Throughout history and right up to the present day, Bodrum has been prominent in shipping.

This may be why the only museum displaying underwater wrecks is in the Bodrum Castle. The most important piece of the museum is the wreck of an ancient merchant ship. The model on display also shows the cargo of the sunken vessel.

These lands have produced many famous captains. Captain Skylax from Karyanda (Gündoğan) served in the Persian fleet for many years according to the historian Herodotus, winning many victories against the Greeks. Not satisfied merely sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, Skylax travelled all the way to the Indian Ocean. His notes on his travels in the Mediterranean and other seas for long served as a guide to other seafarers. By compiling these notes the first known book on navigation was brought produced, entitled "Skylax’s Borders". Alexander the Great used these notes as a pilot for his fleet.

Later came Turgut Reis from the village of Karatoprak in Bodrum (now named Turgutreis in honour of its most famous son). From being a shepherd he rose to the command of the Ottoman Navy.

The gulets, which evolved from the tirhandil boats built by the first inhabitants of Bodrum, the Carians, are today seen both in Turkish waters and around the world.

The gulets were firstly used for fishing and sponge diving. However, since these boats were both fast and had good manoeuvring capacity against pirates, they soon spread as far as the Antilles. The gulets further evolved according to the seas they sailed on. In the Black Sea, in order to increase their cargo capacity, the gulets were given deeper hulls and larger holds, while in Bodrum they were built were lower and closer to the water as they were used for fishing and sponge hunting.

However, as the economy changed in the region so did the purpose of the gulets and now they carry tourists to the most beautiful coves of the world.

As tourism developed so they did gulets. They become more luxurious, installing large cabins with toilets, showers, air-conditioners, mini-bars and large beds.