If this is your family's first excursion from Side, the choice can feel loud: pirate boats with foam parties, jeep convoys, quad dust. The Hidden Paradise tour is the quiet option: waterfalls, an emerald lake, and a swimming spot the crowds never reach. Here is exactly what the day looks like, so nobody in the family is surprised.
Why first-timers pick this tour
- The pace is easy. Light walking between stops, short strolls at viewpoints, no hiking. Grandparents manage it as comfortably as teenagers.
- Swimming is optional, always. Confident swimmers get real water time; cautious paddlers and non-swimmers enjoy the same scenery from the edge.
- Everything big is included. Hotel transfer from the Side area, the catamaran ride, lunch, guiding and applicable insurance are all inside the €40 adult price, and infants aged 0–3 travel free.
- Booking carries no risk. Reservation is free, you pay on the tour day, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure.
The day, stop by stop
Morning: pickup and Manavgat Waterfall
An air-conditioned vehicle collects you from your Side-area hotel in the morning, the exact time is confirmed for your hotel the day before, so there is no guesswork. First stop is Manavgat Waterfall, wide and thunderous in spring, gentler at the height of summer. It is an easy, stroller-friendly kind of stop: walk up, stand beside the rushing water, take the family photo.
Mid-morning: the catamaran on Green Lake
Next you board a catamaran for a ride across Green Lake, the reservoir behind Oymapınar Dam, where the water is a green that hardly looks real. The boat stops for a swimming break of about an hour. Children who swim will remember this as the moment the day became a proper adventure; children who don't get a boat ride on an emerald lake, which is not a bad consolation.
Midday: village mosque, aqueducts and canyon views
Back on land the route slows down: and this is where the tour quietly earns its keep with older kids and adults. A look inside the old mosque of Oymapınar village, a panorama stop at ancient aqueducts, a photo break on the bridge approaching Green Canyon, and a lookout over the canyon and Oymapınar Lake that fills every camera roll in the vehicle.
Afternoon: the Hidden Paradise
Then the reason the tour carries its name. Near a village on the road towards Alanya lie clear pools beneath small waterfalls, framed by greenery and blissfully free of crowds. Your family has around two hours here to swim, wade, laze and eat: lunch at a family-run restaurant just below the falls is included. This is the stretch families talk about at dinner for the rest of the holiday: shallow edges for careful paddlers, deeper pools for confident swimmers, shade and food a few steps away. By late afternoon you are back at your hotel.
Practical family notes
- Wear swimsuits under clothes and pack a towel per swimmer, the full checklist is in our what to bring and wear guide.
- Children join under parental supervision at the swimming stops; the pace and the spots are family-friendly, but the lifeguarding is you.
- Bring a little cash for drinks with lunch, alcoholic beverages and extras are the only real spending on the day. The complete cost picture is in the prices guide.
- Weather safety net: if weather cancels the tour, rescheduling is free. The programme order can shift with conditions, but every stop is made.
How it compares to other family excursions
Side's excursion menu is broad, and some of it suits families brilliantly while some absolutely does not. Our complete local guide to Side excursions lays the whole coast out. Where the Hidden Paradise wins is temperament: no music at volume, no queues at a famous gate, no schedule pressure: just water, greenery and time. It is the day for families who came to the Riviera for nature rather than noise.
Booking your family's day
The tour runs all year, every day of the week; just reserve at least 24 hours ahead, since bookings close a day before departure. Tell us the children's ages when you book so we can confirm their rate, reserve for free, and pay only when the vehicle has actually picked you up. Lingering questions, pickup details, swimming, what happens if it rains, are all answered in our Hidden Paradise FAQ. As Atalay Tours, a direct local operator, we have no middleman margins and no hidden costs: which, for a first family excursion in a new country, is exactly the kind of boring reliability you want.