Kille Buku

Kille Buku is a wide, stony bay on the north shore of the Gulf of Fethiye, with Bedri Rahmi Bay on one side and Boynuzbuku on the other. It has more beach than most of the coves in this part of the coast, a sandy seabed that holds an anchor, and enough shade from the pines behind it to make a long lunch stop worthwhile.

Where Kille Buku Is

The bay appears on charts and signposts as Kille Buku, Kille Bay or Kille Koyu. Administratively it falls just inside the Dalaman district of Mugla province, although in cruising terms it belongs to the Gocek bays and is usually reached from there. Behind the shore is the small plain that gives the place its other local name, Killebuku, rising gently away from the water between wooded hills.

Most visitors arrive by boat, but there is road access as well: roughly 23 kilometres from Dalaman centre, off the Mugla to Fethiye road towards Gocek, where a sign for Kille Koyu appears shortly before the tunnel. The last stretch of track is rough. From the bay you can walk to Boynuzbuku on one side and Bedri Rahmi Bay on the other.

The Beach and the Shore

The beach is pebble rather than sand, with stones a little larger than shingle at the waterline, and the bottom turns to sand as the water deepens. The sea here is usually flat. Walking the shoreline you pass pine forest, a freshwater spring running out between the rocks, and the remains of an old chapel among the trees.

Facilities are modest but real: showers, toilets, a campground and a small restaurant doing beach food. A buoyed swimming area keeps boat traffic out of the shallows, which is worth knowing if you are sailing with children.

Anchoring at Kille Buku

Yachts anchor in 10 to 12 metres over sand, which gives good holding, and there is room for larger boats. The bay is protected from most directions; the exception is a strong southerly, which sends swell straight in, so it is not a place to sit out a blow from that quarter.

That combination of shelter, space and a beach you can actually land on is why the cove is a classic stop on a Gocek blue cruise itinerary rather than a detour. The season runs from May to October. High summer brings air temperatures around 33 degrees Celsius and sea temperatures near 28.

Gocek and the Bays Nearby

Gocek itself is a natural harbour at the head of the Gulf of Fethiye, sheltered by the wooded foothills of the Taurus mountains and looking out over the islands and coves of the gulf. It is a small town with six marinas, which is what has made it the usual starting point for charters in this area. The main street, Turgut Ozal Caddesi, runs the length of the waterfront with textile and gift shops and restaurants along it, and there are more places to eat set back in the gardens inland.

Within a short run of Kille Buku:

• Aga Limani, a double bay with anchoring room in both arms.
• Bedri Rahmi Bay, also called Tasyaka, the next cove along and known for the fish painted on a rock by the artist Bedri Rahmi Eyuboglu.
• Domuz Island, named after the wild pigs that once lived there.
• Gobun Bay, south of Domuz Island, with a narrow entrance that opens into a much wider basin.
• Gemiler Island, further down the coast towards Oludeniz, where a Byzantine settlement and its churches still stand on the hillside.