Places / Towns

Göcek, the Harbour Town Behind Its Islands

Göcek is a low town on a sheltered bay, with six marinas along its edge and a ring of islands offshore. The main street, the market hall and the dinner tables all face the boats.

By Lycia Journal4 min read
Göcek bay from above, with a wooded headland and boats in the sheltered water

At the quay a deckhand coils a line, a halyard ticks against a mast and a kettle starts up on somebody's stern. Behind the boats the town stays low, and the pines climb straight up from its last roofs.

Göcek exists for boats. Mountains close the bay and the islands outside it break the wind, which is why the harbour is one of the main places where weekly gulet charters begin and end. Since 1988 the bay has been a protected area and multi-storey building is banned, so the skyline has stayed where it was.

One street and a covered hall

The shops run along one main street, the çarşı, with side lanes dropping to the water. Boutiques, chandleries, bakeries and supermarkets sit within a few minutes' walk of any quay, so a crew can provision and a visitor can wander in the same hour.

On Sundays the weekly market fills a covered hall behind the municipal building. Half of it is food: tomatoes, herbs, olives, village cheese, and gözleme cooked to order along the edges. The other half is textiles, from peştemals to cotton dresses and tablecloths. The roof means the market runs in any weather.

Six marinas, one bay

Six marinas share the bay, from municipal quays to modern private harbours. Most sit a short walk from the centre, and several have their own cafés, restaurants and shops, so a boat owner can go a week without leaving the pontoon. In the evening the waterfront promenade is where the town walks, past masts of every height.

A footbridge over a canal between white houses in Göcek
A wooden walkway under a flowering arch beside the quay at Göcek

Twelve islands, one painted fish

The islands are what the marinas are for. Yassıca, about five kilometres out, is a group of low islets joined by sandbanks, with shallow water on every side. Tersane, the largest island, takes its name from the boatyard that once worked its sheltered bay, and Lycian ruins survive on it. Bedri Rahmi Bay took its name from the painter Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, who visited in 1974 and left a fish painted on a rock, with other animals hidden inside it. Cleopatra's Bath is a bay with sunken ruins just under the surface, and local legend ties it to the queen herself.

A day boat covers the main stops between breakfast and dinner. A gulet takes a week and slows down at each one.

Dinner facing the masts

Along the waterfront the restaurants face the yachts, and the view does much of the selling. Kitchens send out hot and cold meze first, then grilled fish, steaks and grills. Away from the water, plainer rooms cook kebap and pide for people who live in town. A grilled fish sandwich is the quick option.

Because the setting sells so well, choose by the menu and not the view. Ask for the menu before you sit, and for fish, ask the price per kilo before it is weighed.

Editor's picks

  • Walk the quays once before choosing a table.Each row of terraces looks at a different set of masts.
  • Reach the Sunday market between nine and eleven.The produce is at its best and the aisles are at their emptiest.
  • Take a day boat to the islands.The standard circuit covers Yassıca, Tersane and the painted rock in a single day.
  • Swim at Yassıca.The water is shallow and the islets have no facilities, so carry water and shade.
  • Eat away from the water one night.The plainer rooms off the promenade cook kebap and pide.
  • Hire a gulet if you have a week.The bays are short hops apart, so each day has one swim stop after another.
  • Take the dolmuş to Fethiye for half a day.It is about 30 minutes along the D400.
A pine-fringed cove with turquoise water and a stone ruin on the shore

Insider notes

The town has no real beach. Swimming happens from a boat, or at İnlice, the municipal beach about ten minutes away by car.

Cash is still the habit at the market. Haggling is expected on textiles and souvenirs, never on food.

Göcek is officially a neighbourhood of Fethiye today, after a reorganisation ended its status as a municipality of its own.

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How to get to Göcek

Dalaman is the closest airport, about 25 minutes by road. The D400 reaches the town through the 980 m Göcek tunnel, opened in 2006, and the marinas are a short walk from the centre, so the car can stay parked once you arrive. Dolmuşes run from Göcek to Fethiye. Flights from Europe and Istanbul are covered in Getting there.

A coil of rope dries on the quay beside a pair of deck shoes.

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