Side Pirate Boat for Adults and Couples: An Honest Answer
We sell two pirate days, and both are made for families with children. If you are travelling without them, here is what you would actually be booking, so you can decide before you pay a cent.
Short answer
You can book either pirate day without children, but both are built for families. The pirate boat trip is the closer fit for adults: a coast cruise with swim stops and lunch, at €20 each — though you will share the deck with costumed children and a treasure hunt. The kids' pirate programme is themed for children from start to finish, with a foam party and children's dances, and adults pay the same €23 as everyone else. If you want a quiet day at sea, neither is it.
What the two days are designed for
The pirate boat trip is built for children and families, with parents staying with their children throughout. The kids' programme is themed for children, and grown-ups may join the games and the swim.
Neither is an adults' cruise with a pirate flag on top. The costumes, the games, the music and the lunch menus are pitched at children, and the day is planned around families. Better to learn that here than on deck.
If you still fancy it: the pirate boat trip
For a couple or a group of adults, the pirate boat trip is the one to look at. Strip away the theme and it is a cruise along the Side coast, with stops to swim in the Mediterranean and lunch on board, plus a hotel pickup in an air-conditioned vehicle. It lasts about 6 hours, from morning to afternoon, and costs €20 per adult.
What you give up is quiet. The children around you will be in costume and hunting for treasure, and the crew will be in character. If that sounds charming, or you are happy with a book and the view between swims, it can work. If you came to Side for calm, it will not.
The kids' programme: hard to recommend without children
The kids' pirate programme is the less likely fit. Its centrepieces are face painting, a treasure map, a tug-of-war, catching the pirate Ferhat, a kids' lunch of spaghetti and fish fingers, and a foam party with children's dances. The river leg and the swim where the river meets the sea are lovely, but they are a small part of a day built around the animation.
Adults pay €23 here, the same as every child. Without children to share it with, that is a fare for watching someone else's party.
Where adults without children do fit in
- Grandparents travelling with grandchildren — see the first boat trip and grandparents guide.
- An aunt, uncle or family friend coming along with someone else's children.
- Adult children holidaying with parents and younger siblings.
- Groups of friends travelling with their families — the groups guide covers bookings for up to 20 guests.
If you decide to come
Book it the same way as any family: online or on WhatsApp, with nothing to pay until the day and a free cancellation up to 48 hours before. That last part matters here — if you read this page, book anyway and then have second thoughts, you can step back without cost.
Pack for sun and water — swimwear, towel, hat, sun cream — and a little extra in euros for the drinks that are not in the fare.
