At our first glimpse of the gorgeous Turkish coastline we could immediately see why this area is known as the Turquoise coast. Yes, you guessed it, the water is, well, turquoise. In fact it is so incredibly blue that you would be forgiven if you thought that someone had slipped a little hallucinogenic into your cup of tea. We stayed our first night in Göcek where we lounged in the pool and stocked up on supplies (read an incredible amount of booze) for our sailing adventure.

Andrew and I, as well as 8 of our friends, had booked on a boat called Elpis for a week. We had the whole boat to ourselves and each couple had their own cabin and bathroom (I know, so luxurious). And to make everyone even greener with envy, the boat was enormous. Elpis came equipped with a wonderful chef and a few staff members who made our stay absolutely fantastic.

All the food was included in our trip and I tell ya, we ate like kings and queens. We feasted on many olives, much cheese and countless Turkish dishes we had never heard of. Lets just say that everyone’s swimsuits were looking extra tight by the end of the week.

Each day we seemed to follow a similar routine, we would go for our morning swim, head off to a new bay to explore and enjoy lunch, followed by an afternoon sail to the another new bay to anchor down for the night. Each place we visited was absolutely stunning and we spent many an hour lounging on in the water with Efes (beer) in hand.

We occasionally hopped off the boat to explore a beach or island. Our favourite was wondering around the market town ruins on Gemiler Island (also know as St Nicholas Island). It is famous for being the supposed resting place of St Nicholas, otherwise known as Santa Claus. We engaged in some much needed exercise with a walk through the ruins to the top of the hill where we were rewarded by some spectacular views. It made us realise just how old this area of the world is and we marvelled at the civilizations that had once walked the same paths we now scrambled along.

We also stopped off at Hamam Bay where ruins remain of where Cleopatra and Marc Anthony bathed when they were in the area thousands of years before. We resisted the urge to skinny dip and instead floated through the old stone passageways.

We spent a lot of time engaged in water activities such as snorkeling and paddleboarding. We even managed to convince one of the crew, Tolga, to tow us around on the paddle board with the speed boat. As much as Andrew was determined to spear a fish on this trip they seemed to always know when he was entering the water with the spear gun. Our attempts at fishing too were unsuccessful. However, it may have been for a lack of patience and the tempting call of cocktail hour.

Our wildlife spotting proved quite successful with many a mountain goat spied precariously at the edge of the cliffs. We were also lucky to see turtles nearly every day lazily cruising past the boat.

Overall our time on the Turquoise Coast was an idyllic and relaxing holiday away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. We didn’t lift a finger the entire trip and truly switched off from the world. Cost wise it is very expensive but I will say that it was worth every penny and the value for money was incredible.

Here is a breakdown of our costs for 2 people for 7 days:
Accommodation Gocek – £46 (NZ$92)
Sailing Trip – £1,163 (NZ$2,318)
Tips – £140 (NZ$279)
Food/Drink – £420 (NZ$837)
Activities – £2 (NZ$4)
Transport – £22 (NZ$44)
Total spent – £1,793 (NZ$3,573)