taxi from there. All local buses run from Yeni Otogar to downtown Bodrum then fan out across the peninsula: the 2-6 runs to Gökçebel and Yalıkavak daily 07:00-22:00 every 30 min. The 2-22 runs to Gündoğan daily 08:00-22:00 every hour to 90 min. The 2-37 winds along the coast from Turgutreis via Gümüşlük to Gümüşkaya, Yalıkavak, Gündoğan and Göltürkbükü, daily 07:30-19:00 every 90 min.

1 Yalıkavak marina is the main harbour on this coast, and local transport hub. However it's not a Port of Entry into Turkey so if you sail your own boat from Greek waters, you need to proceed first to Bodrum to clear immigration and customs. Both sides are vigilant for small craft dodging across the border and up to no good.

Get around

The individual villages are walkable but the resort area straggles. Dolmuşes run from Bodrum and along the coast.

See

• 1 Panormos rock tombs are cut into the bluffs above the lane to Fenty Beach. Panormos (Πάνορμος) was a small port in the ancient realm of Caria, though its main harbour was probably on the south-facing headland coast.
• Yalikavak Merkez Mosque is east end of the marina strip.
• 2 Sandima is an abandoned village, with little more than the tenacity of the whitewash holding its crumbling buildings together, a 45 min walk up a track from Yalıkavak. The developers have long had their eyes on the locality.
• 3 MMK Yeldeğirmeni is a renovated windmill and restaurant on the road from Bodrum. Many others dot the ridges above this breezy coast, mostly from 18th / 19th century and tumbledown.
• 4 Rüzgar windmills for example are a trio of forlorn stumps above Türkbükü, looking like forgotten chess pieces.
• 5 Apostolic Church is a ruin on Küçük Tavşan Adası, Little Rabbit Island, reached by boat trip from Gündoğan. It's a basilica from the 530s AD, the reign of Justinian I and contemporaneous with Agia Sophia in Istanbul. Half the islets off Turkey are named for rabbits large or small, but the even smaller one just north is called Fener (beacon) or Mercan (coral) island, neither of which it possesses.

Do

Restored windwill in Yalıkavak

• Beaches: no standout, but a series of sandy coves, with little run-off from towns or rivers so they have clear waters. They also have clusters of restaurants and viewpoints over the Aegean sunset.
• Boating is based at Yalikavak marina.

Buy

• Lots of little convenience stores rather than big supermarkets, Şok and A101 are the main chains.
• Yalikavak market is held Tuesday and Thursday 09:00-20:00 on Tahsildar İbrahim Efendi Cd, a couple of blocks inland from the marina.
• Usual offerings of souvenirs including knitwear and kilims, some of them even made in Turkey. The local giftware specialty is little windmills, although not until the cat knocks them off the mantelpiece a couple of times will they resemble the real thing.

Eat

• Yalikavak Marina is the main dining strip, with over a dozen fish and steak eateries.
• Gündoğan and Göltürkbükü likewise have strips along their waterfront.

Drink

At the Marina

• All the villages have cafes and beach bars.

Sleep

• 1 Sea Palm Otel, Cumhuriyet Cd 9, Yalıkavak, ☏ +90 542 385 4888. Clean, competent family-run hotel near the marina. B&B double 2500 TL. (updated Mar 2023)
• 2 Cape Bodrum Hotel, Kızılburun Cd 72, Gündoğan, ☏ +90 252 387 0600. Smart beachfront resort hotel. B&B double 4000 TL. (updated Mar 2023)
• 3 Baia Bodrum Hotel, off Kızılburun Cd, Gündoğan, ☏ +90 850 850 2242. Mostly good reviews, the place could use some renovation. B&B double 4000 TL. (updated Mar 2023)
• 4 Ada Hotel, Tepecik Cd 124, Göltürkbükü, ☏ +90 252 377 5915. Attractive small hotel. (updated Mar 2023)
• 5 Mandarin Oriental, 314th Sk 10, Gölköy, ☏ +90 252 311 1888. Upscale beach resort. B&B double 9000 TL. (updated Mar 2023)

Connect

Yalıkavak and the roads from Bodrum and along the coast have 4G from all Turkish carriers. As of March 2023, 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.

Go next

• Gümüşlük southwest has retained more of its character as a fishing port.
• Turgutreis is the largest of the resort villages on the west coast of the peninsula.
• Bodrum is the nearby town, where the castle is now a museum of underwater archaeology.