Week in Bodrum

Its October and therefore time for a week somewhere in the sun. James had to do some diving to get a development week off work so we started looking around the Mediterranean for places to go. Egypt priced us out again so the other options were Tunisia and Turkey. As the Government is currently advising against Tunisia due to the risk of kidnapping that left us with Turkey. It may have been last on the list but we found it to have been a great choice.

As before when we went to Cyprus we booked a cheap deal on the internet. This time however we were more careful with the location of the hotel. Close to Bodrum but also next to a marina with some Diving schools in a village called Turgutreis. Once we had booked it we discovered two of our friends, Jules and Sam were going to be on a sailing holiday in Turgutreis too. When we arrived we left the airport to find the transfer company. They looked at our forms and said 'Your hotel is closed'. However the company have changed you to another hotel. We didn't have much choice at that point but to go to the new hotel as it was gone midnight.

More photos

The new hotel was called the Bodrum holiday resort and spa. It was apparently a 5 star hotel and was pretty good. Not the same type of 5 star you would get in the UK but good none the less. However it was based on the other side of Bodrum. Even better though it had a diving school attached, based on the hotels 'private beech' which was a area on the waters edge, though not sandy.

We spent the first day getting acquainted with the area and made our way into Bodrum to have a look around. Bodrum was probably originally a fishing town based on the South East Coast of Turkey. It now is bustling harbour town obviously thriving on the tourist industry and yachting industry. Whilst we were there it was the week of the wooden boat festival. As a result the harbour was lined with hundreds of traditional looking wooden yachts which effectively surrounded the castle sitting at the midpoint of the harbour.

On our second day we took the bus into Bodrum and then another bus out the other side to Turgutreis to meet Jules and Sam on their boat. They had gone for a holiday with Sunsail so we joined them on their yacht for a day and went sailing. It was lovely. Really good weather, the first they had during their holiday. Jules has done his yacht master qualification but said he had stretched his sailing capability during the holiday because of the storms they had been through. The day we sailed though the sun shone and there was a light breeze, perfect for making our way under sail to a nearby village just round the coast called Gumusluk.

When we got there the small pontoon was full so we tied up to a buoy before getting into the dinghy to go ashore. Despite best efforts Jules could not get the outboard running so instead we paddled the short way to the restaurants lined up along the beech. We ate lunch of fresh fish before Jules and Sam attempted to wade to a small island which had sunk after an earthquake. James and I decided to save the camera and stay in the dry. We did get some funny pictures of them before they gave up and waded back. We had time for some more sailing before heading back to the marina for some drinks and some dinner.

Jules and Sam

The next day we had a relaxing day at the hotel before heading into town for some dinner. Being around the hotel for the day meant we had a chance to book the diving for the next two days. James booked the deep diver course and I booked the Advanced Open water course which is the natural progression from my previous qualification. The Advanced Open Water means you do five dives of different specialities. On the first day we boarded the boat and motored off to a local island that had some good diving sites. James and I dived together for the first day. Both of us did a deep dive to 34m and had a look at a plane wreck. The afternoon dive was to 25m and through a ship wreck. We discovered later on that both the wrecks had been sunk artificially by the Turkish government to provide some good diving sites. The dives were good and felt happy and comfortable in the water. The only problem was how nauseous I felt once I got out of the water and back onto the boat. Strangely I think it was the diving rather that the boat which made me feel ill. I did recover quickly though.

The next day we took the boat out again to do our third dive together. This was to practise buoyancy control at different depths. I discovered it is very difficult to laugh under water with a regulator in your mouth. I had got my weight balance right and now could float still, suspended in the water without floating up or sinking down. However for some reason whenever I tried to hold both my flippers in the crossed legged position I rolled backwards so my head was down and feet pointing up to the surface. The more I tried the funnier it got until I eventually gave up. My third an fourth dives I did with just the instructor as James had gone off to do another deep dive. I did a navigation dive and learnt how to use a compass underwater. I also did a fish recognition dive which was more of a recreational dive looking at the local marine life.

The next day was Sunday and after all the diving time to relax I thought. I booked James and I into the spa to have a Turkish bath and massage. I have never been to a spa before and thought whilst in Turkey why not. It was good. We started with a few minutes in the sauna before lying on a hot plinth for a scrub. They then covered us in bubbles squashed out of a giant muslin bubble before a brief massage and rinse. We then dried off and had a long massage before finishing off with a face mask. The whole thing lasted about two hours and was great.

Monday was our last whole day and as we had to check out a midday we had planned to head into Bodrum to look around the castle. When we got there we found the castle was open every day except Mondays. We headed to the tourist information shop to find out what else there was to look around. We were told that on Mondays all the museums and monuments are closed. We had no option but to head back to the hotel to read by the sea. Not a bad option to be honest because it was nice and hot. At just gone 10pm our transfer arrived to take us back to the nightmare that is Bodrum airport and before too long we were back in the freezing temperatures that is the UK.