Mazi

It’s well worth the roughly 45 minute journeys from Bodrum to get Mazi. 

On the road from Bodrum to the int. airport, immediately after Guvercinlik, look for the sign and turn right towards Mumcular and as you begin to get off the beaten track, tourism gives way to village life. For much of the 30 km to Mazi, the road winds through the pine forest, there are glimpses of a spectacular sea view and you’ll likely come across farm animals grazing by the roadside and village children running to greet passing vehicles.

The newly built jetty is a hive of activity with jeep safari and boats tours coming and going. Mazi opens up a whole new world of flavors, with mezes prepared with the finest local olive oil and home-grown vegetables and salad and freshly-caught fish and seafood cooked using traditional techniques. 

In the mornings, fishermen return to the beach after the night’s fishing and around 10am you can choose from barbun (red mullet), akya (leer fish), sokkan (sea bream), kefal (grey mullet), orfoz and lagoz (grouper), cipura (gilt-head bream), levrek (sea bass), mezgit (whiting) and anything else hauled up in the nets.

Mazi village on Gokova shores was built on higher grounds so as to not to be seen by pirates and thus avoid their attacks. The main income of the village is carpet making. In all houses you can see a workbench at which sits a girl rapidly and enthusiastically weaving the Milas style carpets in colors of cream, brown and yellow. For those that have an interested in carpet making, if you come across it, we advise them to watch the wool used in the carpet being dyed using herbal roots in a boiling cauldron.