Pairing your Side days
Dolphin Tour or Kids' Pirate Boat in Side: A Parent's Guide
With small children, the question is less which boat and more whose day it is. A kids' pirate boat is planned around them; the dolphin tour is a day adults and children share.
Short answer
Choose a kids' pirate boat if the day is mainly for the children and the pirate theme is what they will remember. Choose the dolphin tour if you want one day out that works for everyone: a river cruise, three swims, a grilled lunch on deck and foam with music before the harbour, with children aged 2 to 10 at €15 and those under 2 free. Doing both, a few days apart, works too.
Whose day is it?
A kids' pirate boat, as the name says, puts children first. Its own site describes the programme and the ages it is made for.
The dolphin tour has no theme. It is a route: down the Manavgat river, a stop at the Boğaz river mouth where you can pick between chilly river water and the warmer sea, lunch on deck, then a long swim off Dolphin Island, one more swim, and the foam party on the way back. Children get water and noise. Adults get the river, the open sea and a chance, no more than a chance, that wild dolphins or Caretta caretta turtles pass by.
What the dolphin tour costs a family, in words
Take two parents and two children aged 2 to 10. That is two adult fares at €21 each plus two child fares at €15 each. A baby younger than 2 travels free. Anyone aged 11 or over counts as an adult.
- Hotel transfer both ways, from Side and the areas around it
- BBQ lunch on deck
- Foam party, music and onboard entertainment
- Professional guiding on board
- Full-day travel insurance
All five are already in the fare. Drinks are sold at the onboard bar, and the drinks package and professional photos are optional. The full table is on our dolphin tour prices page, and the family cost guide works through other family shapes.
With a baby or a toddler
A baby under 2 pays nothing on the dolphin tour. Whether a lunch plate comes with that depends on the package, so ask us when you book. We make no promises about cots, high chairs or changing tables on board.
Pack a hat, a light cover-up and whatever helps your little one sleep away from home. Our dolphin tour with a baby page has the full packing list and what to tell us in advance.
Children who cannot swim yet
Every swim stop on the dolphin tour is optional. A child who does not swim can stay on deck with you, watch the others jump in, and still enjoy lunch and the foam party. If your child needs any swimming aid, ask us before booking; you will get a plain answer about what we can confirm. The non-swimmers guide goes through the day from the deck.
Booking both
Give the dolphin tour an early date in your stay: it sails weather permitting, and an early booking can still move. Put the kids' pirate boat on a different day, with a pool day in between so nobody is worn out.
The kids' pirate boat is sold on sidepiratesboat.com, our sister site, together with its price, times and what is included. Our own boat you book here: nobody asks for card details online, you bring euros on the tour day to pay, and pulling out is free of charge as long as it is 48 hours or more before the tour.
