Catalada Island

Catalada — Catal Ada on Turkish charts — is a small uninhabited island lying about 3 miles (5 km) off Turgutreis, at the western tip of the Bodrum peninsula. Three conical hills give it both its outline and its name: catal is Turkish for fork. It is close enough for a day boat out of Turgutreis and well placed as a first or last stop on a longer cruise heading out into the Aegean.

The island itself

• Shape: three conical hills rising off a rocky, pebbly shore. The high ground gives a clear line of sight back to the peninsula and westward into open water.
• Coves: several small beaches with no road access, reached from an anchored boat or on foot over the ridge.
• Water: clear and deep close in to the rock, which is the reason dive boats from Turgutreis work here regularly.
• Cover: wild scrub and pine on the slopes, with no permanent settlement.

It has close neighbours. Topan Adasi, Coban Adasi and Yassiada all lie within a short hop, so Catalada normally appears in an itinerary alongside them rather than on its own. Administratively it belongs to Mugla province.

What is known of its past

The island was formerly called Volo, and in antiquity it was counted among the Xenagorou islands. Beyond that the record is thin. There is no settlement on it, no standing ruin to visit and no excavation to read about, so the honest summary is that what it offered ancient shipping is roughly what it offers now: shelter from one quarter or another, a fixed bearing off a low coast, and deep water right up to the rock.

Anchoring and the run out from Bodrum

Because it sits just off the peninsula rather than out in exposed water, Catalada is one of the anchorages you'll visit on a private gulet charter from Bodrum almost by default. It is the natural first swim stop for anyone heading west out of Turgutreis, and it offers a lee to duck into when the afternoon wind gets up. Regular day cruises run from the mainland through the season, so the coves are not empty in August, but they clear out by evening.

Diving, swimming and the walk up

Diving is the main organised activity here. Boats run out from Turgutreis to the drop-offs around the island, and the same visibility that makes the trip worthwhile also makes plain snorkelling off an anchored boat worth the effort, over rock and seagrass rather than sand.

On land the terrain is rough — rock and pebble, short but steep going — and the walking is a scramble rather than a path. The payoff is the view from the hills, best taken in the last hour before sunset, with the Bodrum peninsula on one side and open sea on the other. In the warmer months the coves themselves work as picnic ground, and that is what most visitors come for.