Side or Belek buggy safari: start with your hotel
A buggy morning is part transfer and part driving, so a course that suits your hotel makes life easier. Ours lies inland of the Side coast on private off-road land, in Antalya province's Manavgat district, and the transfer serves nine areas stretching from Side itself to Kızılot. The sister site rides in the Aspendos area by the Köprüçay river; whatever its name suggests, that is not in Belek itself.
Both work on the same broad idea: drivers from 16, a compulsory practice or test drive before the main ride, and a passenger fare of exactly half the driver's. The differences lie in where you are collected, which routes are on sale and how young a passenger may be.
The Side buggy on this site
Our own record, for the one product this site sells.
- Course: off-road ground in private hands, inland from the Side coast, Manavgat district
- Route sold: the Short route of 18 km; a longer route exists in Side but is not offered on this site yet
- Transfer: round trip from Side, Kumköy, Evrenseki, Çolaklı, Titreyengöl, Sorgun, Kızılağaç, Gündoğdu and Kızılot
- Departures: 08:00, 11:00 and 13:00, each an activity departure time, with pickup from your hotel before it
- Programme: approximately 4–4.5 hours door to door
- Fares: €30 per driver and €15 per passenger; every seat is paid, and children from 6 ride at the passenger fare
- Ages: drivers 16 and over, passengers 6 and over
- Licence: stays in the hotel safe; the whole 18 km is on a private off-road course, with traffic nowhere in sight
- Payment on the tour day, with free cancellation until 48 hours before
The Belek buggy on our sister site
Our sister site belekbuggysafari.com lays out both buggy routes near Aspendos on its main tour page, with the current fare for each. We do not copy those fares here, so that you always read them at the source. From its own records:
- Location: the Aspendos area around the Köprüçay (Eurymedon) river, not Belek itself
- Routes sold: Short at 18 km and Long at 28 km, each with its own fare
- Fare model: the passenger pays exactly half the driver's fare, with no separate rate for children and no seat that goes unpaid
- Ages: drivers from 16; for buggy passengers there is no fixed floor, though under 4 is not recommended
- Driving: no licence, because the route is a private off-road course and not a public road; a compulsory test ride decides who drives, and anyone who does not pass rides as a half-price passenger
- Programme: about 4–4.5 hours hotel to hotel, with two sessions a day, morning and afternoon
- Transfer area: 15 areas, among them Belek, Kadriye, Boğazkent, Lara, Kundu, Antalya, Muratpaşa and Konyaaltı, plus Side, Manavgat, Evrenseki, Kumköy, Çolaklı, Gündoğdu and Kızılot along the Side belt
- Included there, per its records: the transfer both ways, an instructor-guide who gives the briefing and runs the test ride, insurance, and a helmet
- Goggles are sold at the base there, and a dust mask, a bandana, food, drinks, photos and video cost extra as well
- Terms there: free to cancel until 48 hours beforehand, with the fare paid in euros on the day itself
Who each one suits
Stay with the Side buggy if your hotel is in one of our nine areas. The transfer is built around them, three departures a day give you a choice of morning, late morning or afternoon, and the programme fits into approximately 4–4.5 hours door to door. Anyone in your group aged 6 or older who would rather not drive simply rides along at €15.
Look at the sister site if your hotel is in Belek, Kadriye, Lara, Antalya or another place on its pickup list that ours lacks. Belek, Antalya and Alanya fall outside our nine transfer areas, so from there a booking with us starts with a WhatsApp question rather than a simple reservation. Check the sister site, too, if you want the 28 km route it sells, or if a child under 6 is travelling with you, since its buggy sets no fixed passenger floor and only advises against under-4s.
If you are in the Side belt, the sister site lists several of the same areas, so in principle you could go either way. Then the choice is about route length and timetable: three departures and the 18 km route here, or two daily sessions and two routes there.
How to decide
Three questions settle most cases. Where is your hotel? Inside our nine areas, the Side buggy is the straightforward option; outside them, start with the sister site. Do you want 18 km or 28 km? Only the sister site sells the longer one at the moment. And how old is your youngest traveller? Under 6 rules out our buggy entirely.
After that, compare timetables. Ours are 08:00, 11:00 and 13:00, which are activity departure times; you are collected before that, at a time confirmed with the booking. The sister site works with two sessions, morning and afternoon, and its own pickup pattern.
Not sure whether your hotel falls inside our transfer area? Message the area's name via WhatsApp, +90 536 603 75 84, and you will hear back whether the Side buggy can collect you.
What the Side buggy day includes
Whatever the slot, the day goes like this: arrival, registration, information briefing, safety briefing, vehicle walk-through, practice drive, the guide's assessment and finally the main safari. What the guide decides after the practice drive stands, and non-drivers still cover the whole route in the passenger seat.
Wear old clothes in darker shades and toe-covering shoes; you can freshen up in the base's cabins and showers once you are back. Nothing is taken before the day, and cancelling 48 hours or more ahead of the start costs you nothing at all.
- Return hotel transfer within our nine areas
- Buggy and helmet
- Briefings, the vehicle explanation and the practice drive
- A professional guide along the route
- Insurance, where applicable under the operating policy
- Changing cabins and showers
- Anything else is optional and paid at the base, from goggles and bandanas to snacks, drinks and photos