The age bands, in plain numbers
Every boat that publishes age bands uses the same three. Eleven and over pays the adult fare. Four to ten pays the child fare. Nought to three travels free. The bands are the same whether the day is a themed pirate cruise or an ordinary coastal one, which makes a family's cost easy to work out before anyone opens a booking form.
The child fare is a genuine reduction rather than a token one. The Little Pirates day is €20 for an adult and €14 for a child; the Side pirate ship is €23 and €16; the Dolphin Island day is €21 and €15. The child fare is about seventy per cent of the adult one on all three, so two adults with two school-age children pay roughly three and a half adult fares, and the under-fours add nothing at all.
Infants and toddlers: what the record does and does not say
Children under four sail free, and that is the entire documented position. It is worth being precise about the rest, because parents of very small children are usually asking about something the record simply does not cover.
We have nothing written down about pushchairs on deck, changing facilities, shaded seating, cots or child seats in the transfer vehicles, so we will not claim any of it. Ask us with your children's ages before you reserve and we will check with the boat rather than guess. A free fare is not the same as a suitable day, and for a one-year-old the shorter cruises are the sensible end of the catalogue.
The days that set an age of their own
Three age exceptions matter, plus one house rule worth knowing — and they are the ones that catch families out at the last minute.
The Suluada trip from Side records a minimum age of six. The same record also says younger children are welcome free of charge with supervision on deck, so the two lines pull against each other — tell us your children's ages and we will confirm before you book rather than at the pickup. It is an eleven-hour day either way, with an early start.
The Side night disco cruise is documented as an over-18s party, so it is not a family option at all. The Alanya night yacht is a separate boat with a separate rule: its record calls the atmosphere lively and best suited to teens and adults, and says under-18s must be accompanied. Those two evening boats are never interchangeable, whatever a comparison elsewhere suggests.
- Suluada from Side — minimum age 6 in the record; an eleven-hour day with an early pickup
- Side night disco cruise — over-18s only, no exceptions to ask about
- Alanya night yacht — under-18s must be accompanied; described as best suited to teens and adults
- House rule, not an age rule — Side island boat tour: outside food and drink are not permitted on board for hygiene reasons
Who is responsible for children on board
Parents are, at every moment of the day, and the boats say so plainly. The Side boat tour's record states that children remain under parental supervision throughout the day. The Little Pirates day is built for children and families, with parents staying with their children throughout. The Side pirate ship is themed for kids, and parents are warmly welcome to join the games and swimming rather than watch from a sunbed.
That is not a disclaimer, it is the shape of the day. There is entertainment on board — pirate costumes are provided for children on the Little Pirates cruise, and there is face painting and a treasure hunt on the Side pirate ship — but none of it is a childcare service, and the crew never becomes one. If you want to know which boats are built for children rather than merely tolerant of them, that comparison already exists.
Swimming stops and the rules around them
Swimming happens at stops, not underway: the boat comes to a halt, the crew opens the day's swim break, and the family goes in together. The Side boat tour is the record that puts it in writing — follow the crew's safety guidance and keep your valuables with you — and it applies on every deck, to the adults as much as to the children.
Two practical points follow from that. Routes may change with sea and weather, so the bay you swim in is the crew's call on the day rather than a fixed promise. And on the Suluada day the boat anchors offshore while small tender boats take guests to the bay, which is a transfer small children need a hand with. Everything else about nerves, motion and what to do if a child feels unwell sits on our page about seasickness and safety at sea.
What to settle before you book
Send us the ages, not just the number of children. It decides the fare, it decides whether a day is open to you at all, and on the borderline cases it is the difference between a confirmed place and a conversation at the hotel door. Nothing is taken from a card at the reservation — the day is paid on the day — and how a reservation works is set out in full on its own page.
