Side days compared
Pirate Boat or Dolphin Boat in Side: Which Day for Your Family?
Both are days on a boat out of Side, and both appeal to children. They are built around different things, though, and knowing which is which saves a disappointed eight-year-old.
Short answer
Pick the pirate boat if your children want to be part of the show: costumes, a treasure hunt, pirate games, swim stops and lunch on board. Pick the dolphin boat if the whole family wants a quieter day watching the sea for dolphins, knowing nobody can promise they will turn up. With a week or more in Side, there is room for both.
Two boat days built around different things
The pirate boat trip is a performance with the coast as its backdrop. The crew are in pirate costume, the children are handed costumes of their own as they come aboard, and the hours between swims fill up with games, pirate stories and a hunt for treasure around the deck. The sea matters, but the theme is the point.
A dolphin boat works the other way round. The sea is the whole show, and the day is about scanning the water and waiting. Wildlife keeps its own timetable, so a sighting is a hope rather than a promise, and a good crew will tell you so. Nothing about dolphins or any other wildlife belongs to our pirate days — if that is what your family has its heart set on, a pirate ship is the wrong boat.
Side by side
| Pirate boat trip | Dolphin boat day | |
|---|---|---|
| What fills the day | Costumes, pirate games, stories, a treasure hunt, swim stops, lunch | Watching the sea for dolphins |
| Pace | Busy, noisy and full of games | Slower, with long stretches of looking out |
| Who leads | The crew, in character | The sea itself |
| Fare and details | €20 from age 11, €14 from 2 to 10, under 2 free | Shown on our sister site |
Which children suit which day
Younger children who struggle to sit still tend to do better with something to do, and the pirate boat gives them a job every hour: dress up, hunt, play, swim, eat. A child who would sooner stand at the rail with binoculars, and can cope if the sea stays empty, may get more from a dolphin day.
Mixed ages are where it gets interesting. A teenager may find the costumes a bit much while a younger sibling is in heaven. On the pirate boat trip anyone from 11 pays the adult fare of €20; children from 2 to 10 pay €14. If the family is split, our pirate boat or kids' programme guide may help you settle the pirate half of the question first.
Swimming on each day
On the pirate boat trip the ship pauses along the coast so everyone can get into the clear Mediterranean; the swim stops guide covers what to pack and how parents manage it. Our second pirate day, the kids' pirate programme, swims somewhere quite different: at the river mouth, where cold fresh river water meets the warm salty sea, explained in the river-mouth swim guide.
Whether a dolphin day includes a swim, and anything else about how it runs, is something to check on its own page rather than assume.
Fitting both into one holiday
The two days complement each other well. Do the pirate boat first if your children are small — it is pure fun with no waiting — and keep the dolphin day for later in the week, once everyone has their sea legs and patience. Our sister site describes the dolphin-watching boat day from Side, and it shows that trip's current fares, timings and what is included.
For the pirate day, nothing is paid when you book. You settle up in euros on the morning itself, and if plans change you can cancel at no cost up to 48 hours ahead.
Side Pirate Boat Trip: prices, what is included, and booking
