Which resorts the pickup covers
Side is our main hub, and the pickup area of the rafting from Side is built around the hotels there: Side itself and the surrounding resorts, including Kumköy, Evrenseki, Çolaklı, Gündoğdu, Titreyengöl and Sorgun. If you stay in one of those, book this departure and the transfer is in the price.
If you stay elsewhere along the coast, book the departure for where you actually are – there are separate tours from Belek, from Antalya and from Alanya, each with its own price and terms. A hotel outside the pickup area is not a stop on the route. If you are unsure which area your hotel falls into, message us on WhatsApp before you book.
When you are collected – and why we do not print a fixed time
Pickup runs through the morning, generally at around 08:00 to 08:30. That is an approximate window, not a promise for your hotel: the exact time depends on where your hotel sits on the day's route, how many hotels come before it and how the operator plans the round that morning.
That is why this page carries no time for individual hotels. You receive your personal pickup time after booking, with the confirmation by WhatsApp or email. Please be in the hotel lobby ten minutes before that time – the driver has more hotels on the list and cannot wait long.
The drive into the canyon
You travel in an air-conditioned vehicle up through Manavgat into Köprülü Canyon National Park and on through the Köprüçay valley to the rafting base. The canyon lies inland behind Manavgat; the drive in is part of the day and part of what you pay for. We do not promise an exact driving time, because it varies with the pickup round and the traffic.
There is nothing for you to organise on the way: the transfer is included on every tour on this site, both ways, and the same driver brings your group back in the afternoon.
What awaits you at the base
At the rafting base there is a meeting area for the briefing, a changing area, toilets, showers and secure storage for phones, wallets and dry clothes while you are on the water. Lunch is served at the restaurant right on the riverbank, and that is also where you sit between the stages of the day.
Helmet, life jacket and paddle are fitted at the base, then come the safety briefing and the practice session on calm water with your guide. Anyone who arrives without suitable shoes can rent or buy water shoes at the base – flip-flops are not allowed on the river.
The day on the river
The run itself covers 12 kilometres of the Köprüçay, with a trained guide in every raft and swimming stops where the guide judges it safe. You need no experience, and non-swimmers can join – the fitted life jacket keeps you afloat. After the river comes the lunch on the bank; drinks are extra.
On a combo package the zipline, quad, buggy or jeep stage runs around the rafting, in the order the base is working that day. There can be waiting time between the stages – that is part of the day.
- Hotel pickup, approximately 08:00–08:30
- Drive through Manavgat into Köprülü Canyon National Park
- Equipment, briefing, practice session
- 12 km of rafting on the Köprüçay
- Lunch by the river (drinks extra)
- Showers, changing, drive back to the hotel
The return: roughly 16:30 to 18:30
You are normally back at your hotel at roughly 16:30 to 18:30. That too is a window and not a promise: the return moves with the size of the group, the number of activities in your package, the operator's schedule, the traffic and the river itself. If you have something fixed in the evening, do not plan it too tightly.
So that you are not sitting in wet clothes on the way back, the base has showers and a changing area – bring a full change of dry clothes and a towel.
Price, inclusions and booking
Rafting from Side costs €18 per person, and children aged 4 to 11 pay €12. Included are the round-trip hotel transfer, the guide in the boat, briefing and practice, helmet, life jacket and paddle, accident and activity insurance and lunch. Drinks, water-shoe hire, photos and video are extra. You pay on the day of the tour; nothing is charged online.
For the pickup we need your hotel name, room number and a phone number we can reach you on when you book. The combo packages with zipline, jeep safari, quad and buggy are on the packages page with their prices – the transfer is included in every price there too.