Princes Islands

On all the Princes' islands there are no motor vehicles allowed except municipal, naval (on Heybeliada, where there is a huge naval college) and police vehicles. There are otherwise no cars, motorcycles or scooters. People and goods are moved mostly by horse-drawn carriages and carts, although a few electric tricycles have begun to make an appearance. The islands are thus excellent places for walking or cycle hire, with the horse-drawn carriages the only frequent road hazard to be considered.

Charts

See Marmara Sea

Radio Nets

Also see Cruiser's Nets

Submit details of local radio Nets.

Approach and Navigation

The approaches to the Princes' Islands are mostly free of dangers, although there are extensive shoals off the northern coast of Büyükada, marked with a N cardinal buoy, and isolated rocky patches close inshore around several of the islands. A large-scale chart is an advantage, although following the 10 metre contour around all the islands avoids all the dangers.

Anchorages

Çam Limani on Heybeliada, as mentioned above, is the only protected anchorage. There are however, several day anchorages that can be used by yachts for brief shore visits or lunch stops.

On Büyükada, yachts can anchor in settled weather just west of the ferry pier on the north coast of the island, where depths are 3.0 – 5.0 metres and the holding is good in sand and weed. This position is exposed to the prevailing N/NE winds and a yacht should leave if there is any strengthening in the wind.

On Burgazada, around 15 moorings have been laid in depths of 3.5 to 5.5 metres immediately S of the long pier that extends from the easternmost point of the island. Shelter here is reasonable from the prevailing winds in the lee of the pier and yachts often use these moorings for lunch trips to the numerous restaurants ashore. You will usually be approached by several RIBs from the restaurants eager to help you tie up here. These moorings are not really suitable for an overnight stay except in very settled weather.

On Heybeliada, there are few suitable alternative anchorages to Çam Limani, although a restaurant has laid a few mooring buoys in a small cove at the SW end of the island which are used by local yachts for lunch stops. The main harbour in Heybeliada is constantly awash with ferries roaring in and out and is no place for a yacht.

Çam Limani lies roughly in the centre of the south coast of Heybeliada and is the only protected anchorage in the Princes' Islands. It is an attractive anchorage and very popular with motor cruisers from Istanbul. It natural beauty is spoiled, however, by some rather ugly institutional building ashore. Also, during the day there is a constant blare of moronic music from the speakers of the Ada Beach Club at the eastern end of the bay. However, once the beach bar closes around sunset, the cove can be blissfully quiet as long as you avoid the weekends and nightjars are often heard here. Weekends will see as many as 50 to 60 boats of all sizes crammed into the bay, diminishing to perhaps as few as a dozen by nightfall. Visit on weekdays, especially in early or late season, and you may even have the cove to yourself. Anchor anywhere the depths are suitable; depths range from 5.0 metres around 50 metres offshore to 15 metres in the centre of the bay. The holding is good in sand and weed, but make sure your anchor is through the weed before venturing ashore. In settled weather, there is often a SW seabreeze in the mornings, which turns NE in early afternoon. This should be borne in mind when deciding where to place your anchor in relation to other boats and in which direction to lay it.

The main town of Heybeliada can be visited easily from the anchorage: leave your dinghy on the small beach to the right of the Ada Beach Club and walk up the road past the naval college. The town is only around 30 minutes’ walk. It is also possible to take your dinghy, but there is little point as – unless you have a very powerful motor – it will still take you around half an hour and the harbour has nowhere really suitable for tying up.

Routes/Passages To/From

The Princes’ Islands are within 12 miles of all the main Istanbul marinas – Atakoy, Kalamiş/Fenerbahçe, Pendik – and even the new marina at Yalova is only 15 miles away. In addition to being a useful stop on passage between the Dardanelles and the Black Sea, they are therefore a handy place to visit in settled weather from any of the surrounding marinas.