Side-Turkey.

Our Side buggy safari costs EUR 30 per adult and EUR 15 per child. That price covers hotel pick-up and drop-off, a briefing from professional instructors, a supervised test drive, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours behind the wheel of a shared two-seat buggy on a forest track, and changing cabins with showers at the end. Photos, food, bandanas and goggles cost extra.

I am Murat Atalay, and my team at Murat Atalay Excursions & Tours runs this trip from Side and Manavgat, where we live and work year round. Every week guests ask me the same fair question: what do I actually get for thirty euros? This page answers it honestly, using the real inclusion list from our Side buggy safari booking page, so you can hold it up against any leaflet handed to you on the seafront. You can reserve your buggy online without any prepayment, so checking us against the competition costs you nothing.

What EUR 30 actually buys: the full list

Everything below is part of the standard price. There is no premium tier, no fuel surcharge and no fee waiting for you at the site. The list here is the same list on your ticket.

• Hotel pick-up and drop-off - we collect you and bring you back, door to door.
• Briefing by professional guides and instructors - controls, signals and track rules before anyone drives.
• Supervised test drive - you show us the basics in a controlled area first.
• Approximately 1.5 to 2 hours of off-road driving - a forest track, shared between driver and passenger.
• Changing cabins and shower facilities - because you will not come back clean.

The whole outing takes about four hours door to door. Subtract the 1.5 to 2 hours on the track and the rest is your transfer both ways, the briefing, the test drive and time to shower and change before we drive you home. Nothing on that list is padding. Each item is there because of something this tour does to you, and I will go through them one by one.

Hotel pick-up and drop-off: included, not an add-on

Some operators quote a low headline price and then add a transfer fee per person once you are at the desk. We do not. The vehicle that collects you from your hotel and the one that returns you, showered and hungry, are both inside the EUR 30. We run the pick-up routes across the Side and Manavgat resort areas daily in season.

The exact pick-up time is confirmed the day before and varies from hotel to hotel, so do not plan your morning around a guessed hour; wait for our confirmation message and be in the lobby a few minutes early. Free hotel pick-up is part of every booking - just tell us your hotel name when you reserve and we handle the rest.

The briefing and the supervised test drive

Before anyone touches a throttle, our instructors walk the group through the machine: where the brake is, how the steering behaves on loose ground, what the hand signals mean, and how much space to leave to the buggy in front. Then comes the supervised test drive - a few minutes in a controlled area while an instructor watches how you brake, steer and react.

This is not a formality we rush through to look professional. Most of our guests have never driven off-road, many have never driven a buggy at all, and the test drive is where nerves settle and mistakes get corrected cheaply. Nobody joins the convoy until an instructor is happy, and the guides stay with the group for the whole route.

1.5 to 2 hours of driving, shared two ways

Here is the practical difference between this tour and a quad safari, and the thing most first-timers have not thought about. A quad is ridden alone, astride, like a motorbike. A buggy is a two-seater: driver and passenger sit side by side, strapped in, with a cage around both of you. One machine, two people, and the EUR 30 price is per person.

The sharing is the point, not a compromise. Couples take one buggy and swap the wheel at the stops along the route, so both get genuine driving time instead of one long ride as a passenger. A parent drives with a child in the passenger seat, which is exactly why the child price of EUR 15 exists. Two friends will spend the transfer arguing about who drives the first half; the answer, for the record, is that you both drive.

If you are travelling as a pair, decide before the briefing who starts. If you are a group with an odd number, tell us when you book and we will sort the seating out sensibly on the day.

The mud is the feature: why showers are on the list

The track runs through forest, and forest ground is never just one surface. In a dry summer week the buggies throw dust; where the ground holds water they throw mud, and the buggy ahead of you throws it further and higher than you expect. You will finish the drive spattered - hands, arms, face, hair. Most guests come back grinning through a layer of it, and the dirtiest buggy in the convoy is usually the one that had the most fun.

That is exactly why changing cabins and shower facilities are on the inclusion list rather than sold as an extra. You rinse off, change into the dry clothes you brought, and sit in our transfer vehicle as a human being rather than a mud sculpture. Plan for it:

• Wear old clothes or swimwear underneath - nothing you love.
• Bring a full change of clothes and a small towel.
• Closed shoes or old trainers, not flip-flops.
• Leave white linen and good watches at the hotel.
• Bring a plastic bag for the muddy clothes afterwards.
• Stow your phone somewhere sealed, or leave it with your dry kit.

What is not included, and why

I would rather list the exclusions plainly than have you discover them at the site. The following are not in the EUR 30:

• Photo and video - our team shoots along the track and you can buy the results afterwards. Optional, and priced at the site.
• Food and beverages - the facility sells drinks and snacks; nothing is forced on you.
• Protective bandanas - available to purchase. On a dusty day, worth considering for your nose and mouth.
• Protective goggles - also available to purchase. Sunglasses work until the first mud puddle; goggles keep working after it.
• Anything not named on the inclusion list - if it is not written above, assume it costs extra and ask us first.

The logic is simple: the base price stays at EUR 30 because not everyone wants photos or a second cola, and I see no reason to make a family of four subsidise them. The one exclusion I will editorialise on is the camera: taking your own phone onto a mud track is a gamble, and the team photographers already know where the best splashes happen. Decide at the site, not before.

Buggy safari prices from Side, Alanya, Kemer and Belek

We run buggy departures from other resorts along the coast, and the price moves with the length of the transfer. Side is the cheapest starting point because it is our home base and the closest to the track.

That last row deserves a sentence. For EUR 5 more per adult than the buggy alone, the rafting and buggy combo adds a rafting run to the same day. If you were planning to book rafting separately anyway, the combo is the obvious arithmetic; if the buggy is your one adventure of the holiday, the standalone tour keeps the day short at around four hours and the price at EUR 30.

How to book, and how payment works

Booking takes two minutes on the Side buggy safari page: pick your date, tell us your hotel and how many seats you need, and you are done. There is no prepayment and no card details held hostage - you pay on the day of the tour, after we have already picked you up. If your plans change, tell us and we adjust; holidays move, and we would rather rebook you than argue with you.

For EUR 30 you get the transfer, the instruction, the test drive, up to two hours of forest driving and a hot shower at the end. What you add on top - photos, drinks, goggles - is your call, made at the site with the machine ticking next to you.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the buggy safari take in total?

About four hours door to door from Side-area hotels. Of that, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours is actual driving on the forest track; the rest covers the transfer both ways, the safety briefing, the supervised test drive and your time to shower and change afterwards.

Do I have to pay anything when I book?

No. You reserve online without prepayment and pay the full amount on the day of the tour. The price is EUR 30 per adult and EUR 15 per child, and it does not change at the desk - the inclusion list on this page is the deal.

Are goggles and bandanas included in the price?

No, both are available to purchase at the site. Plenty of guests drive without them, but on a dry, dusty day a bandana spares your nose and mouth, and goggles beat sunglasses the moment the first mud puddle arrives. Ask the team for current prices when you arrive.

Can two adults share one buggy and both drive?

Yes, and that is how most couples and friends do it. The buggy seats two side by side, and you swap the wheel at the stops along the route, so both of you get real driving time. The price is per person, not per machine.

Is the rafting and buggy combo better value than booking separately?

If you want both activities, yes. The combo from Side costs EUR 35 per adult and EUR 22 per child - only EUR 5 more per adult than the buggy safari alone - and packs a rafting run and the buggy track into a single day with one transfer.