BOZBURUN - Let's Not Spoil This Paradise

We departed from Orhaniye Martı Marina. A perfect Hisarönü wind filled our sails right at the marina exit. First blowing from the north, then from the west,

we tacked past Atabol Rock with the classic wind and set our bow toward Bozburun.

Our beating course in Hisarönü Gulf turned into a downwind run in Yeşilova Gulf.

We are heading to Bozburun.

First, we are going to the region's magnificent cove, natural harbor, paradise; Ada Boğazı.

To paradise, we pass through shallow areas and turquoise waters.

There is very heavy boat traffic. Gulets, motor yachts, sailboats are packed stern to shore.

Daily tour boats drop anchor in the shallow area to let their guests cool off.

Unfortunately, our eyes cannot see the old peaceful days in these waters anymore. I can say there's no place to moor.

This season we are witnessing similar congestion in all our coves.

More than the increase in the number of boats taking to the seas, the new tax regulations that the Greeks have recently implemented on the opposite islands are causing this.

Now those islands have become very expensive destinations for us, not only due to the rise in foreign exchange rates, but also because of the new Greek tax applications for entry, exit, and accommodation procedures.

Already, there has been a significant decrease in the number of Turkish boats there.

With so much anchoring and weighing anchor in our paradise, those crystal-clear waters have started to become slightly murky.

Just as we're about to drop our anchor, a tender approaches alongside us.

"Shall I take your line?"

Sure, take it. Now launch the dinghy or swim—is that really practical?

We drop our anchor and secure the tender.

We're in paradise now, engine off.

When one arrives in paradise, shouldn't we talk to its caretaker?

Captain Mehmet rushes to help all boats here and also replenishes their provisions.

If you order items he doesn't have on hand, he brings them from the center in the morning.

We wanted to start our interview, to get to know Bozburun, beginning with him, in the gently blowing Ada Boğazı.

MEHMET DURSUN

"I was born and raised in Bozburun.

My main profession is caulking.

During the summer season, I help mariners with mooring their boats in the Ada Boğazı area.

I sell products like almonds, sage tea, thyme, tomatoes, and peppers that I grow in my garden to yachts.

I work here from morning to evening for 4 months.

Besides this, I also do caulking work at the shipyard.

Caulking isn't what it used to be, but I can still do it.

In a bit, I'll go to the shipyard and caulk a boat that came from Istanbul.

During the summer months, I live in this paradise.

The location we're in is like a natural harbor. The season starts in mid-May and ends at the end of October.

Bozburun has developed a lot.

I'm in love with these lands and seas where I was born and raised."

After the cool night, I complete my hour-long swim in the morning behind the boats covered in frost.

Indeed, dozens of boats are moored to the shore at frequent intervals.

All their lines have rat guards.

Rats are the most important thing to watch out for in this location. Many boats have taken and continue to take uninvited guests from here and Kiseli Island aboard their vessels. Unfortunately, because of the garbage thrown ashore and especially the food and water left by owners who come from Bozburun to feed the goats left to nature here.

When this happens, the outcome is obvious. Bozburun municipality even released cats on the island but...

After breakfast, we weigh anchor and first head to the shipyard area.

How far these haul-out places have come.

Boats are being built, maintained, and repaired.

Then we drop our anchor in Bozburun center, with a stern line. In the old days, we would have loved mooring here.

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For some reason, in recent years we've become unwilling to moor, we tend to avoid mooring as much as possible. Do we feel freer or do we want

our money to stay in our pockets.

Bozburun fishing harbor prices in recent years rival marina prices. We can say it's Turkey's most expensive harbor.

No lazy lines, you're dropping anchor. A complete mess.

They almost celebrate those who leave without getting tangled.

In the narrow harbor, anchors inevitably get entangled with each other.

No showers, no toilets, but mooring....

Officials demand half a day's mooring fee even for taking on water or disposing of waste.

This and similar harbors are classified as fishing harbors. Managed by fishermen.

However, after the state we've brought our seas to, there are hardly any fishermen left in the seas. The number of active fishermen in each harbor is negligible. In fact,

in some, the managers have no connection with the sea at all.

Those using these places are yachts, but the management is in the hands of fishermen.

The law that was correctly enacted at the time is no longer realistic for today. Moreover, the state has purchased the fishermen's obsolete vessels

from them at a good price over time. Everyone has accepted that fishing has ended.

It's impossible to understand the practices at these harbors.

The living rights of amateur sailors are slowly being taken away, unfortunately.

What's sad is that municipalities and harbors are the ones adapting best to this.

We descend to the harbor by boat and capture the visuals.

We have interview appointments with its new face and those who know it well.

In the town we've known as pristine for years, there's no trace of that pristineness left; it's very crowded now.

In the past, the very few people living here would take their produce and the sponges they harvested via different sea routes to Marmaris and

sell them there, due to inadequate road connections.

When these areas opened up to tourism, the locals started producing boats.

As the business grew significantly, boat construction for investment and commercial purposes accelerated.

Since boat costs are very high, the Bozburun locals started selling the land they owned to finance this production.

For this reason, the number of people coming from outside began to increase.

Bozburun's climate is excellent, with low humidity.

It's quite possible to frequently encounter people aged 90-100 walking without a cane.

People coming by sea discovered these parts, and now people arriving by sea are enlivening it and contributing to its economy.

TV series and films were shot here, documentaries were made. It appeared frequently in the press and the Bozburun brand began to gain fame.

It has very beautiful boutique hotels.

A town of seafaring people.

The late Mustafa Koç used to come here almost every week. We witnessed many times that Erdal İnönü was always here."

First, we visit a native of Bozburun at çiçeği burnunda (just getting started).

Mr. Okan has recently settled in Bozburun, he's a family physician.

Why did he come? We asked him.

OKAN OKUMUŞ

"I'm a family physician, I've now settled in Bozburun.

My childhood was always spent by the sea.

After entering university, I lived away from the sea until today. A full 20 years. I studied in Eskişehir, worked in Ankara.

When I found such an opportunity, I rushed to Bozburun.

The climate here, the greenery, the air is very different.

Bozburun is right at the meeting point of the Aegean and Mediterranean.

It's peaceful, one of Turkey's most beautiful coasts.

The local people here love and support those who serve.

There are 3 family physicians on the peninsula. The 112 emergency service is active.

The permanent population isn't very large. As a physician, I have 4,000 people registered to me.

Here, there are certainly things we miss compared to large settlements. But if these deficiencies didn't exist, we wouldn't have these beauties.

Development is at a reasonable level, the water is clean, there's no crowding from easy access.

The fact that the road to Marmaris is distant and winding has helped keep this place pristine. Here I do what I can professionally, and also from the sea

I take maximum advantage of it."

This time I'm going to visit someone from Bozburun whom I met years ago.

Salih Taşkın served as the Mayor of Bozburun for many years. He struggled with limited resources during very difficult times, we witnessed it.

We got to know him through his struggle to remove fish farms from the region.

He continued his work with the opening of the maritime high school and customs office, and the construction of the quay.

I first came to Bozburun by sea in 1995.

As soon as we moored the boat, they called from Ankara.

Both filming and theater rehearsal.

We closed up the boat, gathered up and returned.

We were going to go to Marmaris, but fate took us to Ankara.

A month later, we found the opportunity and came with my artist friend Hakan Boyav to take the boat to Marmaris.

We asked about the mooring fee for the boat that had been tied up at the marina for a month. They said "You've stayed for a long time, it's best to ask the mayor." We went and asked.

"Are you a civil servant?" he said.

We didn't say "Is it that obvious from our appearance?"

We just said "yes."

"Then you have no debt, you're our guest," he said.

They only charged a symbolic fee, that's all.

In those days, mariners were treated this way, they were viewed with this perspective. Now we're going to talk with that mayor

(Did we praise him too much because he didn't charge money, what do you think?)

SALİH TAŞKIN

"I served as mayor of Bozburun for 12 years between 1992-1999 and 2004-2009.

Look how far Bozburun has come.

Because it's at the far end of Turkey, receiving and providing services here is very difficult. We overcame all of this.

Everything happened over time. Despite being an economically prosperous place, we struggled for 1.5 years to keep a bank branch here back then.

Now all banks have their ATMs here.

Transportation was very difficult, now this problem has been solved.

Receiving services as part of the metropolitan municipality is difficult and slow for now, but this system may settle down in five years.

The towns lack infrastructure, they have no sewerage system.

It's unclear when it will be done.

When you berthed at this harbor in 1995, we had 50-60 boats, now we have 150.

Back then the boats were 18-20-22 meters long, now they're 35-38-42 meters.

We've now entered tourism competition.

Most importantly, just like in the past, we still manufacture these boats ourselves in Bozburun.

Even wooden boat construction up to 142 meters in length is being done.

We had no haul-out facilities. This year, 105 boats were hauled out at our haul-out facilities.

Back then we would search for captains from elsewhere, now we have 200 captains and 300 crew members.

Fifty of the crew are women.

Back then boats would anchor offshore.

Now there's a quay that can accommodate all boats.

The shoreline was deepened, 40-meter boats can berth here.

Although there are customs gates in Marmaris and Datça, we also opened a customs gate in Bozburun.

This gate is used more than Datça's.

In all these bays, there are over five thousand boat movements.

We can cite the reasons as our sea being pure and clean, our low humidity rate, and the beauty of the seabed structure.

We opened a maritime vocational high school here.

It is a first in Turkey to open a Customs and Maritime Vocational High School in a place with a population of 2000.

Our bed capacity was 100-150 and they were small businesses.

Now we have reached a very high-quality bed capacity of around 1500-2000. These are not places where you stay for 50-100 TL.

Boutique hotels have opened from end to end.

They are at a quality level where we can proudly host our domestic and foreign guests.

Large market chains have entered here.

We can find everything. We didn't have a fuel station, now yachts are being serviced, there is a gas station.

We also have our PTT bank."

The mayor said these things, but I'm walking thoughtfully.

I hope these boutique hotels, beach businesses, colorful sun loungers, tulle canopies don't make natural Bozburun resemble other places and lose its local character.

Let's not long for those natural days when there were guesthouses and beaches.

Now I'm going to Bozburun Yacht Club. Edhem and Zeynep Dirvana are running it.

Süleyman-Zeynep Dirvana discovered this geography years ago.

There is no place left unseen on our coasts.

But they decided to settle here.

Their son Edhem has settled here since 2008 and started the business.

Edhem Dirvana is a very successful sailor and sailing coach. His efforts to successfully represent our country in international competitions are commendable.

He also provides sailing training at his magnificent facilities that serve yachtsmen here.

Everywhere is adorned with Prof. Süleyman Dirvana's books and maritime memories.

You can go to different residences after mooring your boat at the facility's dock.

We also asked: Why Bozburun? Why? How?

EDHEM DİRVANA

"Our arrival to Bozburun began towards the end of the 1970s, when my father and mother were looking for a quiet place for themselves.

They traveled all the Turkish coasts and decided to settle here. My mother also had a great influence on this decision.

My father, who was a sailing enthusiast, was fascinated by its wind, and my mother by the cleanliness of its water.

We lived here for years like Robinson Crusoe in a small house.

Every year we would come with our boat Seddülbahir and spend our summers in Bozburun.

In the following years, we started living here permanently.

My parents settled here in 1996.

I also worked both abroad and domestically until 2008 due to both my education and professional life.

In 2008, I settled in this place that suits our lifestyle.

This corner between Bodrum and Göcek—when you include a few Greek islands in it—we can say it's the world's most beautiful yachting basin. Those who know this business acknowledge this.

Compared to many world-renowned yachting basins, the pristine nature, climate, geographical advantages, and sheltered conditions of these areas stand out as positive features.

If we can use this properly, we will reach much better points.

Using it happens by knowing its value.

There are exemplary establishments like our organization.

A trend has formed and is spreading.

Our companies are businesses that can communicate well with mariners, can offer fresh organic products to their guests, and have friendly staff.

You cannot do this on the French coast. At the very least, the climate is not suitable.

The yacht tourist is the tourist group that leaves the most revenue. This group consists of those who love life and know how to enjoy it.

They are after different flavors, different lifestyles.

We need to protect this geography that is becoming popular very well.

We must transfer this trust to the generations after us in a good way.

In recent years, there has been excessive construction in Bozburun.

This is, of course, everyone's most natural right. But it would be beneficial to do this in a controlled manner while protecting nature.

There must be an architectural harmony.

We are in a very precious geography, we cannot afford the luxury of destroying it.

Fish farms left Bozburun's waters and the sea cleaned itself. But unfortunately, this town still has no sewage system. No treatment plant. It's unclear how the liquid waste collected from septic tanks

by vacuum trucks is being disposed of, or whether it's being disposed of at all.

This is very dangerous.

We are the first establishment to install a treatment plant in our facility. Those who make money from this natural beauty need to give more importance to nature and protect it."

Yes, dear sea lovers, we came to Bozburun with you, and tried to introduce and promote it.

Now, as we're weighing anchor for other ports, won't our anchor get caught on the very long anchor chains of the iron gulets?

My diving gear, which I haven't worn for years, is now needed.

From 19 meters down, I'm breaking up the anchors' flirtation and telling mine, "Turn back to your chain, son, that's enough."