The sweetgum grove
The sığla tree, wild almost nowhere outside this corner of Turkey and the source of storax, is what shades the picnic tables.
Maria Jonker — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Erdalturkoglu — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ronnlund — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Thordel3030 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Every green hillside that walls in Marmaris bay is protected ground. Since 1996 the red-pine and cypress slopes running from İçmeler round to Turunç and Kumlubük bay have formed a national park of more than 29,000 hectares, and the resort sits entirely inside it. Most visitors cross it daily without learning its name: the boat trips out to the islands, the switchback road to Turunç and the ruins of Amos above Kumlubük bay all lie within its boundary. The one part people actually visit is the Günnücek forest, about two kilometres east of the marina on the Yalancı Boğaz road. The name comes from günnük, the local word for the sığla or oriental sweetgum, a tree that grows wild almost nowhere outside this corner of south-west Anatolia and neighbouring Rhodes, and whose resin is the storax used in Gulf perfume and incense. Under its shade, picnic tables run down to the water, with toilets, drinking fountains, simple kiosks and a playground; the paths are flat enough for a pushchair and the sea is a few steps away. It is a slow family day out, not a sight. Be clear about that before you go. There is no visitor centre and no single view to photograph. The grand scenery is best seen from the water, on a bay cruise that skirts the park's edges, or from the car on the Turunç and Kumlubük road. Günnücek is where you go for shade and quiet after too many beach days, and two or three hours cover it. In August it is noticeably cooler than the seafront, though the tables nearest the water fill early at weekends. Entry is a fee paid at the gate: the official 2026 base tariff is 85 TL per person or 255 TL per car including passengers, with children under seven and over-65s free on foot. The catch is that the 2026 rules set a separate per-person fee for non-Turkish visitors of 5 to 10 times the base (425 to 850 TL) wherever the directorate has fixed one for the site, with no car fee on top, so budget for more than 85. Hours are roughly 08:30 to 17:00. Fires outside the designated spots are banned, and in a pine forest in a Turkish summer that rule deserves respect.
The sığla tree, wild almost nowhere outside this corner of Turkey and the source of storax, is what shades the picnic tables.
Tables under the pines run down to a quiet pebble shore, so the children paddle between courses within sight.
A bay boat trip shows the cliffs, islands and the ruins of Amos far better than anything you reach on foot.
Günnücek forest, Mustafa Münir Elgin Bulvarı, Sarıana, Marmaris
If scenery is the point, the boat trip wins outright: the park's best features are its cliffs and islands, and none of that is visible from the forest. Günnücek earns its place for a family wanting a cheap, shaded day near the hotel, with pushchair-friendly paths, a playground and shallow water. On a short stay, skip it without regret.
Günnücek is a day-use area; fires are allowed only at the designated points and are often banned altogether at the height of summer. Anyone thinking of staying overnight should ask at the gate about the current rules rather than assume, and the hotels a few minutes away are far simpler.
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