Twelve Islands Tour from Fethiye — Day-by-Day Itinerary, Anchorages & 2026 Pricing

The Twelve Islands tour is the most-booked gulet route in Turkey, and the reason most people who've done a blue cruise have done one in Fethiye. It's not actually twelve named islands — closer to fifteen, depending on whose list you read — but the marketing name has stuck since the 1970s.

This is the day-by-day breakdown of the standard 7-night route from Fethiye, what each anchorage is genuinely like at sea-level, and the practical decisions (when, what size boat, how to book) that determine whether the trip is good or great.

The fast answer

A standard Twelve Islands charter from Fethiye:

• Length: 7 nights, Saturday to Saturday (the 4-night version is a legitimate sampler; see the day-charter section below)
• Distance: ~120 nautical miles total, mostly in 30-to-90-minute hops
• Wind: Sheltered from the meltemi by Babadağ — calmer than Bodrum or Marmaris in July/August
• Best months: Late May to mid June, then mid September to mid October
• 2026 pricing range: €17,500–€55,000/week for a 12-guest gulet, depending on age, finish and crew tier
• Where to depart from: Fethiye marina (Ece, Karagözler) is the classic; Göcek is 25 minutes closer to Dalaman airport but pricier

For most groups the right answer is a 30m, 6-cabin gulet at €25,000– €32,000/week in mid-season. That puts you at the median of the live fleet and gives you a captain who knows the route by heart.

What "Twelve Islands" actually means

The route covers the eastern half of the Fethiye gulf — the pine-lined peninsula from Fethiye town to Yassıca and back, with side trips into Göcek's deeper bays. The "islands" are technically:

1. Tersane Adası
2. Domuz Adası
3. Yassıca Adaları (a cluster, counted as one)
4. Tavşan Adası
5. Göcek Adası
6. Kızıl Ada
7. Zeytin Adası
8. Bedri Rahmi Bay (mainland, not an island, but always on the list)
9. Boynuz Bükü (cove, also not an island)
10. Yedi Burunlar (the Seven Capes)
11. Aksazlar
12. Hamam Bay

Most captains hit eight to ten of these on a 7-night charter, depending on wind and your group's pace. The remaining few are weather-protection fallbacks for if the meltemi picks up, or skipped if the group prefers longer swim stops.

The standard 7-night itinerary

The conventional order varies by captain, but the route below is the most-booked variant — it builds anticipation, runs the longer hops in the mornings, and lands the prettiest anchorage on the last night so people disembark wanting to come back.

Day 1 (Saturday): Fethiye → Yassıca

Boarding from 4pm at Fethiye marina. Bags onboard, captain briefs the safety gear and the anchor protocol, and you're off the dock by 5pm. A 75-minute motor-sail to Yassıca Adaları — a cluster of five islets you can wade between in waist-deep water. Sunset swim, captain's welcome dinner of calamari and şiş on the back deck, sleep on board.

Why it works as the first night: Yassıca is a soft introduction. The water is shallow and clear, the islands are close enough that nervous swimmers can wade, and the calm conditions mean nobody sleeps badly on the first night. Captains who put a more dramatic anchorage first risk the guests who get seasick on the transit.

Day 2 (Sunday): Yassıca → Göcek bay → Domuz Adası

Morning swim, breakfast underway. Cross the gulf to Göcek for a one-hour shore stop — coffee, last-minute provisions, the chandlery if anyone forgot something — and then onto Domuz Adası ("Pig Island", named after the wild boar that used to live there) for the afternoon and overnight.

Domuz has a fish restaurant on the south shore (€60/person all-in, book through the captain) and a small Lycian ruin on the headland. Most groups do dinner aboard, do shore drinks at the restaurant.

Day 3 (Monday): Domuz → Tersane → Hamam Bay

The middle of the trip is the Tersane day. Tersane Adası has the remains of a Byzantine shipyard underwater on the east side — visible at 4–6m depth in good conditions, snorkellable for any decent swimmer. Captains anchor on the protected south side and run the dinghy across.

Mid-afternoon hop to Hamam Bay — a deep cove with a partially submerged Roman bath ruin (you can swim through the arches). It's the most photographed stop on the trip and the busiest. Sleep here only if you're on a smaller gulet that can tuck into the eastern corner; larger boats overnight at the next bay south.

Day 4 (Tuesday): Hamam → Boynuz Bükü → Yedi Burunlar

Eastward run along the Seven Capes — a stretch of clean coast with no villages, just pine forest and limestone. Boynuz Bükü is the lunch stop; sandy bottom, shallow water, captains often run the SUP and snorkelling gear here. Anchor for the night at one of the protected coves on the inside of Yedi Burunlar.

This is the day for water toys. If your captain has a wakeboard or inflatable banana, they break it out in the afternoon — Yedi Burunlar is flat enough for it. Most captains charge €100–€200 for a session.

Day 5 (Wednesday): The Ölüdeniz / Butterfly Valley side-trip

A long-runs day. Captains who include this as a "Twelve Islands plus" option add Day 5 as a 4-hour push out to Butterfly Valley — the cliff- walled cove east of Ölüdeniz. You can't anchor inside (the valley is a nature reserve) but anchoring just outside and dinghying in is allowed.

Butterfly Valley is the trip's only really crowded stop in July and August — daily tour boats from Ölüdeniz hit it from 11am to 4pm. The trick is to time your visit before 10am or after 5pm, when the day- trippers are gone. Smart captains anchor at Kabak Bay overnight and run the dinghy in at dawn.

If you'd rather skip the long run, the alternative Day 5 is a quiet double-anchorage in two of the smaller Yedi Burunlar coves. Less to photograph, but a much calmer day on board.

Day 6 (Thursday): Bedri Rahmi → Tomb Bay

Westward back toward Fethiye, with a stop at Bedri Rahmi Bay — named after the Turkish painter Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, who painted his own fish mural on a flat rock above the cove in 1973. The mural is still there, maintained by his family.

Late afternoon at Tomb Bay (also called Wall Bay) — the Lycian rock-cut tombs are visible from the boat. Don't try to scramble up to them; the path is steep and unmarked, and locals discourage visitors for a reason.

Day 7 (Friday): Tomb Bay → Aksazlar → Fethiye

The last full day on the water. Aksazlar is the prettiest of the small Göcek-side coves — narrow entrance, clear sand, often busy with day boats from Göcek but quieter once the day-trippers leave at 5pm. Last night dinner aboard, captain-and-crew tip envelope, packing.

Day 8 (Saturday): Fethiye marina

Disembark by 10am for the next charter's boarding. Most groups have a midday flight from Dalaman; the captain or your concierge arranges the 60-minute taxi (~€80) the day before.

When to go

The full breakdown is in Best Time to Sail in Turkey, but for the Twelve Islands specifically:

The two sweet spots both work — late May/June if you want flowering hillsides and longer days, mid-September if you want warmer water and fewer kids around.

What size boat for the route

For 4 guests: a small motor yacht (8m) or a 4-cabin sailboat (€8,000– €15,000/week) is plenty. The Twelve Islands hops are short; you don't need a big boat.

For 6–8 guests: a mid gulet (24–28m, 4–5 cabins) at €17,000–€28,000/week is the most-booked size for the route. Two extra cabins for storage and privacy.

For 10–12 guests: 30–32m, 6 cabins, €25,000–€45,000/week. The classic "family of four with the in-laws and another couple" boat. See How many people fit on a gulet for the sweet-spot breakdown.

For 14+ guests: 35m+, 7–8 cabins, €40,000+/week. Captain runs a fuller crew (extra deckhand, sometimes a steward) and the menu starts to look hotel-grade.

Browse Fethiye gulets →

Sub-week version: 4-night sampler

A handful of Fethiye captains have started accepting 4-night day charters on the route — typically Tuesday to Saturday. The itinerary collapses to:

• Tue: Fethiye → Yassıca → Domuz
• Wed: Domuz → Tersane → Hamam
• Thu: Hamam → Yedi Burunlar
• Fri: Yedi Burunlar → Aksazlar → Fethiye

You skip Bedri Rahmi, Tomb Bay and the Butterfly Valley option. The pricing is roughly daily_rate × 4 with a 20–25% short-stay premium — typical mid-2026 numbers run €18,000–€22,000 for a mid gulet, vs €21,000–€28,000 for the 7-night version. Saves you 4 nights of crew salary, costs you the second half of the route.

See our Day Yacht Charter guide for the full breakdown of when sub-week makes sense.

How to book without paying double

Three rules.

Don't book the first quote. Fethiye gulet prices vary 30–60% between operators for the same boat. Get three quotes minimum.

Verify TURSAB licensing. Any legitimate Turkish operator has a TURSAB licence number; ask for it. The full booking process is in How to book a Turkish gulet.

Book the boat, not the route. The "Twelve Islands tour" is a route, not a product — captains run their own variant of it. Pick the boat first, then ask the captain to talk through their version of the route. The good ones will tell you which days they swap out and why.

What's next

The fastest way to see what's available for your dates is the Find your charter wizard — set vessel type, group size and dates, and we'll show you the Fethiye gulets that fit, scored by how well they match a Twelve Islands itinerary. Or browse the Fethiye fleet directly.

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The Twelve Islands route changes slightly captain-to-captain — the itinerary above is the most common variant. For your specific captain's day-by-day, ask in the inquiry; most send a custom proposal within 24 hours.