29/08/2021
BOAT REVIEW - NESLISAH GULET
We have just spent the most wonderful couple of days aboard Neslisah, a beautiful traditional gulet.
Heading South from Bodrum to the little town of Üçağız we were greeted at the car by two smartly dressed crew, Mustafa and Harkan who welcomed us and carried our luggage to the boat where we met the boat captain and owner, Dr. Murat Pura and Yildız, co-host & stewardess. The gulet is named Neslisah, built for in 1998 for Turkish royalty, the Ottoman princess of the same name and right from the start we too were treated like royalty as well.
From the complimentary welcome drinks and a quick boat tour we knew this was not going to be just your normal experience and we were right. Neslisah is well maintained and in immaculate condition. The two main cabins are spacious and all 4 cabins very neat and tidy. We soon departed the dock heading out in the pristine waters of the Kekova wilderness area and to keep this short, will simply say we had the best couple of days onboard. We spent the daylight hours relaxing, sunning ourselves on the many sunbeds at the front of Neslisah with the occasional dip in the super clear waters and even got the chance to go for a sail aboard one of two yachts that work together with Murat, offering combined sail training with accommodation packages as well. The evenings were spent under bright starry moonlight skies on the spacious rear deck of Neslisah, being spoilt with 4 course dinners every night consisting of caviar, meat fish and seafood - all cooked and served to the highest standards (Murat is recognised as one of the highest ranked chefs in Turkey and beyond. Every dish was amazing!).
We laughed our way into the wee hours on both nights being entertained by Murat telling us the history of the area: The sunken city of Aperlae (we anchored next to this on our first night with evidence of it clearly visible all around us) , The castle of Kaleköy, The many Lycian tombs we saw. We enjoyed hearing many of Murat's life stories...all shared over more than one too many exotic and diverse alcoholic beverages on offer. There was no language barrier as Murat is fluent in more than 7 different languages! It was amazing to read the comments left by past guests in the guestbook and without giving away any secrets a lot of them are from far and wide and VERY high up in social and political circles.
All in all I could not fault the whole time aboard. Every request or requirement we had was met with a smile and every operation carried out very professionally. It is hard to believe that all food (of your choosing - you can pretty much ask for any dish you would like and Murat will prepare this for you) drinks and other aspects normally charged as add-ons in packages like this (fuel, snorkelling gear, use of water toys etc.) are included in the very modest price. I should add the drinks such as soft-drinks, beer, wine and most spirits are included in the price but for a little extra there are high end champagnes, wines and spirits available too... very high end ,-)
Well done to Murat and his team! You provide an excellent experience and one that ourselves, like all your other past guests I'm sure, will remember forever and highly recommend.
Neslisah Yacht is available for overnight stays without leaving the marina, daily, weekly or longer charters. Murat also offers a combined motorcycle sailing package with pricing & information on all these bookings below
Charters info on aqua1charters.com - https://aqua1charters.com/city/kaleucagiz
Overnight booking info on aqua1BNB.com - https://aqua1bnb.com/city/kekova/
Just some Wikipedia facts about the are for those interested:
The Kekova region was declared a specially protected area on 18 January 1990 by Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forest. All kinds of diving and swimming were prohibited and subject to special permits from governmental offices. In later years the prohibition has been lifted except for the part where the sunken city is
Kaleköy (locally just "Kale") (ancient Simena) is a Lycian site on the Turkish coast. It is a small village with the partly sunken ruins of Aperlae[4] and a castle. Access to the village is possible only by sea.
Üçağız (ancient name, Teimioussa) is a village one km from Kaleköy, north of a small bay by the same name, with the ruins of Teimioussa to the east. The name "Üçağız" means "three mouths", referring to the three exits to open sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kekova
