Who each kind of day is actually for
Two very different purchases hide behind the same word. A seat buys you a place on a fixed programme: the crew set the route, lunch reaches everyone at the same moment, and the deck belongs to whoever else booked that morning. Hiring the boat buys the programme itself — your group, your swim stops, your music, your pace.
That makes this less of a money question than most people expect. Couples, a family of four and anyone happy to be sociable get a full day at sea from €20 an adult and lose nothing they would notice. A group travelling together for a birthday, a reunion or an engagement is buying the one thing no shared boat can sell at any price: an empty deck.
What changes once the boat is yours
On a chartered day the captain works to your plan rather than a timetable. The Alanya yacht drifts along that coast at whatever pace you set and its captain adjusts route and swim stops on request, weather permitting. The Side private boat puts every swim stop, anchor spot and playlist in your hands, and its record names birthdays, anniversaries, engagements and family celebrations as the reason groups take it.
The gulet is the only charter with a documented group size — the record says it suits groups of up to about fifty guests — and both the gulet and the luxury motor yacht let a group bring one bottle of spirits aboard. The luxury motor yacht is also the single boat here that documents a sunset return on request, which is why it sits outside the table below rather than inside it. The full charter line-up lives on our private charter guide instead of being repeated here.
None of that is available by the seat. The reverse is worth being blunt about too: on a shared day the entertainment is the point, and a group that wants live music, a foam party and other people to talk to is better served by the boats in the bottom half of the table.
The price reality, and where it flips
Charter figures are starting prices for the whole boat, not fares for a seat: from €490 out of Kumköy, from €545 on the Side private day, from €580 in Alanya, from €640 on the luxury motor yacht and from €750 for the gulet. How far a figure rises above its starting point is decided by your date and your party — the Side record is explicit that the final price follows the yacht category and the size of the group, and it is confirmed for you before you book. Shared days work the other way and are quoted per person: €20 on the Side boat tour, €34 on the Starcraft day.
Now the arithmetic people actually came for. Twenty-five adult seats on the €20 Side boat tour add up to more than the €490 a Kumköy charter starts from, and because the boat price is not multiplied by your headcount, every extra passenger closes the gap a little further. Two travellers are buying exclusivity rather than a saving; a party of eight or ten is having a different conversation entirely.
So treat the figure as a floor rather than a total, and do not divide it by your headcount expecting a per-person fare to fall out — the day is quoted for the boat, for your date and your group. Ask for that number, set it beside what the same people would pay for seats, and then decide what the difference is buying.
The honest catch: transfer and lunch
Here the expensive option loses two rows outright, and it is the most useful thing on the page. Every shared boat in this comparison collects you from your hotel and feeds you on board; four of the five charters fall short of that. The Side private boat, the gulet and the luxury motor yacht all list the hotel transfer as optional and on request, and the Alanya yacht excludes food, drinks and snacks unless they are arranged in advance. If the door-to-door side matters more than the boat, our page on how hotel pickup works sorts it by resort.
One charter escapes that. The Kumköy yacht carries a round-trip transfer from the Kumköy and Side area and a lunch prepared on board, which makes it the charter that still behaves like a day tour. If reaching the harbour under your own steam would sour the morning, that is the one to ask about first.
Good to know
- One figure covers the whole boat, so an extra guest does not add another fare
- Route, swim stops and the playlist are set by your group rather than a timetable
- Nobody else on the deck — the reason most celebrations charter at all
- The gulet is documented for groups of up to about fifty guests
- The gulet and the luxury motor yacht both allow one bottle of spirits aboard
Worth considering
- Hotel transfer is optional and on request on the Side private boat, the gulet and the luxury motor yacht
- Food and drinks are excluded on the Alanya yacht unless arranged in advance
- There is no per-head price to compare — the day is quoted for the boat, and the figure shown is only where it starts
- A small group pays far more per person than it would for seats
- No live music, foam party or animation team comes with a chartered deck
Chartered and shared days side by side
Six days, the same six questions. The transfer and lunch columns are the ones worth reading twice, because that is where the expensive option quietly gives ground.
- For the Side private boat the record states the final price depends on yacht category and group size — the figure in the table is where it starts.
- The Side private day is available strictly on request, so give us the date well in advance.
| Boat day | Price | Duration | Transfer | Lunch | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private yacht from Kumköy | From €490, whole boat | 7 hours | Hotel pickup included, Kumköy and Side | Prepared on board | The charter that still behaves like a day tour |
| Side private VIP boat or yacht | From €545, whole boat | 6 hours | On request, not included | Fish, chicken or meatballs with mezes | Birthdays and celebrations, route of your choosing |
| Alanya private yacht | From €580, whole boat | 6 hours | Hotel pickup included, central Alanya | Not included unless arranged in advance | Alanya's caves and quiet bays at your own pace |
| Private gulet charter | From €750, whole boat | 7 hours | On request, not included | Lunch menu for your group | Big groups — the record says up to about 50 guests |
| Side boat tour (shared) | €20 per adult | 7 hours | Hotel pickup included | Served on board | Two people who want a full day without chartering |
| Side Starcraft boat tour (shared) | €34 per adult | 6 hours | Hotel pickup included, selected hotels | Served on board | A shared day with unlimited soft drinks |
Reserving either kind of day
Both are held the same way and no card is taken when you reserve — the day is settled on the day itself, and our booking walkthrough sets out the rest. Whichever way you lean, tell us the group size and the date first: it is the number that decides the charter figure, and it is the number the shared boats need in peak season.
