Above is the layout of Didim D-Marina, which is scheduled to be open in summer 2009. It is built on a 70 acre site.

The marina will have a yatch club, heliport for landing helicopters direct ly on the site, a capacity for 623 berthed yatchs and 600 yatchs in dry dock, a yacht lift for 300 and 100 tonnes, and a swimming pool.

The marina will serve mainly yatchs of 75 - 150 metres long, such as mega-yatchs which are increasingly in popularity on the Aegean and east Mediterannean seaboard.

There will be also shopping centre, supermarkets, yacht equipment shops, a fitness centre and a sports facilities, banks, a petrol station, restaurants and a cultural centre.

The marina will also crucially have ferryboat management for cruises to the Greek islands of Kalimnos, Kos and Leros, as well a customs post, port authority facilities, & a passport control unit.

Didim D-Marina is being built on a build-operate-transfer for 25 years by Doğuş Group, one of Turkey's leading construction companies.

Gцkhan Цzerk, the construction supervisor of Doğuş Group, said that he had been delighted with progress on a number of fronts, including the construction of the main breakwater and the slipway for yachts, while dormitories for workers were nearly complete.

He said that 50 workers were on duty around the clock, together with 10 trucks, 4 scoops and 2 bulldozers. He said dynamiting, under the supervision of the gendarme, would continue to break the rocks up as the area needed to be levelled.

He added: “Presently we have not come across any problems and I am more than delighted with our progress so far.”

The multi-million dollar project will realise a capacity of 555 yachts and various facilities to make the marina one of the best in the Aegean. The project should be complete by the summer of 2009.