You never know when you will end up in Setur Marinas Yalova. Sometimes for a short break, sometimes for shelter from the storm or simply for its smart location, you can find yourself there at any time. Therefore, you may also want to know the history of the marina.
Yüksel Erkorkmaz and Ayşe Akdoğan, Setur Marinas Yalova
Being the only marina in the Marmara Sea, aside from Istanbul, Setur Marinas Yalova has an interesting founding story in which luck plays a role as much as history.
The shortcomings of the Marmara Region in terms of yacht tourism began to be felt in the early 1990s, and this led the attention of yacht owners and yacht builders to Yalova. Being located in the middle of three big cities such as Istanbul, Kocaeli and Bursa and attracting attention with its ease of transportation, Yalova was considered to be one of the best points for the construction of a marina due to its natural harbor structure.
This topic had been on the agenda for some time when Prime Minister Tansu Çiller visited Yalova for a rally in 1994. When the Prime Minister promised to build a marina to the crowd gathered in the area at the rally, the breakwater and stone filling works for the marina were initiated the following year. Despite this quick step, the construction of the marina took time and was significantly disrupted by the 1999 Gölcük earthquake, which deeply affected the entire Marmara Region.
The fill in the area where the marina was to be built collapsed during the earthquake and work had to start from scratch. The stone filling project for the main breakwater was changed, it was decided that the area would be built with a piling system and the marina was reduced in square meters and moved further back. The construction of the marina was undertaken by DLA as the main contractor and Can Yapı as a subcontractor. Completed with the Build-Operate-Transfer model, the marina was put out to tender in 2008 and was acquired and incorporated into Setur Marinas by Setur Servis Turistik A.Ş. as a result of the tender. When the superstructure works were completed, Setur Marinas Yalova was inaugurated as the eighth marina of Setur Marinas with the opening ceremony held on Friday, July 23, 2010 with the participation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Koç Holding Chairperson Mustafa V. Koç. Kerem Çeşmebaşı was appointed as the first manager of the marina.
Built at a cost of 10 million dollars, Yalova Marina has a capacity of 340 yachts, 243 at sea and 97 on land. Equipped with electricity and water facilities, the marina offers yacht owners the most modern yachting services and is a convenient location for yacht builders to conduct final trials and tests. The new marina solves the lack of infrastructure in the region in terms of maintenance and repair, and soon becomes a popular destination for local and foreign sailors.
The marina develops under the management of Umut Tepedelenlioğlu, Murat Sapmaz, Ziya Dal and Süleyman Ercan respectively and reaches 100% occupancy by August 2023.
Being located in the city center, the marina enables yachters to meet all their needs within walking distance. Today, the café and restaurant inside the marina is a meeting point not only for yachters but also for the people of Yalova. The farmers' market, which is open three days a week in the city, is a constant center of attention.
Managed by Marina Manager Ümit Gölgeci, Setur Yalova Marina is now one of the marinas in Turkey that stands out with its environmental awareness. The marina frequently organizes sea cleaning events to preserve the health of the marine ecosystem. It also emphasizes sustainability principles with its waste management system and waste water discharge stations established to prevent chemical waste from being released into the sea.
Many sailors, following in the footsteps of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who said "Yalova is my city", now say "this is my marina" for Setur Yalova Marina.
