Swimming on an Alanya Boat Trip — Which Boats Stop and Which Do Not

Six of our nine Alanya trips record swimming: the pirate galleon (€20) and the Starcraft day (€35) below the castle, the fishing day (€50) in a sheltered bay, the Green Canyon and Manavgat days in cold mountain water rather than the sea, and the private yacht wherever the captain anchors. The sunset sailing and the night disco record no swim stop. The Suluada day says nothing either way, so neither will we.

Every listing shows blue water. Not every boat stops in it.

Holiday photography cannot tell the two apart: a boat on turquoise water looks the same whether it anchors in that water or sails past it. On this coast the difference is real and it is worth knowing before you pay. Two of our nine trips sail in the evening and record no swim stop at all. Two more swim in cold fresh water rather than the Mediterranean. One carries no swimming line in its record in either direction.

So this page does one job. It reports, product by product, what the record actually says about going into the water — and where the record says nothing, it says that instead of filling the gap with something plausible. If a claim is not on the ledger below, you will not find us making it.

Boat by boat, what the record says about the water

  • Pirate galleon — €20 adult / €14 child, seven daytime hours. Swimming is in its own highlights: swim and snorkel in the turquoise coves below the medieval castle. Non-swimmers are welcome aboard, which the record states in as many words.
  • Starcraft day cruise — €35 / €25, nine hours. Swimming and snorkelling in crystal-clear, sheltered bays, with the animation crew firing off the foam party between the swims. Not recommended for anyone with serious mobility limitations.
  • Fishing day — €50 / €35, six hours. A swimming stop in a sheltered bay sits in the included list beside the hot lunch. All the fishing is done from the boat, and the record warns that open water can be choppy.
  • Green Canyon day — €33 / €20, nine hours with an open buffet. Swimming at the anchorage spots in crisp mountain water: fresh water from the mountains, not the Mediterranean, and cold.
  • Manavgat river day and bazaar — €43 / €30, nine hours, Mondays and Thursdays only. Its included list names the Green Canyon swim stops, so this one swims in the canyon rather than the sea. The waterfall entrance is not in the fare.
  • Private yacht — €580 for the whole boat, never a per-person price, six hours. Snorkelling masks are on its record along with a freshwater shower, and its swim stops are adjustable with the captain, weather permitting.
  • Sunset sailing — €35 / €25, four evening hours. No swim stop recorded. The record lists the coastal cruise and the round-trip transfer, and nothing else at all.
  • Night disco yacht — €48 / €34, four hours after dark. No swim stop recorded either. What is recorded is a live DJ, an animation team and a foam show.
  • Suluada island day — €43 / €30, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Our record for this trip carries no swimming line whatsoever. It is an island day and you may well end up in the water; we are simply not going to write down a promise our own record does not make.

Cold mountain water is a different day from the Mediterranean

The Green Canyon day is not a sea day, and the price is not the reason to know that. It runs inland, away from the sea, and the swimming happens at the anchorage spots in what the record calls crisp mountain water. After a week in a sea that has been warming all season, the first few seconds are a genuine shock. People divide cleanly into the ones who never get in and the ones who cannot be got out.

The Manavgat river day reaches the same canyon: Green Canyon swim stops are named in its included list. Two things to weigh before you pick it for the swimming rather than for the market. It sails Mondays and Thursdays only, and the waterfall entrance is not part of the fare.

One practical detail catches people out on the canyon day. No bar is recorded on that boat and drinks are outside the fare down to bottled water, so bring what you intend to drink. The buffet lunch is included; the bottle in your hand is not.

The two evening boats swim nowhere, and neither is a mistake

The sunset sailing runs four evening hours for €35 an adult and €25 a child, and its record lists a coastal cruise and a hotel transfer. No meal, no bar, no swim stop. That is not an omission we are apologising for — it is what the product is. It sells the light on the castle side of town, and the water is cooler in the evening than the shore is, so take a layer.

The night disco yacht is the other one: €48 and €34 for four hours after dark, with a live DJ, an animation team and a foam show on the record and no swim stop anywhere in it. It is a night sailing. If you want both halves of that holiday, they are two tickets rather than one — a day boat for the water, the disco for the night.

Both evening boats run the same shoreline the day boats do, the cave coast west of the harbour. You see it in a different light rather than swim beneath it, which is a fair trade if you know you are making it.

What we will not put a number on

Our record carries no count of swim stops, no length for them and no water temperature, for any of the nine trips. Where a boat drops anchor and how long it stays there is the captain's call on the day, and conditions can move a stop or drop one. A number printed on this page would be a promise the crew never made, so there is no number on this page.

Snorkelling is the second silence worth naming. Snorkelling masks appear in exactly one record — the private yacht's, along with a freshwater shower on board. The galleon and the Starcraft both describe swimming and snorkelling in their own highlights, but neither record says the equipment is handed to you, so if having a mask matters, bring your own to the shared boats.

Depth, current and what the seabed looks like are not on our record either, and neither is a wind threshold. If a medical or mobility question decides whether the day works for someone in your party, read what that boat records about itself and ask us before you book rather than after.

What a swimming day costs, in whole numbers

The cheapest way into the water is the galleon. Two adults and a six-year-old pay 20 + 20 + 14 = €54 for seven daytime hours with lunch included. The same three on the Starcraft day pay 35 + 35 + 25 = €95 and get nine hours, lunch cooked on board and a foam party between the swims. On the Green Canyon day they pay 33 + 33 + 20 = €86 for cold fresh water and a buffet, and on the fishing day 50 + 50 + 35 = €135 with a hot lunch.

Infants under four travel free, children of four to eleven pay the child fare, and everyone from twelve pays the adult one. Every trip can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before departure, which is the only weather cover we can honestly offer you.

One upgrade touches the swimming days directly. The pirate galleon and the Starcraft day each sell an All Inclusive fare alongside the standard one, at €40 an adult and €28 a child, on the same boat, the same departure and the same swim stops, with unlimited soft drinks and the same lunch. On the galleon that is 40 − 20 = €20 more per adult and 28 − 14 = €14 more per child. There is no alcohol in it, and it is not an all-inclusive boat: it is a second fare on two of the nine, and the other seven do not offer it.

Questions

Frequently asked

Which Alanya boat trips have a swim stop?
Six of the nine record one: the pirate galleon, the Starcraft day cruise, the fishing day, the Green Canyon day, the Manavgat river day and the private yacht. The sunset sailing and the night disco record none, and the Suluada day carries no swimming line in its record either way.
Do the evening boats in Alanya stop for a swim?
No. The sunset sailing records a coastal cruise and a transfer and nothing else, and the night disco yacht records a DJ, an animation team and a foam show but no swim stop. Both are evening products, and swimming belongs to the daytime boats.
Is the swimming on the Green Canyon trip in the sea?
No. It is a freshwater day inland and the swimming happens at the anchorage spots in cold mountain water. The Manavgat river day names the same canyon swim stops. If you want the Mediterranean under the castle, take one of the coastal boats instead.
How many swim stops does an Alanya boat trip make?
Our record does not carry a number, so we will not print one. Where the boat anchors, and for how long, is the captain's decision on the day, and the sea can move it. Anyone quoting you an exact count is quoting something other than the operator.
Do the boats provide snorkelling masks?
Only the private yacht records them, together with a freshwater shower on board. The galleon and the Starcraft describe swimming and snorkelling in their highlights, but their records do not say the gear is supplied, so bring your own if it matters to you.
What if someone in the group cannot swim?
The pirate galleon's record welcomes non-swimmers explicitly, and nobody has to enter the water on any of these boats — the deck is yours for the whole trip. Tell us when you book so the crew knows, and read the boat's own safety record rather than a general reassurance.