Many people think that Geyikli is the coastal area around the beach where the ferryboat leaves for Bozcaada but that part of Geyikli is called Geyikli Pier. The actual town is 4.5 km inland. In the desperate rush to get to the holiday island nearby Geyikli is often overlooked as a place worth visiting in its own right.

This small town was made famous in 2010 by the popular comedy film Eyvah Eyvah and the follow up Eyvah Eyvah  2 which was filmed in Geyikli and the surrounding area. Just driving through the town you will see many locals have jumped on the advertising bandwagon by calling their businesses Eyvah Eyvah Estate Agents, olive oil, cheese, guest house etc etc, not very creative and very repetitive but hey lets hope it works for them.

In the summer months it can get very busy here due to heavy traffic making its way to the ferryboat service. This is good for the town too but it never ceases to amaze me why everyone is so hell bent on reaching Bozcaada when they could get a decent hotel or guest house accommodation for half the price in and around Geyikli and then just take the day ferry over to the island.

So, Geyikli has a park, some well kept town pigeons with their very own lofts and a host of good supermarkets and small restaurants. Pretty much everything you would need is here and they have a decent market here on Thursdays.

Traditionally Geyikli has been reliant on its agriculture, particularly olives and livestock although of course tourism pays a greater part now. The town gets its name from Geyikli Baba meaning father of Deer, a dervisher who is reputed to have bred deer here in the 14th century. There is a shrine with his name on it just 2km south of the town.

If you drive straight out of town towards the coast after 4 km you arrive at a large beach and a long concrete pier which was built in the 1990’s and which is the location where the car ferries depart from. There is also a beautiful Blue Flag sandy beach here.

Just to confuse things, there is another pier or harbour 4.5 km from the town centre which goes by the name of Wood Harbour or Odunluk Iskelesi in Turkish. There are some good fish restaurants here albeit a little pricey, some supermarkets, hotels and bars and a good beach.

The habour was originally used for the export of oak nuts which were used in dye production. When synthetic dyes arrived on the scene this industry was killed off overnight. The oak trees were then burned  to produce charcoal until the lack of trees caused everyone to plant olive trees and switch to olive oil production. There are still quite a few fishing boats here and they help to keep the restaurants supplied with seasonal fresh fish.

At Wood Harbour you might notice some fairly large dilapidated buildings near the harbour entrance. These are old stone warehouse which would have been used for the storage of acorns. You can actually walk round these. They are huge inside although the roof has long since gone you can still get a good idea of how it might have looked in its prime.

Further down the coast you have Dalyan and some pretty impressive historical sites which are all mentioned in the Coast to Coast series of videos which you can find in this channels playlist.

Geyikli has expanded rapidly in recent years. It has its own municipality now and all along the coast there are many holiday villages where private villa owners and their families relax during the summer months.

If you are visiting Bozcaada, why not take a little bit of extra time to see what Geyikli and the surrounding area has to offer.