Mersincik Bay

Mersincik lies at the north-western end of the Datça Peninsula, on the stretch of coast that forms the south-western entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. It is one of the last anchorages before the peninsula runs out at Knidos and the sea opens up, and it has stayed almost entirely undeveloped: olive and pine on the slopes, a farmhouse or two set back from the shore, a shallow sandy seabed that turns the water an improbable turquoise, and on a clear day the Greek island of Kos visible across the water to the north. It is reached mainly by boat, or by the coastal road that also runs out to Knidos.

At the Mouth of the Gulf of Gökova

The Datça Peninsula runs roughly 70 kilometres west from the mainland, a thin ridge of land with the Aegean on one side and the Mediterranean on the other. Mersincik sits on its northern flank, which means it faces into the Gulf of Gökova rather than out into open water, and it is backed by hills rather than by hotels. The peninsula's economy has always leaned more on almonds and olives than on tourism; Datça is Turkey's most important almond-growing district, and the blossom in late winter is a local event in its own right.

That relative emptiness is not an accident. The Datça-Bozburun region was designated a Special Environmental Protection Area by cabinet decision on 18 January 1990, a status that constrains building along the coast. The protected zone covers an important nursery ground for marine life, and the Mediterranean monk seal, the loggerhead turtle and the sandbar shark have all been recorded within it.

Anchoring and Swimming

There are effectively two anchorages at Mersincik: a narrow cove at the north-western end, and a larger bay to the south. Both are attractive, and the smaller one is popular enough with gulets that it can fill early in the season. Depths in the bay generally run from about 5 to 14 metres over sand, with good holding. The usual practice in the north-western cove is to anchor in ten to seventeen metres and run a line ashore, since there is not enough room to swing comfortably once a few boats are in.

The bay is well sheltered from the prevailing summer winds, which is why it works as an overnight stop rather than a lunchtime halt. The water is cold and exceptionally clear, the shoreline is a mix of sand and stone that repays a pair of swimming shoes, and there is nothing ashore in the way of facilities, which is very much the point. For yachts working west along the northern coast of the peninsula, a night at Mersincik has become a classic stop on a Turkey blue cruise itinerary before the run out to Knidos and the crossing beyond.

Knidos and the Carian Trail

The ancient city of Knidos stands at the peninsula's western tip, at the point where the Aegean meets the Mediterranean. A Dorian Greek foundation in ancient Caria, it grew wealthy on the sea traffic forced around the headland, and it produced people of real consequence: Eudoxus, the astronomer and mathematician, and Sostratus, the architect credited with the Pharos lighthouse at Alexandria. Its greatest fame, though, came from a statue. The Aphrodite of Knidos, carved by Praxiteles in the fourth century BC, was the first life-size nude female figure in Greek sculpture and became celebrated enough that ancient writers record people sailing to Knidos purely to see it. The original is lost; Roman copies survive.

Mersincik is also a waypoint on the Carian Trail, an 820-kilometre waymarked walking route opened in 2013 and the longest signed footpath in Turkey. Its Datça Peninsula section follows this coast, and the stage between Mersincik and Knidos runs by way of Murdala, so walkers occasionally turn up on the same shoreline where the yachts are anchored. It is one of the few places on this coast where the hiking route and the cruising route share exactly the same water.