Yacht charter Istanbul

A day, not a week

The Bosphorus is a strait, not an archipelago. It is roughly seventeen miles long, a mile wide at its widest and half that at its narrowest, and it carries some of the heaviest commercial shipping traffic in the world. There are no islands to hop between and nowhere to anchor for the night.

What there is, instead, is an astonishing few hours. Ottoman palaces and wooden waterfront mansions on both banks, two continents either side of you, fortresses, mosques and bridges, and a city of sixteen million arranged along the water. At dusk it is genuinely one of the great sights available from a deck.

So the market here is honest about itself: three- and four-hour charters, sunset cruises, dinner aboard, corporate entertaining and weddings. Boats are configured for large day-guest numbers with little or no sleeping accommodation, and they are configured that way because that is what the water supports.

The current and the traffic

Two technical facts govern boating here and they explain a good deal about how a charter runs.

The Bosphorus has a strong surface current running from the Black Sea towards the Sea of Marmara, driven by the difference in level and salinity between the two. It commonly runs at three to four knots and can exceed that after sustained northerlies, with a counter-current — the orkoz — running the other way close to certain banks. Local skippers use both deliberately.

Traffic is the other. The strait is a major international shipping route carrying large commercial vessels, plus a dense network of commuter ferries crossing constantly. It is a controlled waterway with traffic separation, and a yacht here is a small object among large ones.

Neither is a reason not to go. Both are reasons to take a vessel with a local professional skipper rather than anything resembling a bareboat, and both explain why a Bosphorus charter is a supervised cruise on a fixed route rather than an afternoon of wandering.

What the evening looks like

The standard and best charter here is a sunset run, boarding around six and returning after dark.

Leaving from Kabaş or the Bosphorus marinas, the route runs north past Dolmabahçe Palace, under the first bridge, past the Ottoman waterfront mansions of Bebek and Arnavutköy, to the fortress at Rumeli Hisarı and the second bridge. Turning at Kandilli or further north, the return leg comes down the Asian side with the old city ahead of you as the light goes.

The last twenty minutes, coming down towards Seraglio Point with Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapı lit above the water, is the reason people do this. It is worth timing the charter so that you are there at exactly that moment, and a good operator will plan the turn to make it happen.

Dinner aboard is the norm and the catering standard in Istanbul is very high. Alcohol is generally available on private charter, subject to the operator’s licence — worth confirming at booking.

The Princes’ Islands

The one genuine day trip, and the closest thing to actual cruising available from the city.

A small group in the Sea of Marmara, an hour or so south-east of the city. Büyükada is the largest, with nineteenth-century wooden mansions, pine woods and no private cars — transport is on foot, by bicycle or by electric shuttle. Heybeliada and Burgazada are quieter still.

A full day allows the passage down, a swim off the boat, lunch ashore and the run back. It is a pleasant contrast to the intensity of the city and it is the only itinerary here that gets you away from commercial traffic.

The Marmara is open water and can get up in a strong northerly, so this is a weather-dependent day in a way the Bosphorus run is not.

If you want a week, go south

Turkey has some of the best charter cruising in the Mediterranean and none of it is here. It is four hundred miles south, on the Aegean and Carian coasts, and a domestic flight of about an hour puts you in it.

• Bodrum for gulets, a lively coast and the Gökova gulf — the classic Blue Cruise.
• Göcek for twelve islands of completely sheltered water, the shortest airport transfer in the Mediterranean, and the best first charter in Turkey.
• Marmaris and the Datça peninsula for a middle course between the two, with good marina infrastructure.

The arrangement we most often suggest for clients who want both: two or three nights in Istanbul with a Bosphorus evening, then the flight south and a week aboard. It is the best of the country and it puts each part where it belongs.

What it costs

Among the best value of any city-charter market in the world — a comparable evening in Monaco or Hong Kong costs several times this. Catering is quoted separately and is generally excellent.

Turkish VAT applies. Weekend evenings in high summer book out well ahead, and the two or three weeks around major public holidays are the busiest of the year.

Where you board

Istanbul is enormous and the pier matters more than in most cities. An hour in traffic is a real possibility between two points that look close on a map, and it comes out of your charter time.

Departure point	Side	Best for
Kabaş / Beşiktaş	European	Central hotels; the classic sunset route
Kalamış	Asian	Larger vessels; Marmara access
Ataköy	European	Near the old city and the airport road
Bebek	European	Upper Bosphorus starts; short evening runs

For a sunset charter with guests staying in Sultanahmet, Beşiktaş or Beyoğlu, a central European-side departure is almost always right — it puts you on the water immediately and the return leg finishes with the old city ahead of you.

For a Princes’ Islands day the Asian-side marinas save an hour of the passage, and for anything involving a larger vessel the choice narrows quickly. Confirm the boarding point at the time of booking rather than assuming it is near your hotel.

Questions