Turkey - Port of Entry?

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philip17

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Can any forum members recommend a good minimum hassle port of entry into Turkey. I understand that some ports such as Datca insist you use an agent but in Bodrum you do not. Is that correct? I am presently cruising the Cyclades and plan to enter Turkey on 13th September.
Thanks
 
Most places now require the use of an agent. Some agents charge "Stupid money" others seem to be sensible. We used Bozburun (became a port of entry this year) which is just 10 miles from Simi. The agent there charges 30 Euro (60 TL) plus cost of transit log 50 Euro (100 TL) plus the cost of Visa's 15 Euro / £10 (per person). She does it all and you just sit back and relax. Worth every penny IMHO.
 
We checked in a few days ago in Bozburun and I agree it is very smooth there and it is well worth using the agent (Altas Yachting I think it was called). The total price quoted above is correct but not the breakdown which is:

Boat less than 30 gross tonnage
Cruising log 70 Euro
Agent fee 10 Euro

Boat above 30 gross tonnage
Cruising log 70 Euro
Agent fee 30 Euro
Lighthouse fee 115 YTL (approx 60 Euro)

We have always checked in ourselves in the past, but there was often other small extra charges such as a 8 Euro "harbour master fee" so the flat extra cost of 10 Euros for the Bozborun agent is very reasonable. It is a very small place and you don't need to walk all over town.

My only complain is that the cruising log was for many years 30 USD, so the price increase to 70 Euro is pretty steep. We have to pay the lighthouse fee and that used to be around 80 YTL, so a big increase there as well

Visa costs are added to the above and depend on your nationality. Holland is 20 USD, and Sweden is free.

Remember also that most gullets seem to use the Agents as well. Turkish registered boats pay 50 Euro for the cruising log.

Cheers,
Per
 
philip17 said:
Can any forum members recommend a good minimum hassle port of entry into Turkey. I understand that some ports such as Datca insist you use an agent but in Bodrum you do not. Is that correct? I am presently cruising the Cyclades and plan to enter Turkey on 13th September.
Thanks
Click to expand...

We checked into Bodrum in 2009 without using an agent...It was a lot of hassle & we faced obstruction all along the way.
This year we checked out at Bozburun ..no hassle cost about 10 YTL and checked back in at Datcha total cost 80 Euros . Well worth the money the agent handled everything and it took about an hour.
We used Seher tour at the quayside.
 
We renewed the transit log in Bodrum last year (late 2009) and had to use an Agent, cost was not much, sorry I forget how much.
They now have a computerised system, the agents have access online to this, you need them to log you in to the system and give you a computer printed version of the old hand written form.
 
philip17 said:
Can any forum members recommend a good minimum hassle port of entry into Turkey. I understand that some ports such as Datca insist you use an agent but in Bodrum you do not. Is that correct? I am presently cruising the Cyclades and plan to enter Turkey on 13th September.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I believe that if you are over 10m LOA you now 'have' to use an agent. This requirement came in about a year ago. I was told it is because all the data is now computerised and the data entry is in Turkish. Whether that is a valid reason I don't know.

We have used the marina at Turgetreis who act as the agent. Very efficient. Agents cost was €20. All the relevant authorities are in one place so it's pretty quick.

Also used the agent at Marmaris Yat Marina last year. Also efficient but slightly more expensive than quoted in other posts but that was because I was geeting it done at the last minute on a Saturday!

Cheers,

Bob
 
Both probably easier than Bodrum. When we booked in in June they had moved all the offices to the Ferry port whilst they re-build the office in the old harbour so it was all a bit confusing not to mention a long trek. Plus you had to have an agent - we found one on the old harbour quay - not cheap but can't remember the actual charge. We ended up in a taxi which cost a fortune to get around to the ferry port. Good luck. Bozburun sounds good to me - we will check it out next month.
 
Update from Yalikavak (Bodrum peninsula)

My transit log is due in a couple of weeks.
Previously I did this myself, drove down to Bodrum, paid the agent in the harbour for the computerised bit, then off to Harbour Master for his stamps etc. Then off to Turgutreis to get Port Police stamp (He covers Yalikavaka and Turgutreis, but spends most of the time at Turgutreis office)

Total cost was, 90TL for the transit log, about 50 TL for the agent (I checked my notes that I made a while back) plus half a day driving around and waiting for various people to come back from LONG lunches or coffee breaks etc.
As we have a villa here we hire a car whilst we are in Turkey, fuel cost alone would be another 20 TL ( not inlcuding the 40 TL cost per day of car as we already had it)
Alternatively by taxi it would have cost an extra 60TL or more.

However, there is now another Agent here in Bodrum who will do all the running around for you, even for us up in Yalikavak.

90TL for TR plus 150TL for his time and running around the peninsula. So 240 TL, a touch over £100 for another year in Turkey, no running around for me etc. Drop off docs at Marina office early morning, new TR delivered back at Lunch time.

Will be trying them out on Monday and will report back.
 
Ten penneth

Got to put me ten penneth in....Go Bozburun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Just one building....4 doors,one harbourmaster who got out of the sea to speak to us and one boy with passport stamp who then went out to play with his catapult!Didnt know which man was agent they were having some kind of get together, then a girl came by to ask for the 60 ytls cash.
 
Arrived Bozburun

Arrived Bozburun and cleared into Turkey using the Agent - Atlas Yachting. The process would have been faultless apart from the fact that due to unprecedented demand on their services (probably due to the positive posts on forums) they had run out of Transit Logs and Visa tickets!!!!The result was that I had to wait 24 hours until they could have some more sent from their Marmaris office. The process then took a little longer as by the time the Logs arrived yesterday PM there were five other yachts waiting to clear in!
The cost in total including a UK & USA Visa was 120 Euro.
I would still recommend Bozburun as a port of entry to Turkey, the harbour is nice, the harbourmaster and the people are friendly. In theory we should not have been allowed to roam off the boat until we had our visas and passports stamped, but nobody in authority seemed to worry.
I will return to Bozburun in 6 weeks time to clear out.
 
checking in and out

is this a dumb question? Should i expect to be able to check in/out of Greece/Turkey on Saturdays/Sundays? It might make a bit of difference to our delivery plan and route if we have to wait until Monday morning. Targets are Bozburun, Symi, Datca, Kos. Mid October, in case that makes a difference - i.e will the little places have shut up shop for the winter?
 
Bozburun as a Port of Exit was our best brush with officialdom, anywhere, ever. Arrived outside office 16.40hrs on a late Oct afternoon to check out of Turkey, preferably to leave the following morning. Office open but deserted. Shouted and banged but no response. Bloke from restaurant next door came and shouted louder and roused one official but we needed 4 of them. Come back in morning he says. Never mind, time for a beer and a bit of meze melange for afternoon tea. Bozburun Restaurant bloke had tried to help us so we go there (10 steps from Customs office). Looks expensive but turns out not to be too bad. 5pm, official bloke comes out of his office and to our table. Says he is now quorate with 2 others.One official still out fishing but he can do his bit later in our absence. Takes papers and passports and returns 10 mins later. Relieves us of a few Euros (18 maybe?) and all is done before we've finished our first beer. Sad that all Customs and Immigraton services worldwide are not modelled on this unexpected 5 star service! Shame that we are heading west and unlikely to revisit for a long time to come. When they choose to, the Turks do service and friendly very well indeed, now even in officialdom it seems. Gobsmacked and happy we were.
 
Pedro2729 said:
Bozburun as a Port of Exit was our best brush with officialdom, anywhere, ever. Arrived outside office 16.40hrs on a late Oct afternoon to check out of Turkey, preferably to leave the following morning. Office open but deserted. Shouted and banged but no response. Bloke from restaurant next door came and shouted louder and roused one official but we needed 4 of them. Come back in morning he says. Never mind, time for a beer and a bit of meze melange for afternoon tea. Bozburun Restaurant bloke had tried to help us so we go there (10 steps from Customs office). Looks expensive but turns out not to be too bad. 5pm, official bloke comes out of his office and to our table. Says he is now quorate with 2 others.One official still out fishing but he can do his bit later in our absence. Takes papers and passports and returns 10 mins later. Relieves us of a few Euros (18 maybe?) and all is done before we've finished our first beer. Sad that all Customs and Immigraton services worldwide are not modelled on this unexpected 5 star service! Shame that we are heading west and unlikely to revisit for a long time to come. When they choose to, the Turks do service and friendly very well indeed, now even in officialdom it seems. Gobsmacked and happy we were.
Click to expand...

Similar to our experience....just a pity the Turkish beer is piss.
 
"just a pity the Turkish beer is piss"

Try the Efes Dark, or the Marmaris (in cans from some supermarkets, though I've never seen it in a bar) is a bit less bland/gassy than the standard Efes.

Oh and re the original question, Bozburun may have jumped in price for checking in - nothing definitive, just that the word going around the cruising community sems to be that over the last couple of weeks, they've been charging the same numbers, but in € rather than TL, in which case, Datcha might well be cheaper again?
 
EFES

Yes..have tried the dark..not too bad but as you say not so readily available,...although more places were stocking it this year.We keep a supply in the fridge ,so do call in & have a drop next time you are passing.
 
Recent Bozburun check in

Oh and re the original question, Bozburun may have jumped in price for checking in - nothing definitive, just that the word going around the cruising community sems to be that over the last couple of weeks, they've been charging the same numbers, but in € rather than TL, in which case, Datcha might well be cheaper again?[/QUOTE]

We checked into Turkey at Bozburun 3 days ago, 3 November. All a bit quiet when we arrived, so we went for a beer at Osman's Place. No sign of agent at Atlas, all locked up, though to be fair we should have tried the phone number.
We went back first thing next morning, and the harbour master checked us in, total cost including transit log 180TL - Belediyese agent price he said. Only extra was our visa fees paid separately to the passport police who came at 1700. In the meantime we were free to wander ashore with our 'illegal visa-free passports'
Everyone was very friendly, Lynn at Osmans' place even did my laundry, bless her. We did eat delicious meze there on several occasions.
If you want to check in at Bozburun now you are out of luck - it has closed as a port of entry from 5 November to 8 April. They said they had a very successful year, over 1100 yachts checked in there. Next year they think it will be open all year round.
Very nice village.
PS we are 12m yacht with 2 people aboard.
 
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