Two boat days, two completely different moods
For a couple the real choice from Belek is not between boats, it is between moods. The Alibaba pirate galleon is our flagship day and the cheapest of the three at €25 per adult, with the round-trip hotel transfer already in the price. It is a warm, loud, holiday-shaped day on the Mediterranean: music, pirate animation, games for children on board and a foam party, all of it sold as part of the programme rather than as an optional extra. Plenty of couples want exactly that. What it is not is a hushed cruise for two, and we would rather you read that here than work it out halfway through the foam.
The Green Canyon cruise is the calmer day, and it is not a sea trip at all. Green Canyon is a freshwater reservoir behind the Oymapınar Dam near Manavgat: deep green, noticeably cool water held between pine-covered cliffs, reached by an inland drive from your hotel rather than from a harbour. It costs €42 per adult, runs about eight hours door to door, and the day is built around scenery, swimming stops in sheltered coves and free time on deck.
What two people actually pay
These are the three days we collect couples from Belek for. Prices are per adult, and the hotel transfer and lunch are included on all three:
- Alibaba pirate galleon: €25 per adult, so €50 for two. Transfer from Belek and barbecue lunch on board included.
- Green Canyon reservoir cruise: €42 per adult, €84 for two. Air-conditioned transfer, lunch on board and guide assistance included.
- Manavgat market and river boat: €43 per adult, €86 for two. Transfer, a licensed English-speaking guide and a riverside lunch included. It is a market-and-scenery day on the Manavgat River rather than a swimming one, and it departs on Mondays and Thursdays only, because those are the two days the market runs.
- Travelling with a child anyway? On the galleon a child aged 4 to 11 pays half the adult fare, €12.50, and infants aged 0 to 3 are free. The other two days set their own child prices: €25 on Green Canyon and €30 on the market day.
- Drinks are the main thing outside the price on all three days, so budget for the bar separately.
Can you find a quiet corner of the deck on the galleon?
Partly, and here is the honest shape of it. The galleon has relaxed sunbathing areas and a sun deck where you watch the Belek and Antalya coastline drift past, so you can settle away from where the animation is happening and spend much of the day lying next to each other with the sea going by.
What we will not promise is privacy. It is one shared boat with families and groups on it, and the music, the pirate animation and the foam party are all part of the day we sell, not extras you opt into. Book this one because you want a party at sea, not in spite of it. If your instinct on reading that is a firm no, take the Green Canyon day instead rather than booking this one and feeling misled.
Green Canyon: the calmer day for two
The day starts with a pickup from your Belek hotel in an air-conditioned vehicle and an inland drive to the reservoir near Manavgat, where the boat is waiting. After that it is cliffs, glassy dark-green water and long stretches of nothing in particular. The captain anchors in calm, sheltered coves and you go straight off the deck into the water; if only one of you swims, the other stays perfectly comfortable on the sundeck.
Pack for cool water. This is a freshwater reservoir held between cliffs and the water is genuinely cool rather than warm, which is half the appeal in the middle of a hot day. We do not publish water temperatures, because we do not measure them. Bring swimwear, a towel, sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses, and wear comfortable shoes, because there is boarding and a little walking. On the galleon, non-slip footwear for moving around the deck is the sensible choice. Free time on the open deck is written into the Green Canyon day rather than squeezed between activities, which is the clearest reason a couple might pay the extra.
Swimming, lunch and what is not in the price
Both water days include swimming. The galleon makes several swimming breaks and you go in off the deck into clear coves along the Side coastline; on Green Canyon the captain anchors in sheltered coves on the reservoir. We deliberately do not publish how many stops there are or name the coves, because that depends on conditions and on the captain on the day.
Lunch is included on all three days: a barbecue grilled on board on the galleon, a freshly prepared lunch on board on Green Canyon, and a riverside lunch on the market day. We do not publish a menu and we do not claim to cover any particular diet, so if either of you eats differently, message us before you book and we will tell you honestly what can be arranged for your date. Not included on any day: drinks from the on-board bar, tips for the crew and guide, and the photo and video service.
How long you are out, and how you get back
The galleon is a full day of roughly seven hours, with about six to seven of those on the boat. You are collected from your Belek hotel in the morning and driven to Side Harbour, because Belek itself has no boat harbour in our records, and the galleon then cruises the Side coastline before an afternoon return. That transfer is part of the €25, not an extra you settle at the harbour. Green Canyon runs about eight hours door to door including the scenic drive each way, and the same driver brings you back.
We cannot give you a pickup time on a web page and will not invent one: it depends on where your hotel sits in the morning route and is confirmed after booking, the day before you travel. Pickup covers Belek and the Kadriye hotel strip. If you are staying out towards Boğazkent, Serik or the edges of the area, message us and we will tell you honestly whether we can reach you. Both days end with a drop-off back at your hotel.
What we do not run from Belek
This is where couples get sold things that do not exist, so we will be blunt about our own limits. From Belek we operate three days: the pirate galleon, the Green Canyon reservoir cruise, and the Manavgat market with the river boat. That is the whole list.
- No private boat and no yacht charter for two from Belek.
- No sunset or evening cruise from Belek. Both water days are daytime trips.
- No fishing boat and no diving boat on this brand.
- No Suluada departure from Belek. That trip runs from Side and from Antalya, not from your Belek hotel.
- No Antalya or Düden waterfall boat trip sold from Belek.
Booking the day for two
There is no card form on this site and no deposit. You reserve the date, we confirm it, and the two of you pay in euros on the day of the tour. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure, which is worth more to a couple than it sounds: if the forecast turns, if one of you comes back from the beach burnt, or if you simply want a slow morning instead, cancelling costs you nothing. Same-day bookings are not accepted, so the earliest date you can pick is tomorrow.
Pick your date, choose two adults, and reserve. Nothing is charged online, pickup is confirmed the day before, and you can cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before departure. If you are undecided between the loud day and the calm one, tell us on WhatsApp what kind of holiday you are having and we will point you at the honest answer rather than the more expensive one.