Five layers, from your sunbed to the mountain tracks
Everything sold as an excursion here sits on one simple gradient running inland. First the coast: the resort belt where you sleep. Behind it the Manavgat river comes out of the mountains and reaches the sea. Further in stands the Oymapınar dam, and behind the wall the water backs up into the long green reservoir people call Green Lake, with Green Canyon along it. West of that river system, deeper inland, sits a second and entirely separate canyon, Köprülü, where the rafting happens. Above all of it the Taurus foothills climb away, and that is where the surfaced road eventually gives out.
Read the excursion menu through those five layers and it stops being a wall of unfamiliar names: a trip is defined by how far inland it goes and which river it belongs to. The rest of this page fills the layers in one by one and places our departures on them; how these layers fit into a whole holiday week is a separate question, answered on its own page.
Layer one: the coastal belt — Side, Manavgat, Evrenseki, Kumköy
The belt is a more or less continuous line of resorts either side of the Manavgat river mouth, and for excursions it behaves as one pickup zone rather than four separate places. Side itself is the peninsula with the Roman town standing inside it. Manavgat is the working town on the river, inland of the shore. Evrenseki and Kumköy are resort strips along the same coast.
Our own departures are organised around that belt. The full-day jeep safari collects from Side and the surrounding resort areas, so guests along the belt normally join the same convoy. The rafting combos work the other way round: each has its own departure from Side, Evrenseki, Kumköy and Manavgat. If your resort is not one of the four names above, ask before you book — pickup beyond the named departure points is arranged on request rather than scheduled.
- Side — flagship full-day jeep safari, the seven-hour rafting and jeep combo, and the night safari
- Manavgat — its own nine-hour rafting and jeep combo
- Evrenseki — its own nine-hour rafting and jeep combo
- Kumköy — its own nine-hour rafting and jeep combo
- Other resorts along the same belt — pickup on request, agreed before you book rather than published as a scheduled point
Layer two: the Manavgat river, the line down the middle of the map
The river is the axis everything else hangs off: it comes down out of the Taurus, passes the dam, crosses Manavgat town and reaches the sea a little east of Side. Its waterfall lies on the same river between the mountains and the town, close enough to the coast to be a stop on the way rather than a day of its own.
We deliberately never sell that waterfall as a guarantee. The full-day jeep safari may stop there on the way back depending on the programme that day, and where it does, the entrance is paid on the spot. Instead, the evening version that ends on the water sees the waterfall after dark: the night safari runs for five hours at EUR 35 for guests aged 12 and over, from early June to mid-November.
Layer three: behind the wall — Oymapınar dam, Green Lake and Green Canyon
Upstream, the Oymapınar dam holds the river back and the water fills a narrow gorge far behind it. That flooded gorge is what visitors mean by Green Canyon; the reservoir itself is Green Lake. None of it is visible from the coast, which is the single biggest reason to go inland at all.
The jeep day works the rim rather than the water. There is a panoramic viewpoint over Green Lake, a photo stop at the dam, a viewpoint above Green Canyon, and lunch at a lakeside restaurant, which is included in the EUR 20 adult price. If you would rather be on the lake than above it, the optional one-hour boat trip after lunch is EUR 5 per person paid on the day, bringing the day to EUR 25 per adult. It stays an add-on, not a separate tour, and how the lake behind the dam is actually visited is set out in more depth on our Green Canyon page.
Layer four: Köprülü Canyon, a different canyon on a different river
The commonest mix-up in the region is treating Green Canyon and Köprülü Canyon as the same place. They are not. Köprülü lies further inland to the west, on its own river, and it is a running canyon rather than a flooded one, which is why the rafting happens there and not on Green Lake. Beşkonak is the village the rafting operates from, and the Roman-era Oluk bridge still stands over the water.
It is a longer day, and it is sold as a combination because the drive in is half the appeal. From Side, the seven-hour Side day that reaches Köprülü Canyon puts an off-road jeep transfer together with roughly 12 km of river, all safety equipment and lunch, at EUR 28 per adult and EUR 17 per child. From the other three departure points the same idea runs as a nine-hour day at EUR 40 per adult and EUR 24 per child: the nine-hour day that leaves from Kumköy runs 14 km of Grade II-III water on the Köprülü river and crosses the Oluk bridge, and the Manavgat and Evrenseki versions run their own off-road stretch with a full rafting run and lunch included.
Layer five: the Taurus foothills, where the asphalt ends
Above the belt the ground rises into orchard country and then into the foothills. This part of the map has no ticket office: orange, lemon and pomegranate orchards, cotton and sesame fields, Roman aqueducts standing in farmland, an old Roman bridge at the point where the surfaced road runs out, and villages where a mosque visit with the guide is part of the day. Nomadic Yörük families still move through these hills, though seeing them is luck rather than programme.
Ask what the foothills look like once the asphalt ends and the answer is really the character of the jeep half of the day: open-top 4x4s carrying eight to ten guests each with a professional driver, tracks that are bumpy in places, and a swim stop at Oymapınar village with freshly made Turkish pancakes and a drink. In summer the jeeps run open and the convoy has water fights between vehicles; in winter they run covered and it does not.
Which of our days reaches which part of the map
Placed on the five layers, our departures divide cleanly. One day covers the whole middle band in a single run — the full day that links the dam, the canyon and the villages.
- Full-day Side jeep safari — 8 hours, EUR 20 adult, EUR 10 child aged 4-12, infants 0-3 free. Foothills, orchards, aqueducts, Oymapınar village, the dam, Green Lake and Green Canyon viewpoints, lunch included, boat optional at EUR 5.
- Side rafting and jeep combo — 7 hours, EUR 28 adult, EUR 17 child. Jeep transfer plus about 12 km of river in Köprülü Canyon, safety equipment and lunch included.
- Evrenseki, Kumköy and Manavgat rafting and jeep combos — 9 hours, EUR 40 adult, EUR 24 child. Their own departure from each resort, off-road jeep plus a full rafting run, lunch included.
- Side night jeep safari — 5 hours, EUR 35, ages 12 and over, early June to mid-November. Jeep, the waterfall in the evening, a swim at Green Lake, dinner on board and a catamaran cruise.
- Alanya jeep safari to the Dim River — 8 hours, EUR 30 adult, EUR 17 child, April to November, pickup across the Alanya area from Kestel to Okurcalar. A different river valley for guests based east along the coast.
Practical notes before you place a day on this map
Hotel pickup and drop-off are included on our days, and the time is confirmed after you book rather than published on a page, because it varies from hotel to hotel across a belt this long. The meeting point is the main entrance gate of your hotel, and how the pickup itself is arranged is covered in full on its own page.
Reservations are free: nothing is paid online, no card is taken, and guests settle in euros on the day. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure. Roads are bumpy in places, so mention back or neck problems before boarding. Guiding on the full-day safari is in English, German and Russian, as well as Turkish.