BOZBURUN
Updated on : 25th April, 2017
Photograph by Yavuz TuÄŸcu
Bozburun is located on the northern side of the peninsula, which has the same name. The distance from Marmaris to Bozburun is 52 km (1 hour) via Datça Road-Hisarönü-Orhaniye-Turgut-Selimiye route, 46 km (1 hour) via Ä°çmeler-Turunç-Osmaniye-Bayır Village-Selimiye route, and 9 km (15 minutes) from Selimiye. If you are using mobile navigation apps, it's better search for “Bozburun Belediyesi”(Municipality), rather than “Bozburun”, because the latter takes to to a deserted mountain somewhere in Bozburun Peninsula.
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Shipbuilding
The water resources in Bozburun are very limited, compared to other parts of Marmaris. So it has a barren vegetation cover. Bozburun has taken the name from its grizzly mountains. 'Bozburun' is a compound word in Turkish, 'boz' means 'grizzy', and 'burun' means 'cape'. The population of Bozburun is about 2000, some of whom are engaged in tourism and fishing. But the most prominent thing associated with Bozburun is boat building. It is one of the three important locations in Turkey (other two are Bodrum and Marmaris), where wooden gulet type boats are built and repaired. Gulet building is very widespread in the town. So it's possible to see small shipyards everywhere in the neighbourhood. Since the gulets of Bozburun are in high demand, the shipyards continue production intensely both in summer and winter. Additionally, people of Bozburun do not only build boats, but also operate them in touristic areas such as Marmaris and Bodrum.
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Bozburun is a small and calm neighborhood. You can walk from one end to the other in 15-20 minutes. And when walking you usually don't see a crowd of people around. In other words, Bozburun is not one of the places of Marmaris, which has taken advantage of tourism. The town at large attracts sailors, and those who want to have a vacation in serenity. In terms of touristic facilities, there are small hotels, pensions, fish restaurants, and daily/blue tour boats in Bozburun. The quality of these facilities is good enough, and the prices are quite reasonable compared to centre of Marmaris or Selimiye. A good part of the clients of these facilities are yachtsmen. One of the reasons that brings sailors to Bozburun is the existence of many untouched coves and islands around. It's also possible to see these coves by attending daily boat tours.
Dirsek Bükü (Elbow Cove)
One of the close by coves is Dirsek Bükü. This bay resembles a bent arm, and is a place of choice by yachts, because it is well sheltered from the winds. Although it is not very large, 70-80 boats can take shelter inside the cove during bad weather conditions. The sea bottom is completely covered with fine sand. In the cove there is a great fish restaurant, half of the customers of which are English sailors.
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Customs
Since 2015 Bozburun has its own Harbour Customs Port to provide customs clearance for Gulet Cruises that sail to Symi, Rhodes and the other close-range Greek islands. This was a big boost to tourism as Gulet Cruises or Blue Cruises can enter and leave Turkey via Bozburun.[reference] However, the harbour has a very limited capacity to deal with the increasing demand.
Bonus-1: A famous singer and composer Bülent Ortaçgil moved from Ä°stanbul to Bozburun 30 years ago, and spends half of the year in his stone house under the rocks. So long as he has written a song for Bozburun. Here is the song.
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Bonus-2: Bill Gates and Roman Abramovic (a famous Russian businessman) are among the celebrities who have visited Bozburun.