Packing the Perfect Boat Bag for Suluada

There is no shop on the island. That single fact is the whole packing guide: whatever you want between the hotel pickup and the boat docking back at 16:00 has to travel with you, because there is nowhere out there to buy it.

The good news is that the list is short. A Suluada day does not need equipment. It needs one bag with the right six things in it and none of the wrong ones.

Pack One Bag, Not Three

Space on a boat is shared space. A single soft bag per person — or one shared bag per couple — is easier to move, easier to keep track of and easier to keep dry than three separate ones with a jacket balanced on top.

Pack it so that the things you need first are on top: sun cream, hat, towel. The things you will not touch until the ride home go at the bottom. It sounds trivial, but the first swimming break is exactly when you do not want to be unpacking a bag on a moving deck. Everything you carry on a boat day is your own responsibility — luggage and valuables is honest about what that means in practice.

The Six Things That Actually Matter

• Sun protection. The most important item on the list by a distance. A full day on open water is a full day of sun from above and reflected sun from below, and you cannot buy more of it at sea. Read sun safety on deck before you go.
• A hat and something for your shoulders. The hat for the middle of the day, the light layer for the ride home when you are cooler than you expect.
• A towel. One each. It also works as something to sit on.
• Water. Drinks at the boat's bar are not included in the fare, so either bring your own water or carry cash for it. Most people do both.
• Cash. More on this below — it is the item people most often get wrong.
• Swimwear worn from the hotel. The simplest decision of the day, and it saves you a changing problem at the first stop.

That is the core. Our fuller checklist lives in what to bring on a Suluada boat tour; what the fare already covers is itemised in what is included.

Cash: How Much, and What For

Three things during a Suluada day are not covered by the fare, and all three are the reason to carry some cash.

First, drinks at the bar. Lunch is included and cooked on board — grilled fish or chicken with pasta or rice, the day's Turkish mezes, seasonal salad, then fruit and Turkish tea — but what you drink with it is not.

Second, the optional breakfast stop at Adrasan on the Side departure, which you pay at the local restaurant. It is genuinely optional; plenty of guests skip it.

Third, the tour itself. You book free online and pay on the tour day — nothing is charged in advance. Cash or card on the day covers how that works, and every figure sits on the prices page: €40 per adult, €30 per child aged 4–10, infants 0–3 free, the same from every pickup point on the coast.

What Changes Depending on Your Departure

One item on the list depends on which boat you are on.

On the Suluada boat tour from Antalya, snorkelling masks and pool floats are included, so you can leave yours at the hotel. That departure sails Tuesday and Thursday all year, plus Saturday from April to October, with pickup between 08:30 and 09:00 from central Antalya, Kemer and Beldibi.

On the Suluada boat tour from Side — which runs every day, with pickup in the 05:30–06:00 window — bring your own mask if you want to look under the surface. Everything else about the two days is the same, because both sail from Adrasan harbour to the same island.

If you are not a confident swimmer, one more thing worth knowing before you pack: life jackets are available on request and non-swimmers are welcome, so you do not need to bring flotation of your own.

What to Leave at the Hotel

Almost everything else, honestly.

Leave the things you would be upset to lose. A boat day involves salt water, wet hands, a tender shuttle where conditions allow and a lot of movement between deck and sea — it is not the day for jewellery, a second camera or anything that cannot survive being splashed. Leave the big beach bag too: it takes up space nobody has.

And leave the plan for the evening at the hotel as well. A day that starts at 05:30 and finishes when the transfer drops you back is a whole day; we make that case in going home tired and happy.

Packing for Children

Children need less than parents expect and more of the two things that run out: sun protection and snacks they will actually eat. Lunch is served on board, but the gap between an early pickup and the meal is long for a small stomach.

Pack a change of dry clothes for the return leg and something to do on the road. The minimum age on the Side departure is 6. Before you book with children, read Suluada with kids — it is straight about which parts of the day are demanding.

Then Book the Day

Both departures cost €40 per adult, €30 per child aged 4–10, infants 0–3 free, booked free online and paid on the tour day, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. The island guide is at Suluada island, and the moment your packing is really for is described in the first swim of the day.

Staying in the Belek band, the Alanya band, Kundu, Konyaaltı, Göynük, Kiriş, Çamyuva or Tekirova? We confirm those pickups individually — send us your hotel name before you pack anything.