The Lunch on Board: Exactly What Is Cooked and Served

Lunch is cooked on board and included in the price. Not handed out in a box, not collected at a restaurant on the way — cooked on the boat, while you are swimming, and served on deck.

That is one of the things guests remember longest about the day, so it deserves a page of its own. Here is exactly what is on the plate, what is not, and how the middle of the day actually works.

The Menu, In Full

No surprises and no vague promises. This is what the kitchen produces:

• A choice of grilled fish or chicken, with pasta or rice.
• The day's Turkish mezes — stuffed vine leaves, stuffed peppers, lentil patties.
• A seasonal salad, built around what the market had that morning.
• Seasonal fruit and Turkish tea afterwards.

That is the meal on both departures. The Suluada boat tour from Side and the Suluada boat tour from Antalya sail from the same harbour with the same lunch on board; the only real difference between them is the road leg and the days they run.

The mezes rotate, which is why we say "the day's". A seasonal salad in one month is not the same salad in another. We would rather tell you the shape of the meal honestly than print a fixed menu we cannot guarantee.

What Is Not Included

One line, and it matters: drinks at the bar are not included. Water, soft drinks, tea beyond the after-lunch service, anything from the bar — those are paid on board. Bring cash for that, because there is no shop on the island and nowhere else to buy anything all day.

The other thing that is not included is the optional breakfast at Adrasan on the Side departure, around 08:30, paid at the local restaurant if you want it. It is genuinely optional. Guests who skip it usually do so because they would rather sleep on the road, and guests who take it usually say it is the moment the day changes gear.

Everything included and excluded is set out plainly on our what is included page, and the flat pricing is on the prices page.

Eating on Deck

The setting does most of the work. You come out of the water, you sit down somewhere with salt still drying on your arms, and lunch appears on a boat at anchor rather than in a dining room with a queue.

What surprises first-time guests is the appetite. A morning that starts before dawn and includes a long swim produces a hunger that has nothing to do with the clock — most people eat more at this lunch than they would at a hotel buffet twice the size. The grilled option and the mezes go first, every time.

Then tea. Turkish tea after a meal on a boat is not a detail; it is the punctuation mark between the busy half of the day and the quiet one. Nobody rushes it. The boat is not going anywhere until the captain says so, and the sea does not have a service window.

One honest note about timing: we do not print a serving time for lunch, and we would not trust one if we did. The meal lands between the swimming stops, in the part of the day the captain shapes around the sea. What we can promise is the order — you will have swum before you eat, and you will swim again afterwards. That is also why nobody arrives at this lunch politely hungry. They arrive genuinely hungry, which is a different and much better thing.

Diets, Children and Anything You Need to Tell Us

The straightforward part: the meal is built around a choice, so a table of people who do not all eat the same thing is normal here rather than awkward. Fish or chicken, pasta or rice — most preferences are covered by the structure itself.

The honest part: we do not publish a separate dietary menu, and we are not going to invent one on a website. If you have an allergy, a restriction or a child who eats a narrow list, tell us when you book and we will pass it to the crew before the day. Longer answer in food allergies and diets on board.

Children eat the same lunch, included at the child price. Children aged 4–10 pay €30 and infants 0–3 are free — the meal is part of it either way. Note the one hard rule before you plan a family day: the minimum age on the Side departure is 6. More on family logistics in Suluada with kids.

Why It Is Inside the €40

Because taking it out would not make the day cheaper in any way that matters. You are on a boat at anchor, hours from a shop, with no option to walk anywhere for a sandwich. A lunch that is not included is not a saving — it is a problem you carry all day.

So the price stays flat and the meal stays in: €40 per adult, €30 per child aged 4–10, infants 0–3 free, from every pickup point on the coast, booked free online and paid on the tour day. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.

If you want the meal in product terms rather than in prose, see our Suluada tour with lunch page. If you want the rest of the day around it, what to expect from lunch on the boat and the Suluada day itinerary pick up where this leaves off.