The list — and why it is so short
Most people can join the rafting from Side: without experience, without being able to swim, with ordinary fitness. The list of people who should not join is short, and we would rather show it to you now than on the riverbank. We prefer one booking fewer to a guest on the water who should not be there.
- Anyone who is pregnant
- Anyone with a serious heart condition
- Anyone with asthma or a similar respiratory condition
- Anyone with a severe back or mobility problem
- Anyone who has had a recent operation
- Anyone under the influence of alcohol
- Children below the minimum age of the departure: not recommended under 4 from Side; from Belek, Antalya and Alanya the minimum for the rafting is 7
Why a raft is not a pleasure boat
The list explains itself once you understand what happens in the boat. You sit on the outer tube, not on a bench. In the rapids the raft takes hits that travel through your whole body, and you hold on with your feet and your paddle, not your hands. You paddle for 12 kilometres on command, sometimes gently, sometimes hard. And in the middle of the canyon nobody can get out — whoever is in the boat stays in it until the base.
Add to that what rafting is: an activity on moving water, and not risk-free. Guide, helmet, jacket, briefing and insurance absorb a large part of the risk. What they cannot absorb is a body that must not take a hit, an effort or an involuntary swim.
Pregnancy
Pregnant guests do not join, at any stage. That is not politeness-driven caution but the operator's rule, and the guide enforces it at the base. The reason is above: hits on the tube, hard paddling, the possibility of going in the water.
If you are pregnant and your partner wants to raft, message us before booking. We will check with the operator whether and how you can accompany the day at the base, instead of promising you something here that we cannot confirm.
Heart and lungs
A serious heart condition, and asthma or a similar respiratory condition, rule out taking part. Rafting means effort in bursts, spray without warning and moments when you briefly cannot breathe — in a place where you cannot stop.
We do not draw the line between ‘serious’ and ‘mild’. If you have a diagnosis and do not know whether it falls under this rule, talk to your doctor and then message us. We will clear it with the operator before you book — not while the group is already putting on jackets.
Back, mobility and recent surgery
Severe back or mobility problems and a recent operation are on the list because a raft makes no allowances. The impact in a rapid comes without notice, getting in and out on the bank means wet rock, and the seat on the outer tube requires you to wedge yourself in with your legs and move your upper body with the boat.
What ‘recent’ means, your doctor can tell you better than we can. What ‘severe’ means, likewise. Our job is different: we tell you the rule in advance, pass your question to the operator, and do not sell you a seat if the answer is no.
Alcohol: the rule with no exceptions
Nobody who has been drinking goes on the river. That is not negotiated at the base, and the guides enforce it. The reason is the same one the safety briefing exists for: a boat only works when everyone in it reacts to commands, and alcohol takes exactly that ability first.
Lunch by the river is in the price; drinks are not — and what you drink there is your decision. What applies before the rafting is unambiguous: sober on the bus, sober in the boat.
The grey zone — and what to do with it
The list names the clear cases. In between are many questions we cannot answer in general terms: an allergy, a medication, an old injury, a child just above the minimum age who is still nervous in water. For all of those the rule is the same: ask us before you book, on WhatsApp or in the ‘anything we should know’ field. We check with the operator and tell you honestly what they say.
And the final decision is made at the river. The guide can turn someone away at the base if they judge that person does not belong in the boat that day — that is part of their job, and part of what the €18 per person on the rafting from Side pays for. For everyone else: the combo packages from Side follow the same rules, because the rafting in them is the same.