What Is a Gulet? The Traditional Wooden Sailing Yacht, Explained

The gulet originated in Bodrum, on Turkey's Aegean coast, as a traditional wooden fishing and sponge-diving vessel. Local shipwrights built them from pine and mahogany using techniques passed down for generations, and over the 20th century the design was gradually adapted from working boat to pleasure vessel — the same broad, stable hull that once hauled nets now carries sunbathing guests and a crew instead. Today gulets are built and chartered all along the Turkish and Croatian coasts and throughout much of the Eastern Mediterranean, and the name has become shorthand for this whole style of traditional wooden motor-sailer, regardless of exactly which yard built it.

A few features define the type:

• Wooden construction. Even modern gulets are typically built (or at least finished) in wood, which is part of the appeal — they look and feel different from a fiberglass production yacht.
• Motor-sailer rigging. Gulets carry two masts and can sail, but in practice most cruising is done under engine power, with sails used more for comfort and stability than for serious sailing performance. If you're chartering one expecting the sailing experience of a modern sloop or a sailboat, that's not really what a gulet is for.
• A wide, low-slung deck. The broad beam gives gulets an unusually generous amount of open deck space relative to their length — sun loungers, a shaded dining area, and often deck space that would be unthinkable on a narrower yacht of the same size.
• Multiple cabins, usually crewed. Gulets are built to sleep groups, commonly anywhere from 4 to 12+ guests across several ensuite cabins, and they're almost always chartered with a crew — a captain, and often a cook and deckhand — rather than bareboat.

The whole point of a gulet charter is a relaxed, slow-paced, multi-day cruise rather than an active sailing holiday. Days typically follow a simple rhythm: motor to a quiet bay, anchor, swim, eat a meal the onboard cook has prepared, maybe visit a coastal town in the evening, repeat. It suits families, multi-generational groups, and friends who want to be on the water together more than they want to actively sail it. If your idea of a good charter involves trimming sails and reading wind shifts, a gulet will likely feel underwhelming — that's what a proper sailboat or performance catamaran is for.

Here's the honest answer, and it's worth being upfront about it: BoatRentalHub doesn't have a dedicated "Gulet" category. Our platform organizes every listing into one of eight boat types — Yacht, Sailboat, Motorboat, Catamaran, RIB, Houseboat, Jet Ski, and Non-Motorized — and a gulet doesn't get its own line item among them.

In practice, owners list their gulets under whichever category best matches how the boat is actually used and equipped. A crewed, motor-forward gulet used mainly for relaxed cruising is most often listed as a Yacht. One that leans more into its sailing rig and is marketed to guests who want an active sailing feel might instead appear under Sailboat. Neither classification is wrong — it just reflects that "gulet" describes a traditional build and style rather than a mode of propulsion, which is what our category system is built around.

Gulets are strongly associated with the Turkish and Croatian coasts in particular, so if you're planning a gulet-style trip, browsing boat rentals in Croatia is a sensible starting point — filter by Yacht, and look at the listing photos and descriptions, which will usually mention wooden construction, cabin count, and crew explicitly if the boat is a genuine gulet. When in doubt, message the owner directly and ask; it's the fastest way to confirm you're looking at the traditional wooden vessel rather than a modern motor yacht listed in the same category.