First, where this actually happens
It is worth being clear about the geography, because the phrase "rafting in Belek" hides it. Belek is where you are picked up. There is no white water in Belek — it is a flat, irrigated resort strip of golf courses and beach hotels. The river is the Köprü, also called the Köprüçay, and it runs through Köprülü Canyon National Park in the Taurus Mountains, inland and north-east of the coast.
So the day is a mountain day that starts at your hotel. The drive is part of it: the coastline gives way to pine forest, the air cools, and the canyon appears below the road.
How the day runs, stage by stage
We do not print a pickup time on this page. It depends on where your hotel sits in the collection run, and we confirm yours after you book rather than publish one we cannot keep for every hotel.
- Hotel pickup in Belek, in an air-conditioned vehicle. The transfer is included both ways.
- The climb into the national park, through pine forest and mountain road.
- Kit and briefing at the riverside base: helmet, life jacket, paddle and wetsuit, then the safety talk from the guide who will be in your raft.
- The river — around fourteen kilometres of the Köprü, with lively runs of white water and long, clear pools between them.
- The Oluk Bridge, a Roman-era arch that the river still runs under, and stops at safe spots to swim and float.
- An open-buffet lunch at a shaded riverside restaurant, after you have changed into dry clothes.
- The transfer back down to your hotel in Belek.
What the river is actually like
The Köprü is cold. It stays cold in high summer, which is exactly why people come up here in August, and it is why a wetsuit is part of the kit rather than an upsell. The run alternates: sections where the boat picks up speed and everyone paddles, and long quiet stretches where the canyon walls close in and the water goes glassy and green.
It is a guided commercial run, not an expedition. A professional guide sits in your raft and steers it, and the briefing happens before anyone touches the water. Most people in the boats have never rafted before.
Who it suits
Families with children from seven, couples, and groups of friends make up most boats. You do not need to be able to swim — the life jacket is worn from the base to the finish and a guide is in the boat with you — and you do not need any experience.
It is not for everyone. It is not recommended if you are pregnant, or if you have back, neck or heart problems, or have had recent surgery. If you are unsure, tell us when you book and we will be straight with you.
What you can add to the day
The rafting is the same in every version of this day; what changes is what you add at the canyon afterwards. On its own it is €23 per adult. Adding a quad or a buggy safari makes it €38, adding a zipline on top of either makes it €43, and the four-part package with both machines is €48. The Tazı Canyon combo is its own booking rather than an add-on to the others, and starts at €38.
Beyond that there is nothing to configure: the transfer, the equipment, the guide, the insurance and the riverside lunch are in every one of them. Choose at the moment you book, though — the vehicles and the base team are arranged in advance, not on the morning.
What to bring
A swimsuit worn under your clothes, a towel, a full change of dry clothes, and shoes that fasten to your feet and can get wet. Sunscreen. A little cash for drinks at lunch, which are not included.
Leave valuables at the hotel. Anything you carry in the raft can get soaked or go overboard, and no dry bag is provided.