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12 Islands Boat Cruise in Calais (in pictures)The famous 12 island boat tour takes you around the bay of Fethiye include three to four stops; bays and islands with clear crystal water to swim and snorkel in. It allows you time to disembark and to explore the ruins found in many of Fethiye’s bays and Islands.
Once you come to Calais beach you have to go on the 12 Islands boat cruise. The boat cruise is a daily cruise and has the capacity to take to the sea a good number of holiday makers as there are a handful of companies that run the service. The many Double – Decker boats you see moored on the river that runs parallel to the Calais beach, a rare sight, are ready to take you to the tour. Their capacity is in the range of 15 to 150 people and all of them have toilets and a self –service bar. They depart the river usually between 10.00 and 11.00 every morning and come back to Calais beach about 17:00 to 18:00 in the evening. The lunch is included in the tour price which is usually barbecue (fish, chicken and meant balls) but beware the drinks (soft and alcoholic) and snacks are not included.
The tour is usually made up from five stops, which are nearly as the followings: If you want to enjoy the sun then your place is the open upper deck; but be careful because, the sun burns you a bit too much and you don’t feel it since it will be quite windy in the sea. You will feel it at night after the shower, which usually ends up with creams and lotions the doctors give. But if you want to enjoy the tour in the shade and watch around, you would better stay down stairs drinking your apple tea; coffee or a cold drink (may be chatting with crew as they speak passable English).
You will have a lot of time to explore the Islands if you choose and of course can afford to hire your own boat, as in our case, because you will have the advantage to be in charge of the schedule – no moaning people around you and the crew will be at your service round the clock. I particularly spend considerable time exploring the Island of rabbits – an island colonised by rabbits of different sizes and breeds. I suggest you look around carefully in this tour because you have the chance to see flying fishes, dolphins, see turtles and wind servers. See how close my kids are swimming to their boat and I wish you could take a look in to the water – you don’t need goggles at all because you can see the fish swimming next to you and even the little stones sitting at the bottom of the sea. To catch small fishes; all you need is to sprinkle little crumbs of bread around you and they will come to pick it without taking any notice of your presence and precisely that is why Abdiqani and Osob instantly neck named the fish catchers – you catch them and hold them for a while on your palm and then release them back in to the water.
Work Schedule of our double - Decker Boat:The boat I hired at the cost of £150 was small double – Decker run and owned by a family of three and according to them it was 16 years old. It was built in Fethiye dry docks as most of other boats but this one shows no sign of aging and I suspect it will stay in service for many years to come – they take it off the waters from October and it stays on land until April when her work season starts all over again – wonderful schedule of six months on and six months off and remember the crew has no day off for six months on the trot because they have to earn enough money to go by the six months they are resting. Down deep in my heart I was praying for the company of other family to exchange talks, ideas and smiles so the British family’s arrival was a prayer answered. They paid some of the money which I believe was not more than £50 but that was good enough to take the total cost down without jeopardizing the quality of the cruise – I have to admit the family added a lot of fun to the cruise life.
We enjoyed the company of the family kids in general and particularly the three year old daughter. My daughter, Awo, quickly bonded with her and was feeding and caring her all the time through the tour. The little one was obsessed in going through the handbag of Awo fishing for sprays which she was playing with and every time she manages to press the nossle and spray out the contents she was marking with innocent laughter which makes us laugh too. Her two brothers were gifted swimmers and were all the time jumping from the top deck directly in to the water. They could qualify as professional swimers and I have to mention that their father was also top swimmer and this reminded me of Mr. Hassan Bile, a Somalia friend, who happens to be the only one of my friends I believe can play in water like them – unlike me, man from the hinterland, Mr. Bile was born and bred in Berbera. I used to wonder if some thing is wrong with him when he talks about water when ever enjoyment and holiday turns up as a subject of discussion. He told me when he was working in Sanag during his national service that he used to spend all his afternoon in the sea while his friends were sitting and chewing the Qat. In the eyes of my mind I was wondering why on earth he is getting pleasure out of torture – wet in water but now I understand. I forgot to mention that the mother of the kids was a sun lover, ex British Airways hostess, and most of her time was spend on the upper deck basking in the sun. She had with her plenty of creams to cover her body to sheild off the sun burn – some of them were milky intexture and others were more like oil.
Stay Tuned for Part Three – With more Pictures Abdikarim Buh Related Articles:* Let us go Turkey - Calais Beach of Fathiye Coast __________________________________
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