Pairing your Side days
Dolphin Tour or Buggy Safari in Side: Water Day or Dirt-Track Day
A buggy safari puts you behind a wheel on dirt tracks inland. The dolphin tour puts you on a deck and in the sea. They are opposite days, which is why they sit well in the same week.
Short answer
Book a buggy safari if someone in your group wants to drive off-road. Book the dolphin tour if you would rather spend the day afloat: an easy river stretch first, then swims at the Boğaz river mouth and off Dolphin Island, a grilled lunch served on deck, and foam and music as the boat turns for home. Doing both? Keep them on separate days and give the boat the earlier date.
Driving versus drifting
On a buggy day the activity is the driving: you steer, you brake, you follow the track. On the dolphin tour the boat does the work. You sit at the bow while it moves down the Manavgat river, swim when it anchors, eat when lunch is served, and join the foam on the way back if you feel like it.
Neither day is the right one in general; they answer different moods. If your group is split between the two, that is your sign to book both.
Teenagers and the two days
The teenager asking for buggies may well be the first one into the water at the river mouth, where cold river water and warm salt water lie a few strokes apart. On the dolphin tour, guests aged 11 and over pay the adult fare of €21; children aged 2 to 10 pay €15.
Who may drive a buggy, and from what age, is set by the buggy site. Our dolphin tour with teenagers page covers what older children tend to enjoy on the boat.
Sun on a boat is its own kind of sun
Both days keep you outdoors. On deck the light comes off the water as well as from above, and you are in and out of the sea, so sun cream does not stay put. The operator asks every guest to bring a few things:
- Swimsuit and towel
- Sunglasses
- High-factor sun cream, put on again after each swim
- A hat and a light cover-up for the river stretch and lunch
The last line is our own advice; the first three are on the operator's list. More in our sun on deck guide. What to wear on dirt tracks is for the buggy site to tell you.
Which comes first, and how close together
Put the dolphin tour in the first half of your holiday. It sails weather permitting, and an early booking leaves spare days to move to. Then leave at least a quiet day before the buggies: two full outdoor days in a row are hard work, especially for younger children.
Left it late? The earliest date we can book is tomorrow, and the pickup message reaches you the day before, so book early in the day. See booking the dolphin tour for tomorrow.
Where to book each
The buggy safari is booked on our sister site buggysafariside.com; go there for its price, times and what is included. Back here, our dolphin tour page sets out the whole day, with hotel pickup, lunch and the foam party covered by the fare. You settle up in euros when the tour day comes, and cancelling costs nothing until 48 hours before. Book it here.
Side Dolphin Island Tour: the price, what it covers, booking