What goes into storage
Before your group goes to the briefing, you hand over everything that is not coming on the river: phone, wallet, room key, watch, jewellery, the bag with your dry things. The rafting base has secure storage for this, and you collect your things after the run. That is the normal routine on rafting from Side, not a special service you have to ask for.
Pack at the hotel so that handing over is quick: one bag, everything in it, zip closed. Anything you would not want to let go of on the riverbank should not leave the hotel in the first place — more on that below.
What may come onto the water
The honest answer: nothing that is not attached to you. On the Köprüçay you paddle, you get wet, and at the swimming stops you jump in. Sunglasses without a strap, a necklace, a phone in a pocket — the river takes them and does not give them back. The life jacket has no room for luggage, and the guide has other things to do than watch your belongings.
What comes: swimwear and the clothes over it, shoes that stay on your feet, and sunscreen applied beforehand. If you insist on having the phone with you, you need your own waterproof case with a lanyard — and you carry the risk. There are pictures of the run without it: professional photos and video, at extra cost at the base.
Showers and changing area: how to use them
After the 12 kilometres, showers, a changing area and toilets are available at the base. The routine that works: collect your things from storage, shower, change into dry clothes in the changing area, wet things into the plastic bag — then lunch at the restaurant on the river.
We deliberately do not describe the showers in detail and promise neither a number nor a particular fit-out. What we can say: they are there, they are for guests, and with your own towel and a small bottle of shower gel you are independent of whatever is or is not on hand that day.
What you bring yourself
The base supplies helmet, life jacket and paddle — not your toiletries. So these things belong in your bag:
- A towel — do not count on one being provided
- A small bottle of shower gel or soap
- A full change of dry clothes, underwear included
- A plastic bag for the wet things
- Dry shoes for the drive back
- Sunscreen to reapply after the shower
Valuables: what is better left in the hotel
The storage at the base is secure. Even so: what you do not need does not have to travel. Passports, jewellery, expensive watches, the big camera and more cash than the day requires belong in the hotel safe. At the base you need the tour price — €18 per person, €12 for children aged 4 to 11, in cash or by card — and some cash for a drink or a photo.
The phone is the borderline case: you need it in the morning for the confirmation of your pickup time, not on the water. So bring it, hand it into storage, collect it after the run.
On combo tours: changing twice
Combine rafting with a quad or buggy stage and you alternate between wet and dusty. Storage, changing area and showers are available all day, but plan the order: the base decides what comes first, and you change accordingly. A second change of clothes is no luxury on these packages. You will find them on the Side rafting packages page; for plain rafting from Side, one set of dry clothes is enough.