If you’re in Bodrum for a holiday on the beach, enjoying the sun and the fun, it’s too late for you to consider changing your mind and sailing away into the blue - unless you’re independently so well off that you can disregard what you’ve already paid and pay more for a chartered yacht. Since most readers will not be in this enviable category, we recommend that you make do with the next best and take a daily boat tour. We promise that you’ll have a lot of fun, however pale and unexceptional such a trip may be when compared to the glory of a real Blue Voyage. Never mind.

Go on a daily boat tour of the nearby bays and then multiply your pleasure a thousandfold to give you just an idea of a week or two aboard one of Bodrum’s traditional wooden yachts sailing along the beautiful southern shores of Turkey. The anticipated bliss may motivate you to come back again, this time not to stay in a hotel but to sail in the wake of Cleopatra. The Blue Voyage is a supreme adventure. It is an exploration of ancient sites and beauties of nature. It is a pleasure cruise where you are pampered by the captain and crew. No cooking, cleaning, or washing the dishes, no worries about tomorrow’s menu. No concern with Customs, harbormasters or any other authorities, as it’s all taken care of by your captain. Just lay back and bathe in luxury, swim, snorkel, or explore the imposing sites of ancient civilizations, places where Carians, Lydians, Lycians, Greeks, Romans or Crusaders once trod. And at the end of the day (close your eyes and imagine!) anchor in a secluded bay and gaze at the most amazing display of stars, a sight such as is very seldom seen in the modern much polluted world, and never in cities.