Visiting Istanbul - Marina recommendations please

[Chief Charlie]

Our proposed itinerary for 2016 includes a visit to Istanbul for 4-5 days in June/July.
Can anyone recommend a marina that provides reasonable access to the city and good value services at a reasonable cost?

Charles & Maggie ALKIRA

 

[The Old Man]

Our proposed itinerary for 2016 includes a visit to Istanbul for 4-5 days in June/July.
Can anyone recommend a marina that provides reasonable access to the city and good value services at a reasonable cost?

Charles & Maggie ALKIRA

Hello Chief,
- ataköymarina.com.tr ( closest to city center and airport)
- seturmarinas.com ( on the Asian side closest to above)
- istmarin.com ( right on the Bosphorous. Two of them and run by the city Municipaility. In June/July I doubt that you'll be able to find a place for your dinghy.
Pls. check Google as' İstanbul Marinas' to find more info about all of them.
I hope you'll enjoy your visit. Best wishes.

 

[macd]

We looked at this in summer 2014 but found the marinas closest to Istanbul prohibitively expensive.
Pendik, some distance away, may have adequate transport links for your needs, although this wasn't something we checked. We paid TL195 for one night with a 43-footer.

You might also consider Yalova (one of the Setur group): this is on the S shore of the Sea of Marmara, but a fast ferry service runs to Istanbul almost from the marina itself. Journey takes about an hour.

A few miles west of Yalova is Katirli, a harbour also with ferry access to Istanbul. We were charged TL30 per night there, moored alongside. Tamer, the harbourmaster, speaks reasonable english. Ferry left daily at 0600, cost TL15.

Cinarcik, between Yalova and Katirli, reportedly also has a fast ferry to Istanbul, but I've not been there.

The other alternative is to anchor: there's a reasonable-looking spot at Bebek, part way up the Bosphorous, but security would be in the lap of the gods. There are also a couple of anchorages west of the Bosphorous on the north shore of the Sea of Marmara. They're wide open to the south but with reasonable lee from the prevailing wind. Not sure I'd want to leave my boat unattended for long in either, though.