Cokertme

Aegean, Turkey 1 tours visit here

Çökertme is a small fishing village and sheltered bay on the northern shore of the Gulf of Gökova, on Turkey's southern Aegean coast in Muğla province. It lies east of Bodrum and is reached by a winding road that drops through pine forest from the main Milas–Bodrum road. Pine-covered slopes run almost to the waterline, and the settlement is little more than a line of jetties, small guesthouses and family-run fish restaurants along the shore, looking south across the gulf towards the Datça peninsula. Most people arrive by sea. Çökertme is one of the standard anchorages on Blue Cruise (Mavi Yolculuk) gulet routes out of Bodrum and Marmaris, valued because the bay is well protected from the meltem, the prevailing northerly summer wind. Boats usually tie up in the late afternoon, leaving the evening for swimming, snorkelling in the clear water and a meal ashore before an overnight stay on board. The village also gave its name to one of the best-known folk songs of the Turkish Aegean. Activity is concentrated between late spring and early autumn, when the sea is warm and the gulets are running; outside that season the bay is quiet and many of the seasonal businesses close.