How Many People Are on the Boat?

We do not publish a passenger number, and we would rather tell you why than invent one. A shared boat day is not a fixed quantity: it changes with the season, the day of the week and who happens to have booked alongside you.

What we can describe honestly is the shape of the day — how a shared boat actually feels from the moment you step aboard at Adrasan to the moment you dock back at 16:00. If a specific number matters to you, or if you want the boat arranged differently, that is a conversation rather than a web page, and we get to it at the end.

Why We Will Not Print a Number

Because a number on a page becomes a promise, and this is not something we can promise.

Guest numbers move. High summer is not late season. A Tuesday is not a Saturday. A number that is accurate in one week is misleading in the next, and a traveller who chose us because of a figure on a blog post would have every right to feel misled when the day looked different.

So we hold the line on this the same way we hold it on pickup times: we publish the things that are fixed — the 09:40 sailing, the 16:00 dock, the flat €40 adult price — and we refuse to dress up the things that are not. If you need certainty about numbers for a particular date, ask us directly and we will answer for that date rather than in general.

What a Shared Boat Day Actually Feels Like

Sociable at the start, spread out by the middle, quiet on the way home. That is the arc.

You board at Adrasan harbour and the first stretch is the busiest part of the day socially — everyone finding a spot, deciding between sun and shade, watching the harbour fall away. The crossing runs along a coast of pine-clad cliffs, and most people spend it on deck rather than inside.

Then the day opens up. Swimming stops at Suluada and the surrounding bays pull people off the boat in waves. The boat anchors near the island rather than tying up at a pier, and where conditions allow, tender boats shuttle guests into the bay. At any given moment during the swimming hours, a good share of the guests are in the water or on the sand rather than on the deck — which is the practical reason a shared boat feels much roomier at the island than it does at the harbour.

Lunch brings everyone back together: grilled fish or chicken with pasta or rice, the day's Turkish mezes, a seasonal salad, then fruit and tea, all cooked on board. Drinks at the bar are not included, so bring something for those. Afterwards the boat settles. The run back is the quiet part of the day, and a fair number of people sleep through it.

The Day Is Designed to Spread People Out

Three things do the work, and none of them depends on how many guests are aboard.

• The swim stops. Multiple stops across the day mean the deck empties and refills rather than staying full. There is no single moment when everyone is doing the same thing in the same place.
• The island itself. Suluada's pale sand bay and its twin beaches absorb people. There is no shop, no bar and nothing being sold on the sand, so nobody is queuing for anything — they scatter.
• The length of the day. Around 10 hours door to door on the Side departure, around 12 on the Antalya one. Long days have troughs. You will find an empty stretch of rail if you want one.

If you want to know exactly when the quiet windows fall, our Suluada day itinerary maps the day in order, and first boat trip tips covers where to sit and when to move.

Families, Non-Swimmers and Finding Your Corner

A shared boat suits most people, and it suits some more than others once you know what to ask for.

Families do well here. Children aged 4–10 are €30 and infants 0–3 travel free, and the minimum age on the Side departure is 6. Younger children sail free but need deck supervision, so plan for one adult who is not planning to swim at every stop.

Non-swimmers are welcome. Life jackets are available on request, and plenty of guests spend the swimming hours on deck watching rather than in the water. On the Antalya departure, snorkelling masks and pool floats are included, which changes the day for anyone who wants to look down rather than swim far.

If someone in your group needs a specific kind of space — shade for a whole day, a seat near the rail, a spot where a nervous swimmer can stay close to the crew — tell us when you book instead of hoping on the morning. It is a small ask and it usually shapes the day for the better.

If You Want the Boat to Yourselves

A private arrangement is not one of our fixed products, and we will not print prices, capacities or schedules for something we do not sell off the shelf.

What we do is take the enquiry seriously. Tell us the date, the group and what you actually want from the day, and we will tell you honestly whether it is possible and what it involves. No invented package, no invented number. Start at private boat, or go straight to contact with your dates.

For large parties who are happy to share, the shared boat is usually the better answer anyway — the price stays flat at €40 per adult, €30 per child aged 4–10, infants free, and you book free online and pay on the tour day. See group bookings for how larger reservations are handled, and the prices page for the full breakdown.

The honest bottom line: we cannot promise you a number, but we can promise you a day built to give you room. Ask us about your date and we will tell you what we actually know.