Living in Marmaris

Marmaris is a very special place to live. There are people from all walks of life during the different parts of the year. As it was once a fishing village, before it became a world reknown city of tourism by the sea, there are areas that will remind you of this.  These characteristics of Marmaris retains value to some extent, letting us not forget what it was once like.  This is seen in the disposition of daily living.

As for living in Marmaris, there are many different types of lifestyles here. So to describe Marmaris can only be made briefly.  Like all other places in the world, there are all sorts of ways to create your own lifestyle.  There is no standard lifestyle in Marmaris.  You make your living, run your lifestyle in a manner that suits you the best.  However for the sake of content, there are few ways of living Marmaris we can share.

Local Lifestyle

There is the all year round working crowd, which also includes business owners.  That lifestyle mainly comprises of the locals who were born and raised in Marmaris – their family trees will go back generations.  Some of these Marmaris locals is what allows Marmaris to preserve its “fishing village” charm.  Traditions are maintained and honored; as it reflected as such, in their daily lives.

Marmaris Fishermen's Channel

They can be apart hotel owners and immigrants from the nearby villages, grocery store owners or bank tellers, bee farmers or construction workers.  Just about every type of occupation is found in Marmaris.  I would like to note however that there are the later immigrants to Marmaris whom have come from other parts of Turkey and subsequently become “the locals”.  They too are a part of the working crowd (some year round and some seasonal); and business owners.

The local lifestyle, and one that is most traditional is that of the fishermen. They hold a special place in Marmaris’ heart. There is a history; and they are a part of this history.  There is no compromise to the respect given to those who are or have been a fishermen in Marmaris for decades, if not generations.  Expressions of this are seen in the statues that are present along the whole length of the Marmaris promenades – starting from the Old Town.

Marmaris Fishermen Ismail Okan on the right

Marmaris Fishermen Ismail Okan "Ismail Amca" "Uncle Ismail" taken in 2010

Seasonal Lifestyle

The seasonal lifestyle are part time residents.  Whether they divide it equally throughout they year; or otherwise, these residents have homes here in Marmaris as they do outside the borders of Marmaris.  They come to live in Marmaris during a season or two; of their preference.  However the majority stay anywhere between the months of April right up until the end of November.  Then they return to their other homes.  These residents can be retirees, seasonal workers or those who take long vacations with the income they have from abroad.

Marmaris promenade Summer at sunset

Now having said all this, you may ask, “What is living like in Marmaris”?

This is a difficult question, because everyone has their own way of living here.  However, for the sake of answering, living is Marmaris is a relaxed atmosphere.  We are by the sea, the Mediterranean sea, and like many Mediterranean countries, the general ways of living are quite easy going, with minimal stress.  We have no traffic jams unless there are city works in progress.  The crime rate is not all that abnormally high considering that it is a city based mainly on tourism. The cost of living in Marmaris is slightly higher than if you were to be living in a suburb of a larger city.  Again the reason for this goes back to Marmaris being a tourism city.  Transportation of consumer products here to sell is different.  Unlike major cities with higher population counts, Marmaris is much smaller in size and is not located on a major highway route, but rather off the main highway.  Therefore the costs to buy and then to sell will differ.  However it is not expensive if that answers the question better.  There are families who get by with 1,000 TL per month, at worst.

Marmaris can be like a year round holiday for some people.  They can work and still feel like they are on holidays. Our holidays are our weekends generally.  There are so many things to do and places to go in and around the Marmaris region, that one can easily find a past time to enjoy in Marmaris just about any time during the year.  In the summertime it’s even more entertaining because Marmaris quadruples in population and of course there is a lot more going on.  Marmaris is for all ages and for just about any type of lifestyle.  In order to really know or learn about Marmaris, you should come and see it at least for one time.  Stay for a while. Get to know the region, its people and its visitors!

Living in Marmaris … is all in how you choose to create it!

If you know of a lifestyle in Marmaris, that we may have missed, please feel free to share it with us!