Small family owned yacht charter company Salamander Voyages will offer a fascinating new History Voyage launching in June 2024.
This new seven-night itinerary will be a fantastic opportunity for guests sailing the Turquoise Coast to delve into the incredible history of the region and learn about the many intriguing ancient sites along the way.
The voyage of discovery begins at Bodrum Castle, built on the ancient ruins of Halicarnassus. Here, the jewel in the crown is the Museum of Underwater Archaeology, which is housed within the castle, displaying shipwrecks and their contents from as far back as 3,500 years ago. While in Bodrum, guests will also have the opportunity to visit the Halicarnassus Amphitheatre, one of the more significant surviving remains of the ancient city.
From Bodrum guests will sail onto Gumusluk (ancient Myndos), where they can explore this settlement, and walk across the ancient sunken walls to Rabbit Island. From here it’s on to Knidos, a largely unrestored ancient city dating back 3,000 years, and variously occupied and extended by the Carians, Ancient Greeks, Romans and Byzantines until it was overrun by Arab invaders. Although it was largely destroyed by two earthquakes in the 7th century AD, work is currently underway to restore some of the lower parts of the city, including temples, an amphitheatre, marketplace and churches.
The final port of call before sailing back to Bodrum is the magical Sedir Adasi (Cleopatra’s Island), which sits at the top of the beautiful and unspoilt Gulf of Gokova. Legend has it that Mark Anthony had the extraordinary golden sands shipped to this small island from North Africa for his lover Cleopatra.
The History Voyage is available on all Salamander Voyages’ private charters out of Bodrum. In keeping with Salamander Voyages’ unique highly inclusive offering, there is no extra cost for this new itinerary, which includes daily breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, five dinners onboard and all house drinks, crew, introductory coaching on the RS Zest dinghies, full use of non-motorised water toys on board, local airport transfers, harbour dues, fuel and water.