Marmaris was a great place to stop and an addition to our “Must go back” list. Getting there was a bit of a challenge, but once we were docked we really enjoyed the marina and town and I wish we had spent more than one day there.
We stayed at the Marmaris Yacht Marina which was technically outside of town by a 15 minute bus ride. There is another marina inside of town called the Netsel Marina, but we had heard that the place to go was the Yacht Marina, so that’s where we went. Marmaris is described in the Pilot book as a great place to buy a boat, have repairs done on a boat, get a boat ready for a season, pick up crew, drop off crew, and basically anything else that a boater would need. It’s essentially the boating hub of Turkey and we could see why.
Masts as far as the eye can see. This place was HUGE. We were docked on pontoon A which was at the far right of the marina and pretty much as far away from the office and bathrooms as we could be. It was ok though because it gave us the opportunity to explore the marina.
Our boat was docked across from this one. Dad said it had to be an old mine sweep because it was made of wood. He could see where the new engine had been put in on the side and was sizing it up to see if it could be the next addition to his current fleet. It was for sale and at the end of the day it wouldn’t be the purchase that would break the bank but the first time he would have to fill the tank of gas.
Behind Mow and I is the actual town of Marmaris. It was only a 15 minute bus ride that cost 2.75TL per person. The boat that is sort of in the photo with me is named Ofelia and had a group of about 12 people working on it around the clock painting, polishing, and primping. The boat was in beautiful condition, but when a person has the money to own one that size, why not make sure there isn’t a scratch on it.
We cut through the boat yard to get out of the marina and I think Dad was in heaven. I thought it was interesting that the boats were held up with the metal stands in the center, but the supports on the side were basically really big tree branches with wooden wedges under them.
Dad was checking out the propellers on this boat and is showing off where we are: Marmaris. There were a lot of “local” boats there having work done.
This is the boat we passed to get to the bathroom. I think this is going to be Dad’s next boat.
This was the crown jewel. The marina has a 300-ton travel lift and Clear Eyes, the boat pictured behind me, was on the schedule to be put into the water while we were there. They were running a day behind because of the weather so we were leaving as they were fitting it. I have NO idea how they can lift this thing. The fenders were my size.
This boat was at the end of the dock Persevere and Three Rivers were on. What do you get the guy who has everything? It was a hoot to look at and the man was very friendly from what we could tell (he was German so there was a language barrier). I really wanted to find something on our boat we didn’t need and give it to him, but we need everything we have.
These plants are right by the bus stop outside of the marina and along the road leading up into the mountains. I thought they were really pretty and an interesting contrast to the gray mountain and blue sea.
Our day in Maramaris was spent doing errands. I dropped the laundry off to have done by the marina service and the lady said it would be ready 3 days later on Monday and when I said we wouldn’t be here she changed her mind and said 9:30am the next day. So for 15TL we were able to have 4.4kilos of laundry done. We did some light provision shopping at the marina and then head into town to attend to other things.
Fodor’s said there was a restaurant by the Netsel Marina that serves Chinese food. Dad and I were ready for something different and were a bit disappointed when we learned that the place had closed. We got lucky though and the old cook had a small bar in a courtyard with his wok set up and was making “sweet and sour chicken” as a lunch special that day. What are the odds? So we had a very spicy version of sweet and sour chicken and then got directions to the Turkcell office.
This is a statue at the entrance of the marina.
There are a ton of gullets that go between Marmaris and the Greek Island Rhodes. Now a friend of my said to check out the castle because it looked cool on Wikipedia. We walked just beyond these gullets before going into town and never once did we see the castle. I was a bit shocked that it wasn’t standing out to us as we walked around town, but didn’t have time to really dwell on it. A little known secret… the castle is located behind that mound of houses in the background. I would’ve never known.
We located the Turkcell place and invested in a Turkcell internet dongle since the Vodafone was not working in Turkey. We walked in and one of the sales men walked right up to me and started talking to me in rapid Turkish. When I smiled and said I was American we retrieved Dad who was trying to get service elsewhere and were set up right away. (The Turkcell has worked SO much better since we’ve gotten it)
Dad and I indulged in a “second lunch” at Burger King of onion rings and chicken fingers and then went into one of the biggest Tansas (a Turkish grocery store) that I have ever seen. I got a great pair of knock off Crocs that shouldn’t be worn in public and we got a few other small groceries.
This is the town of Marmaris. Dad took it from the outside of the Burger King. The girls in uniform are typical school girls. Everyone here wears a uniform and depending on what school you go to or what city determines what colors it is. Maroon, green, blue, orange, we’ve seen it all and the girls always wear tights in that color while the boys wear a button up in the color under a sweater vest.
The final thing on our list of must-dos was to get Dad a haircut. We went into a barber shop and asked the man if he spoke English, he did so we stayed. Dad got one of the best and most thorough haircuts I have ever seen. The man really knew what he was doing and could communicate enough that Dad could direct him. Once the cut itself was done he got out a small buzzing “stick” that he proceeded to trim Dad’s ear hair, nose hair, and mustache with. The barber really wanted to massage Dad’s scalp and give him a proper shave but Dad declined. The entire service was 20TL and the barber’s partner really wanted to take a whack at my eyebrows but I just couldn’t let a man with one eyebrow get near mine.
Dad showing off his new haircut and a bunch of bananas.
We made it back to the marina in time for a delicious dinner on Persevere. Pat made homemade meat sauce to go with pasta and there was freshly ground parmesan cheese and a great salad. We got spoiled that night. I had made chocolate chip cookies while in Kekova Rhodes so I brought the end of those for dessert and it was a great night.
We tried to leave at around 9:30am when the laundry was going to be ready, but ended up waiting in the office for about an hour to pay a 3TL electric and water bill. There was only one girl doing check outs in the office on a Saturday morning. Once we finally got out of Marmaris Yacht Marina, we had to head over to Netsel Marina in order to get fuel. We waited in a line 3 boats long in order to get it and while we were having our breakfast on deck Dad looked up and said “Oh, there is the castle.”
We found the castle! Generally these castles are out in the open and easy to see from anywhere in town so when we didn’t see it I was worried. But there it is, clear as day!
We ended up parallel parking in the fuel dock, which was a challenge, and spending 600TL to make some what of a dent in the tanks. Not as much as we had hoped for that much, but it is what it is. There was wind in the bay so Dad was excited to get out into the open sea and actually do some sailing, but sadly as we turned every corner, so did the wind. It was right on our nose the entire way to Bozuk Buku which sucked, but was a nice relaxing day on the water anyway.
Dad at the helm ready to do some sailing with Marmaris in the background.
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