Penny’s Turkish Thomson Holidays Sensatori Fethiye adventure continues with a boat trip. A shady sofa on the top deck, sun mattresses on deck, lazy stops for swimming in turquoise waters, an incredible Turkish feast cooked by the on board chef. She even spotted an ice cream boat…but will she overcome her fear of the deep and find her sea legs?

I will be honest, the last time I set foot on an all day boat trip in the sun I regretted it badly. My then boyfriend spent the day leaping in and out the water drinking beers while I lay on the deck feeling seasick and willing it to end. I’ve tried over the last few family holidays to get over both my fear of getting seasick and my fear of leaping into the deep, with shorter excursions. I was, shall we say, a little concerned this might not be the best excursion for me.

I diligently bought the strongest sea sickness tablets I could find and confessed my fears to my fellow travellers, 3 journalists. Luckily, not that I take any pleasure from other people’s suffering, I wasn’t alone. So as the boat left the harbour I wasn’t the only one staring at the horizon intently and digging deep for courage.

How pleased I was I ventured out of my comfort zone. The spacious boat had plenty of shade, and even had sofas on its top deck, if I was out the sun and able to stay upright this could work.

As we sailed out I could sense this trip would be different. I was able to take a few photos and look at my phone without feeling queasy, the setting was stunning and as we were setting sail from Fethiye, into a large bay, sheltered by a peninsula, the water was very calm.

Our friendly guide joined us on the sofa to point out landmarks, so many little islands, red island, rabbit island, the island where all the hawks settle. I was pretty confident the tablets had worked their magic. Soon it was time to anchor up in a rocky cove and swim.

I faced this fear in Rhodes earlier this summer, when I leapt off a Kayak, so I told myself to take a deep breath and to go for it. The water was so clear and inviting.

The rest of the party were soon leaping off the boat, but I was just happy to be swimming and capturing it all with the go pro.

After cooling off, it was time to move to our next cove, lounging on the deck to dry off was wonderful, and I was delighted to find it didn’t make me the slightest bit sea sick. We moored up not far from this beach.

I swam and absorbed all the amazing views.

Afterwards we had the most delicious Turkish lunch cooked for us by the boat’s chef, which we ate around two tables on the boat. I loved that the boat didn’t feel crowded, there was enough space for everyone to be comfortable. I attempted to speak to a German couple and my GCSE German failed me, but we laughed about it.

I couldn’t get enough of the melt in the mouth aubergines and the courgette fritters were just what I needed after all the swimming

Still no signs of sea sickness so I succumbed to sleep, a little post dinner nap on deck. Just what was needed.

When I woke up the ice cream boat was passing. Time for another dip.

Then one last stop on the way back, in the deepest waters yet. Huge sense of pride.

We all felt a little invincible after our first full day in Turkey, sea sickness or fears of the deep won’t be holding anyone back ever again. Seriously impressed by the  jumping off the boat skills  I saw too. That’s my next challenge.

This was the one excursion I went on that is adults only, but there are plenty of similar boat excursions, also bookable via Sensatori resort, that offer very similar days out for kids, or you can hire your own boat and crew, which sounded like a wonderful thing to do as a family.

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Sensatori resorts can be found in Turkey, Crete, Cyprus, Ibiza, Eygpt, Mexico and Jamaica.

Sensatori Fethiye from £629pp fully inclusive.