Fethiye To Marmaris Seabus – All You Need To Know

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On 2nd July 2024, a ceremony was held in both Marmaris and Fethiye to mark the inaugural journey of the Fethiye Marmaris seabus.

The previous day had seen similar ceremonies as the Bodrum – Turgutreis – Didim seabus also made its inaugural journey.

The idea of them is to relieve heavy summer road traffic and also to boost tourism between the towns and beyond.

Travelling from A to B on public transport by sea rather than by land.

We love to travel by ferry – the Bodrum to Datça ferry is also part of the fleet – so we just had to try out the new Fethiye Marmaris seabus…

The Fethiye Marmaris Seabus Experience

Although the seabus is a means of getting from A to B by water rather than by road, because of the times of the crossings from Fethiye and the return journey, it now makes a day trip to Marmaris a viable option.

And that’s what we decided to do.

Get the 8am seabus, a few hours wandering around Marmaris and then get the 5pm seabus back home.

Relaxed Embarkation

It was all very relaxed.

We booked our tickets online.

And then, on the morning, got to the marina around 10 minutes before the ferry left.

We showed our booking on our phones to the security guard at the embarkation ramp, found our seats and sat ourselves down.

Punctual

At precisely 8am, the high speed ferry began to manoeuvre away from the jetty and out into the bay.

A slow glide out of the bay, past Letoonia and Şövalye Island and then the engines kicked into gear and it was a steady 26 knots (30 mph) along the calm waters until we reached the bay of Marmaris.

At that point, we once more slowed as we shared the waters with yachts, day trip boats and other vessels whilst we edged towards the docking area.

(See the map and stats in our FAQs, below.)

The Seabus

The ferry is over two floors and carries over 400 passengers.

Not that all those seats were needed on our journeys.

There were fewer than 100 of us, both ways.

The seats are comfortable and we booked window seats so that we could see the water and the horizon.

I get motion sickness and being able to see the water prevents that from happening.

Like the Fethiye to Rhodes ferry, it’s a high speed ferry, so it’s forbidden to go outside until you are disembarking.

No worries for us. We were enjoying the air conditioning.

On the bottom deck, there are a couple of loos and also a kiosk.

However, please note that when we travelled the kiosk was neither open nor stocked.

Take your own snacks and drinks, if you want to, for the journey.

One of the seabus crew did come round and give those who wanted one a complimentary carton of water.

Perfect Arrival

If you travel by dolmuş around the Muğla region, unless you get off elsewhere, your arrival point is often the town’s otogar.

Very handy things – but not usually the prettiest of places.

Travel by ferry, however, and you get to disembark at a marina.

In the case of Marmaris, you exit the ferry doors, stand at the the top of the steps and you’re greeted with this wonderfully pretty view.

The bars and restaurants of the old town, climbing up the hill and the castle walls peeping above the rooftops to the right.

Stunning!

And on your return journey – well, call us biased if you like – but the views over Fethiye and the mountains will never get old.

Fethiye and Marmaris – A double whammy of wow when it comes to arrival points.

Fethiye To Marmaris Seabus – Questions Answered

The Fethiye Marmaris seabus is part of the IDO fleet which traditionally runs seabuses and car ferries in the northwest of the country.

Muğla Büyükşehir Belediyesi (the Muğla Province administration) have now brought the services to the southwest, linking Fethiye and Marmaris via one ferry – and linking Bodrum, Turgutreis and Didim via another ferry.

As well as taking the opportunity to do a day trip, we will be using the seabus for its intended purpose of practical A to B travel, too.

• It’s a great way to do the first stage of travel to places like Selimiye and other parts of the Bozburun Peninsula.
• Likewise for travel to Datça. We’ll use the seabus as far as Marmaris and then get the dolmuş for the rest of the journey.

Let’s answer some common questions:

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