Two Good Days, Two Different Underwater Worlds
Side and Alanya sit on the same stretch of Turkish coast, roughly an hour and a half apart by road, and we run a full-day boat dive from both. The packages are almost identical and so are the prices, which means this decision is genuinely about taste rather than value. The Side Underwater Museum trip is 45 euro for around seven hours, and the Alanya diving trip is 43 euro for around eight. Everything else in the day is the same.
So the honest way to choose is to ask what you want to look at underwater: something made by people, or something made by the sea.
Side: Around 110 Sculptures at About 12 Metres
The Side Underwater Museum is our flagship and the only site of its kind on this coast. Roughly 110 sunken sculptures rest at about twelve metres, arranged so you can swim a route through them rather than wander over open sand. Twelve metres is shallow enough that daylight still colours everything and comfortable for a first-ever dive, and fish have moved into the statues in numbers, so hand-feeding them is part of the day. We dive in small groups of three to four divers per instructor, which matters more than most people realise on a first dive.
If you like the idea of a dive with a story and a shape to it, this is the one. It photographs beautifully too, because the sculptures give your camera a subject that does not swim away.
Alanya: Caves, Rocky Reefs and the Amphora Site
Alanya is the wilder, more geological day. The dive sites lie in the waters around Cleopatra Beach beneath the great rock of Alanya Castle, which you see from the boat as you cruise out. Underwater, the terrain is rocky reef broken by caves and overhangs, so the light changes constantly as you move in and out of shadow. The Amphora site adds a genuinely old-world touch to the day, and the Alanya caves are the reason many divers pick this trip.
The wider Alanya coast also carries a long monk-seal heritage. We mention it because it is part of the region and its conservation story, not as a promise: nobody can guarantee you will see one, and we will not pretend otherwise.
Side and Alanya Compared
- Main attraction: Side has a man-made sculpture field, Alanya has natural caves and rocky reef
- Price: Side 45 euro, Alanya 43 euro
- Day length: Side about 7 hours, Alanya about 8 hours
- Scenery from the boat: Alanya wins, with the castle rock and the Cleopatra Beach coastline
- Dive profile: identical, two guided dives, morning at 5 to 8 metres for 15 to 25 minutes and afternoon at 12 to 13 metres
- Best for first-timers: both are beginner-friendly with no licence needed; the museum is the easier one to orientate yourself in
- Best for divers who want terrain: Alanya, for the caves and overhangs
Let the Transfer Decide If You Cannot
Free two-way hotel transfer is included on both trips, but distance still costs you sitting time. If your hotel is in Alanya itself or along that side of the coast in Konaklı, İncekum, Avsallar, Okurcalar, Türkler, Oba, Tosmur, Kestel or Mahmutlar, the Alanya boat is the sensible day out and Side becomes a long drive. If you are staying in Side, Kumköy, Sorgun, Çolaklı, Titreyengöl, Evrenseki, Kızılağaç, Kızılot, Gündoğdu, Manavgat, Boğazkent, Belek or Kadriye, the museum is your local trip. Guests in the middle, around Okurcalar and Kızılot, can honestly go either way. Check what runs from your resort on the diving from your hotel page, and compare all five trips on the tours page.
What Both Days Include
Whichever boat you board, the day contains the same things: two guided dives, all equipment, free two-way hotel transfer, a fresh lunch cooked on board, passenger and diving insurance and a full briefing before the first dive. Beginners need no licence at all. We sign logbooks after your dives, and CMAS courses can be arranged on request if you catch the bug. Try-dives are possible from around age ten, and non-divers or snorkelers in your group can join as boat visitors at a reduced rate rather than being left at the hotel.
Please do not dive if you are pregnant or have severe asthma, heart or respiratory conditions, and do not fly within 24 hours of your last dive.
Our Short Recommendation
Book Side if this is your first dive, if you are travelling with someone nervous about the water, or if you want the dive nobody at home will have done. Book Alanya if caves and rock formations excite you more than sculptures, or if your hotel is already on that side. Both are reserved free online and paid on the day, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. If you are still torn, send us your hotel name and we will tell you which one we would put you on.
