This peaceful village is one of the oldest settlements on the peninsula. It has modest restaurants and several pensions and motels, but it retains a small-scale atmosphere for the simple reason that most of the village is designated an official archaeological site so that no landscaping alterations or new groundbreakings are allowed.
This status is designed to protect the ancient site of Myndos, which is partially covered by Gumusluk. The original Lelegian city of Myndos stood a few kilometers southeast of here. In the 4th century BC King Mausolus decided to build a new Myndos and transplanted the entire population. A hundred years ago there were ruins worth seeing (including a theatre and a stadium), but now these have disappeared, being gradually dismantled for the foundations and walls of new buildings.
If you walk for ten minutes to the bay north east of Gumusluk you will see a buried wall jutting from a hillside into the sea. While the area'' archaeological status forbids diving with tanks, snorklers will find more walls under water here, as well as an ancient breakwater in the harbor, Those visiting by boat will want to stay close to the island on the eastern side of the entrance to avoid hitting underwater structures.
The island, known as Rabbit Island by the locals, separates the two well-sheltered bays of Gumusluk. If you sit in a shoreside restaurant and watch for a while you will see rabbits on the island. A villager who sells them in markets elsewhere raises them there. It is possible to wade to the island through knee-deep water and sunbathe and dive from the many rock formations. Several restaurants have terraced roof, perfect for enjoying the tranquil scene or for watching the sunset. The restaurants supply food of surprisingly good quality in an uncrowded environment, and the ones by the harbor are typified by their rushwoven umbrellas.
On the route back to Bodrum it is possible to see one of the few remaining working windmills in the area; facing northwest to catch the prevailing summer winds to drive the blades, it grinds locally grown wheat by the traditional method.