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OceaniaA 100-foot sailboat, 12 Aussies and 4 days sailing on the bright blue waters of the Mediterranean. If that sounds like a good time to you, look into the blue cruise along the Turkish Riviera (also known as the Turquoise Coast). It is a multi-day sail on a gulet, a traditional wooden sailboat with cabins below deck.
It's the perfect balance of activities and relaxation. You'll experience the incredible sights of the Turkish Riviera including sunken cities, medieval castles, hidden coves, paragliding and charming little towns along the coast. The rest of the time will be spent relaxing: sleeping, eating and swimming from the boat on your own schedule. In the summer of 2026, I spent 4 days and 3 nights sailing from Demre to Fethiye aboard a sailboat with 12 Australians I had never met, and it was hands down the highlight of my time in Türkiye.
The blue cruise is the best way to see this stretch of the Turquoise Coast. You get to see all the highlights, and in between you lounge on deck, swim and meet other travelers. It is also far cheaper than the same kind of trip in Croatia or Italy. The rhythm is sail, anchor, swim, eat and repeat, and the downtime is most of the appeal. The boat runs between the two ends of the coast I've written up separately, from Antalya on one end to Fethiye and Ölüdeniz at the other.
Blue Cruise Overview
The most reputable tour operator is Far Out Turkey (also sold online as Sail Turkey). You'll be able to choose between a variety of relatively similar trips. They run two trips along this section of the coast, and each one has an 18 to 39 boat and a mix-age boat:
I booked the 18 to 39 option for 4 days 3 nights and sailed on a gulet named the Mr. Ceyhun. Each boat takes between 12 and 20 passengers, depending on demand.
What's your vibe?
Obviously, the experience depends on the group you end up with. The 18 to 39 tour I picked was mostly people in their mid-to-late twenties. It was a bit more rowdy with a night out and games night. The All Ages tour seemed to be relatively quiet with people keeping to themselves and relaxing. I met some amazing people on the Blue Cruise (and glad that it didn't end up being full of 18-year-olds!)
Side note: the experience is very popular among Australians. Everyone on my boat was Australian except for me!
Length
4 days felt like the perfect amount of time on the boat for me. It was enough time to experience the boat life and see all the sights, but I was ready to move to land after a few rocky nights of sleep.
Be honest with yourself about how long you want to spend at sea. Personally, I'd skip the 7-day trips. They sail the same stretch of coast twice, and 4 days was exactly the right length for me.
Pricing
While not a cheap excursion, the blue cruise in Türkiye is significantly cheaper than similar trips in Croatia or Italy. The 4-day trip cost me just under $500. The price is listed at 835 euros, but it is one of those things that is "always on sale" and happened to be 460 euros. Make sure to book in advance because peak dates sell out 2 to 3 weeks ahead. You can cancel or change your dates for free up to 3 weeks before you sail.
When to go
The season runs from late April to late October. I recommend going from June to September, when the sea is calm and the water is warm enough to swim every day. The captain decides each morning where the boat can safely go. I went in mid-May and the weather rewrote the itinerary for the second half of our trip: a 5-hour crossing in heavy swell, two people seasick, and no Butterfly Valley or Blue Lagoon.
The Route: 4-Day Itinerary
The 4-day itinerary route generally follows the sailing map earlier in the article. However, every morning, the captain looks at the weather forecast and may change the route if he deems it unsafe. When I went in mid-May, we were faced with high winds and choppy waves so we did most of the route out of order and missed a few stops.
I still had an amazing time and was able to visit the sites I missed in Ölüdeniz after. If I were to do it again, I would book during peak season a bit later in the summer to avoid any issues with weather. The following overview will not match the Far Out site exactly, but will give you a taste of what to expect!
The trip officially starts in the town of Olympos, known for its famous Treehouse hostels including Bayrams Tree Houses and Kadir's Tree Houses. A shuttle immediately takes you down to the boat at Çayağzı Harbor near Demre. Before the tour, you can choose to spend a couple nights in either of these towns or come directly from Antalya. I took a 3-hour minibus from Antalya straight to Demre, where they picked me up at the bus station. You'll wrap up any final payments at the bus station, and the group will start forming there.
From there, it's 20 minutes by car to the harbor and out to the boat on a little dinghy. Once you're on board, you'll start meeting your friends for the next couple days. Our group was 12 Australians and 1 non-Aussie (me!). We started with a quick game of spoons which became the group favorite. Lunch is served and the swimming starts as soon as you anchor (the water was a bit cold in May). The crew is 4 Turkish guys: the captain, the chef, the owner and one young guy who was the bartender and handled the passengers.
Our first stop is the Kekova Sunken City, where the ruins of a Lycian town sit just under the surface of the clear blue water. An earthquake in the 2nd century sank the town, and it has sat half-submerged ever since.
When reading up before the tour, I was very excited for Kekova. However, it was a bit underwhelming (to be honest). We just breezed past it on the boat. You couldn't really see much from the boat, just a few walls and stairs going down into the water. Additionally, you might see some ads for kayaking tours. It is a protected site, so you can't swim or kayak over it. Set your expectations accordingly.
The next stop was Simena Castle, a medieval castle above the village of Kaleköy. Most of the group had already seen the castle so a small group of us took the dinghy in to shore. The small village of Kaleköy sits at the foot of the hill, full of vendors selling souvenirs and Turkish ice cream.
We then started on the climb up to Simena Castle at the top of the hill. The climb was pretty steep, but only took 15 minutes and the view over the bay is really worth it. We returned to the boat and spent the evening on deck drinking Turkish tea, playing cards and were treated to the most gorgeous sunset of the trip.
After breakfast, the boat anchors in a bay outside of the small, charming town of Kaş and the dinghy takes you in. We spent almost the entire day ashore, until about 4pm. Mainly due to the weather conditions, our group actually spent almost more time on land than on the boat!
Anyways, Kaş is known to be the prettiest town on the Riviera (I've written more about it in my Antalya guide). Our visit started with a walk up to the Antiphellos amphitheater above the water. This is a small, but well-restored Hellenistic amphitheater dating back to the 1st century BC.
After that, we headed another 10 minutes down the road to İnceboğaz Çınar Beach for a quick swim. We then spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the town and relaxing by the town square. We also ended up doing a short hike to Limanağzı. The trail follows a dusty orange path along the cliffs, past Lycian rock tombs and goats, with a steep climb at the end and the bright blue water below you the whole way.
We quickly had dinner on board and then got ready for the trip's legendary night out. Our group headed to a terrace bar called Queen and spent the night dancing and getting to know each other. One of our friends even ended up DJing at the bar!
Day 3 was the long one. We were supposed to stop in Firnaz Bay and then the Butterfly Valley on the way to Ölüdeniz. I woke up around 6am when our boat started a 5-hour crossing in heavy swell. Be warned that the hull creaks in the cabins every time the boat rolls, and two people on board got sick!
We ended up having to skip Butterfly Valley, and the waves were too big to pull into the Blue Lagoon, so we anchored in a cove nearby instead. The silver lining was having more time to relax on the boat. The blue cruise was one of the only times on my trip where I could just fully disconnect and not think about planning the next part of my trip.
That afternoon I went paragliding off the mountain above Ölüdeniz. Spoiler Alert: this is one of the coolest things I've ever done. The journey starts with a van ride taking you slowly up the switchbacks to the top of Babadağ. There was a wide concrete platform that drops off steeply, and I watched the other paragliders run off it one by one.
A large Turkish man ripping cigarettes walked up to me and introduced himself as Osman, my pilot for the ride. I suited up and we both ran off the side of the concrete platform. As hectic as the launch was, paragliding was surprisingly peaceful. You were just floating through the air and enjoying the view.
You could see the little town of Ölüdeniz hidden between two massive mountains. We were treated to an amazing day where the water was bright turquoise with streaks of sand going through and the blue lagoon glowed many different shades. We drifted down for about half an hour before landing right on the main beach. It was by far the best experience of the whole trip.
After coming back to the boat, we sailed to our home for the last night, St. Nicholas Island (or Santa Claus Island). That's right, Santa Claus was actually Turkish! For sunrise, we took a short boat ride to the island and hiked 10 minutes to the top. Along the way we passed the ruins of the Byzantine church where St. Nicholas was supposedly buried.
The sunset was great that night and it was a great way to wrap up the trip. After dinner, the captain organized some camp games. We played a game where you tie a potato to a string around your waist and race someone else to knock a pack of cigarettes across the deck with it! He didn't speak much English, but told us about his family, living in Russia and the many different jobs he had over the years.
I woke up early for a final sunrise swim on the last morning. The plan was a swim in the Blue Lagoon, but waves were too rough again, so we had our final lunch on board. We then took the short sail into Fethiye, a harbor town of red roofs under the mountains. Before you get off, you'll settle your tab in cash and say goodbye on the dock. There is no transfer at this end: the boat drops you at the harbor and you make your own way from there.
The Boat & Rooms
The Mr. Ceyhun was a 29-meter gulet, and the facilities were pretty nice compared to the sailing trips I've done in Australia and the Philippines. The boat is laid out in three main parts:
The front is the relaxation area, an open deck with big white cushions to lie out on, and it's where everyone ends up between stops, reading, sunbathing or watching the coast go by. In the evening, the captain grills dinner right over the water off the side of the boat here.
Behind it is a communal dining area with one long table where the whole group eats together. It is also where the group plays games and enjoys the tea time that comes once a day.
Then there are the cabins below deck. In general, the cabins are small and you won't spend much time in them except to sleep and change. Each one has its own small bathroom, and bath towels and linen are provided. They come as doubles, twins or triples, and solo travelers share a cabin or pay a single supplement. If you want to see more photos of the boat, the Far Out website has a full gallery.
A warning for light sleepers: on a night with rough waves, the hull creaks very loudly every time the boat rolls so bring earplugs.
The Food
The blue cruise comes with three meals a day included, plus afternoon tea with fruit and drinking water. The food is standard for this type of trip and you'll always be full. Every meal is served family style in the dining area.
Breakfast every morning was eggs, cheese, cucumber and tomato. Lunch and dinner were a spread of sides like rice and salads with a different meat every night. You'll only be served meat once a day. My highlights were the köfte the captain grilled on the first night and the fresh fish on the last night, which was the best meal on board.
Drinks other than water are not included. The bar runs on a tab with a premium on alcohol, and you aren't allowed to bring your own drinks on board.
Additional Experiences
The boat stops at some of the best places on the coast to get into the water or up in the air. A few things come free with the trip, and the rest can be added on for an extra cost:
- Paragliding over the Blue Lagoon — one of the most incredible experiences in all of my travels and I highly recommend it especially if you're an adrenaline junkie. On day 3 of the trip, you can paraglide off the mountain above Ölüdeniz and see the bright blue waters below. It lasts about 30 minutes in the air for $150, and it was by far the best thing I did on the trip. Book it before you get on the boat. See day 3 for the full story
- Scuba diving in Kaş — Kaş is one of the best places to dive in Türkiye, with clear water, underwater caves and wrecks. Day 2 in Kaş leaves time for a dive, and beginners can do an exploratory dive
- Water sports — along the way you can also try your hand at wakeboarding, water skiing, banana boats and jet skis
- Free on board — there are also plenty of options while you're on board. The boat is stocked with paddleboards, snorkel gear and fishing lines if you're looking to fill time
Other Considerations
I had a great time on the blue cruise and highly recommend this type of tour for most types of travelers. However, it is important to remember this is not a luxury yacht experience and to set your expectations accordingly. At times, the tour lacked structure, only one crew member spoke fluent English and the Wi-Fi didn't reliably work, but that never stops you from having a good time!
The most important considerations such as which duration or which tour to pick were already discussed above, but here are some additional things to consider.
Comfort
The common areas were clean and well-kept with many areas to relax during the day. The cabins were a bit small and the beds were a bit on the smaller end. Be warned: it was difficult to sleep with the creaking of the boat.
If you get seasick, I would avoid this experience entirely. Although I thought the boat was large, you can definitely feel the waves and we had a couple of crossings with intense swell.
What to Bring
The website warns you not to bring large bags, but most of the other people on my boat did anyways. Don't get on the boat without these essentials:
- Cards or a game — this was a lifesaver on board when there was no service and a lot of hours to kill between stops. It was a great way to get to know your boatmates
- A beach towel — bath towels and linen are provided, but beach towels aren't
- Sunscreen and mosquito repellent — you're outside all day, and anchored near the shore at night
- Your passport — the crew needs it for the port paperwork (...and you shouldn't be traveling around Türkiye without one anyways)
- Sandals you can kick off — shoes aren't allowed on board and you'll want them to relax
- Seasickness pills — if you're even slightly prone. One bad crossing is all it takes
Finally, bring cash in Lira since everything on the boat is cash only: the balance, the bar tab, any activities and the entrance fees at each stop. The Far Out website doesn't let you pay the full balance online so I paid my remaining balance in Lira at the beginning of the tour. It was about $350 worth of lira, with the largest 200 Lira bill equal to $4, so counting it out took a while!
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