Marinas in Turkey, ports of call for international and local

yachtsmen Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, t ...

, are equipped with modern services routinely expected in recreational boating industry. They are found either in or near

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

, the two largest port cities of the country whose economies are focused on tourism in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

or the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, with a particular concentration in southwest

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. The country's increasing popularity in

nautical tourism Nautical tourism, also called water tourism, is tourism that combines sailing and boating with vacation and holiday activities. It can be travelling from port to port in a cruise ship, or joining boat-centered events such as regattas or landing ...

is advantaged by its coastline and a past noted for the seafaring literature, some of whose references are part of everyday culture, as is the case for the

Blue Cruise A Blue Cruise, also known as a ''Blue Voyage'' () or ''Blue Tour'' (), is a term used for recreational voyages along the Turkish Riviera, on Turkey's southwestern coast along the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. The cruise is typically a week- ...

, and the search for the Golden Fleece. It is noteworthy to recall that, apart from the larger installations listed below, there are also numerous points of stop and supply which offer the advantages inherent to smaller enterprises, sometimes in a family environment, at the same time as putting the geography of the Turkish coasts to good use. Since recent years , these installations offer the modern infrastructure and facilities that are considered as requirements with increasing rapidity and sophistication, catering a whole range of services. Sizable

investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

s by non-Turkish investors have been made in some of the

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

installations below and prominent Turkish private sector groups view marinas as an attractive investment that also enhances their prestige, and thus have built or acquired one to include in their overall portfolio.

List of facilities

There are close to three dozen

s currently (2010) operational in Turkey. Many of these were initially constructed through public investment, and later purchased and fine-tuned by the private sector.

Profiles of operating companies

Palmarina Bodrum

Palmarina Bodrum is located in

Yalıkavak Yalıkavak is a town near Bodrum in Muğla Province, on the Aegean Region, Aegean coast of Turkey. It is from Bodrum, on the northern side of the Bodrum peninsula. Yalıkavak is surrounded by hills providing views of the town and surrounding Aeg ...

, the southern tip of the Aegean Sea. Palmarina Bodrum, operating under the Blue Flag, is the only mega and giga yacht capacity marina of Turkey hosting up to 69 Mega Yachts of 40 meters and above to dock all year around, as well as sail boats and motor yachts of various lengths.

Local specialist firms

Alaçatı Alaçatı is a part of İzmir on the Western coast of Turkey, often noted for its architecture, vineyards, windmills, and sea. Alaçatı is one of the most traditional towns in Turkey, with stone houses, narrow streets, boutique hotels and resta ...

Marina and İzmir's Levent Marina are operated by locally based enterprises and Ataköy Marina by a select

yacht club A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mari ...

. Alaçatı Marina is located within the compound of the ongoing and large-scale Port Alaçatı construction project intended for international holiday home-owners.

International investments

Port Göcek is managed by the British Camper and Nicholsons marina division CNMarinas, in a joint-venture with the owner, Turkey's Turkon Holding. The marina is part of an integrated leisure compound, at the tip of a natural park and complete with a Swissotel and the beach gravel brought over from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 2006, Camper and Nicholson also won the bid, together with IC Holding, for the completion works and the operating of Çeşme harbour marina. It will be the second built in this city.

Under construction

Turkey's priority agenda item in the field of nautical tourism remains the expansion of the zone with proper infrastructure and especially the introduction of her

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

coast to international yachting and developing this region's potential. To date, marina development in Turkey's Black Sea coast, adjusted to serve modern-day

Argonauts The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, '' Argo'', ...

, lags very much behind Turkey's other regions. The infrastructure for a 175-boat capacity marina is actually fully laid in

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

and Turkey's Ministry of Transport is seeking private investors for the complementary works and the operational commitments. Other investments in the same stage of readiness are the two marinas (500- and 200-boat capacity) within

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

metropolitan area, two in

Antalya Province Antalya Province ( tr, ) is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists visit ...

(

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort city and a district of Antalya Province on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, east of the city of Antalya. As of Turkey's 2010 census, the city had a population of ...

with 425-boat and

Gazipaşa Gazipaşa () is a town and district of Antalya Province on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey, 180 km east of the city of Antalya. Gazipaşa is a quiet rural district famous for its bananas, oranges and international airport of Gazi ...

with 250-boat capacities), two more tendered and concluded investments in

İzmir Province İzmir Province ( tr, İzmir ili) is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 distri ...

each with 400-boat capacities, in

Sığacık Sığacık is a seaside neighborhood of Seferihisar ilçe (district) of İzmir Province, Turkey. It is at . Its distance to Seferihisar centrum is less than . It is situated on a small peninsula, facing north. The harbor is in the east side of and ...

and inside

Çeşme Çeşme () is a coastal town and the administrative centre of the district of the same name in Turkey's westernmost end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula that also carries the same name and that extends inland to form a whole with the ...

harbour, and finally two small marinas for up to 100 boats in the district of

Burhaniye Burhaniye is a coastal town and district of Balıkesir Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. The district is located on the Aegean coast and is known for its olive oil. Burhaniye has a port and a museum of archeology. A museum for the Turk ...

in the

(neighboring

Ayvalık Ayvalık () is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey. It is a district of Balıkesir province. The town centre is connected to Cunda Island by a causeway and is surrounded by the archipelago of Ayvalık Islands, which face ...

) and in Kumburgaz coast of İstanbul's

Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a city and a district in Istanbul Province along the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, outside the urban core of Istanbul, containing many holiday and weekend homes for residents of the city. The ...

district, in the Sea of Marmara.Turkish Ministry of Transport, General Directorate of Construction
Finally, the compound of İzmir's historic Konak Pier building is intended to be enlarged to include Turkey's largest marina, in Konak district in the heart of İzmir metropolitan area, once the suitable adjacent area is made available. The shopping mall part of Konak Pier is already in service since two years and houses up-market stores.

References

External links

Turkish Coast Guard Command - pages in English

{{refend Marinas * Marinas Marinas Tourism in Northern Cyprus