The short version: two swimming days, and one that is not
We run three boat days from Belek, and only two of them put you in the water. The pirate galleon day and the Green Canyon cruise both stop to swim. The Manavgat market and river day does not. Sorting that out before you book saves the one disappointment we can see coming a mile off, which is a family stepping onto a boat with rolled towels for a day that was never built around swimming.
This is not about which day is better. All three are full days with hotel transfer from Belek, lunch and a boat. The difference is water. Two of them anchor and let you in. The third keeps you on deck, gliding past reed beds, and gives you a market instead.
- Alibaba pirate galleon - sea swimming, several swimming breaks in coves along the Side coastline
- Green Canyon cruise - freshwater swimming in the cool, calm Oymapınar reservoir
- Manavgat market and river boat - no swimming; a calm river cruise and an open-air market
Swimming off the pirate galleon
The galleon day begins with hotel collection in Belek in the morning and a drive to Side Harbour, because the boat lies there rather than in Belek. That round-trip transfer from Belek and the nearby resorts is inside the price, both ways. From the harbour the galleon, painted hull and sails and rigging and all, cruises the Side coastline.
The swimming happens whenever the crew drop anchor in a sheltered cove along that coast. This is where the sea does the thing people photograph: deep blue over the drop, glowing emerald over the shallows, water clear enough to see the bottom under you. There are several swimming breaks across the day. You get in straight off the deck, swim, climb back aboard and dry off in the sun until the next one.
Between the swims the rest of the day carries on around you: the foam party, music and pirate animation, games for the children, a barbecue lunch served on board and quiet stretches of sundeck for people who came to do nothing at all. Reckon on about six to seven hours on the boat, with the morning collection and the afternoon return around it, so plan for a full day.
Swimming in the Green Canyon: freshwater, not the sea
The Green Canyon day is the one guests most often picture wrongly, so we say it plainly on every page: it is not a sea cruise. The boat sails on a freshwater reservoir held back by the Oymapınar Dam near Manavgat, a deep-green, cool, glassy lake between pine-clad cliffs, inland from the coast.
The captain anchors in calm, sheltered coves of that reservoir, and from there you dive straight off the deck into cool, deep-green water. Because it is a reservoir rather than open sea, the surface stays calm, and that makes it an easy day in the water: no open-sea swell to read, just clear, cool freshwater under a wall of pines.
Anyone who would rather not swim stays perfectly comfortable on the sundeck. That is written into the tour notes, not something we improvised for this page, and it is one reason the day works for mixed groups and all ages. Door to door it runs about eight hours, including the scenic inland drive each way in an air-conditioned vehicle.
The Manavgat market and river day is not a swimming tour
The third day pairs the big open-air market at Manavgat with a cruise on the Manavgat River aboard a traditional wooden riverboat. The water is calm and reed-lined, there are fishermen and birdlife along the banks, and lunch is served riverside. It is a lovely, slow day. What it is not is a day you swim, and we would much rather write that here than have you find out with swimwear on under your clothes.
One practical note belongs to that day as well. The market runs on Mondays and Thursdays, so Monday and Thursday are the only two departures there are, and the booking calendar offers nothing else.
If you would rather not swim at all
Neither swimming day obliges you to get in. On the galleon there are sunbathing areas and the whole animation side of the day going on around the anchor stops. On the reservoir the sundeck is the point for a good number of guests. You can spend every swimming break dry, in the sun or in the shade, and still have had the day you booked.
One honest caveat from our own tour notes: the galleon day suits families, couples and groups, but it is not ideal for guests with limited mobility. If that describes someone in your party, message us before booking and we will tell you plainly what the day involves rather than sell you a surprise.
What to bring for the swimming breaks
There is nothing exotic on this list. Swimwear, a towel, sunscreen and a hat cover it, with sunglasses added for the Green Canyon day because the light coming off that water is fierce. Non-slip footwear earns its space in the bag too, since a deck that has had wet feet walking over it since mid-morning is a deck that gets slippery.
Putting your swimwear on before pickup is the simplest way to handle the first swim stop of the day. Everything else you personally like to have in the water, bring it with you: our price covers the cruise, the transfer, lunch and the on-board programme, and equipment for the water is not part of that.
- Swimwear and a towel
- Sunscreen and a hat, plus sunglasses on the Green Canyon day
- Non-slip footwear for moving around the deck
- Anything you personally use in the water, brought from your own bag
- Money for drinks, which are not included on any of the three days
What we do not publish about the swimming, and why
You will not find a count of swim stops on this page, and you will not find the coves named. That is deliberate. Where the boat anchors, and how often, depends on the day and on the sea, and the captain makes that call on the water rather than in an office weeks earlier. Printing a fixed number would turn a sound crew decision into a broken promise on the first morning the wind disagrees.
For the same reason we publish no water temperatures, no monthly sea statistics dressed up as our own data, and no guarantee of what you will see under the surface. What we will state is what the record actually supports: the galleon anchors in coves for several swimming breaks, and the Green Canyon boat anchors in calm coves where you can dive off the deck into cool water.
Prices, paying and changing your mind
The pirate galleon day from Belek is €25 for an adult aged 12 to 99 and €12.50 for a child aged 4 to 11, which is exactly half, with infants aged 0 to 3 free. The Green Canyon cruise is €42 for an adult and €25 for a child, infants free again. Both prices already include the round-trip hotel transfer from Belek and lunch on board.
Nothing is prepaid. We take no card details online at all. You reserve a place, and you pay in euros on the day of the tour. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure, so a change of plan or a change of forecast does not cost you anything. One booking can carry up to 40 people, and the earliest date you can choose is tomorrow, because we do not accept same-day reservations.