Morning or midday? The session grid answers it
Quad and buggy safaris in Side run every day of the week in three fixed sessions: 07:45, 09:45 and 12:45. Your zone's pickup runs five to forty-five minutes offset from the session's headline time depending on where you stay along the corridor, and your exact hotel slot is confirmed at booking. So the real question is not whether you can go — you can, any day — but which of the three sessions suits the way you holiday. This page answers only that. If your question is actually about which month to come, our best-season guide for quad safari owns that answer; if you are torn between the machines themselves, the quad-or-buggy comparison settles it; and for what to wear on the track, the kit guide has you covered.
Who this is not for
Before the session logic: children under 6 cannot join at all, even as passengers, so families with smaller children should park this one for a future year. Solo driving starts at 16 — driving is skill-based rather than paperwork-based, with a briefing and a supervised test drive before anyone hits the track, but under-16s ride as belted passengers regardless of confidence. Guests with back or neck issues should take the passenger seat rather than the wheel. And drivers need ID at the base, whichever session you pick.
The 07:45 session: the connoisseur's run
The earliest session is the one we quietly recommend to anyone who asks. At 07:45 the air is at its coolest of the three slots and the light at its softest — the forest and mud tracks behind Side photograph better in that low morning light than at any other hour of the riding day. You are also first onto the track that day. The practical argument is just as strong: the quad safari runs about three hours door-to-door and the buggy about four, with one and a half to two hours of actual driving in both, so an 07:45 start hands you the rest of the day back. Ride, shower and change at the base — the facility has showers and changing cabins precisely because you will need them — and you are back with most of the beach day untouched. The cost is obvious: on holiday, 07:45 means an alarm.
The 09:45 session: the family middle
The mid-morning session is the compromise most families land on, and for good reason. It starts after a normal hotel breakfast — no negotiating with the buffet opening time, no waking a reluctant teenager at dawn — and still gets you back in time to salvage a good chunk of the afternoon. It carries neither the early session's alarm clock nor the midday session's heat. If you are bringing passengers aged 6 and up, this is usually the slot where everyone in the vehicle is actually awake and enjoying it.
The 12:45 session: for late risers, eyes open
The midday session exists for a reason: plenty of guests are on holiday precisely so that nothing happens before noon. Choose it knowingly. Of the three slots it is the one that puts you on the track through the warmest hours of the riding day — we will not invent temperatures for you, but 12:45 versus 07:45 needs no thermometer. Two things soften it: the tracks include water-splash stops, which are never more welcome than in the midday slot, and the base's showers mean you return to the hotel clean rather than baked in dust. If a lie-in matters more to you than cool air, this is your session; if you are undecided, it is not.
Quad or buggy: the thirty-second version
Full comparison lives in the machine-choice guide, but for scheduling purposes: the quad safari is about three hours from your Side hotel at €25 per driver, with child passengers at €15, riding dusty paths and muddy forest obstacles on a machine you straddle. The buggy safari is about four hours at €30 per driver, with child passengers at €18, in an automatic side-by-side vehicle with belted seating — the version where a parent drives and a child rides shotgun. Both run the same daily three-session grid, both start with a safety briefing and supervised test drive, and both end at the showers. Protective goggles and bandanas are sold at the facility rather than included, so factor that in or bring your own — details in the what-to-wear guide.
Booking the slot you actually want
All three sessions run daily, year-round, so availability is rarely the problem — matching the session to your party is. Early for cool air, soft light and a free day; mid-morning for families and normal breakfasts; midday for late risers who accept the heat with their eyes open. Reserve the quad or the buggy with your preferred session, and your zone's pickup offset is confirmed with the booking. The track does not care when you arrive; the sun is the only variable you are choosing.