A few minutes by boat off the coast of Side lies something no other stretch of the Turkish Mediterranean can offer: an underwater sculpture park of around 110 statues resting on the seabed at roughly 12 metres. The Side Underwater Museum was created as an artificial reef, and today it is equal parts art gallery and living habitat.
The museum can only be reached by boat, and it is the star of our flagship full-day excursion, the Side Underwater Museum diving trip. Best of all, you do not need a licence: the sculptures sit at a depth beginners can reach on a guided try-dive, with an instructor beside you the entire time.
On this page you will find what awaits you at the site, how the dive day works, and the practical details you need to plan your visit.
What You'll See at the Underwater Museum
Imagine a gallery where the floor is pale sand, the light falls in moving ribbons from the surface, and the exhibits stand exactly where they were lowered into the sea. That is the Side Underwater Museum: around 110 sculptures arranged across the seabed at a depth of roughly 12 metres, a short boat ride from Side. It is the only place on this coast where you drift between man-made artworks rather than over natural rock.
The park was sunk deliberately to become an artificial reef, and the sea has taken the invitation seriously. Year by year the surfaces of the statues are being colonised by marine growth, and where there is growth, there is fish life. Because the site is dived regularly, the fish here are remarkably relaxed around people: your instructor brings a little food down on the museum dive, so you can hand-feed the fish — for many guests the single most memorable moment of the day.
- ~110 sculptures resting on the seabed at around 12 metres
- A living artificial reef that changes a little every season
- Hand-feeding fish together with your instructor
- Boat access only — the museum cannot be reached from shore
Every visit is slightly different: new growth on a shoulder here, a new resident tucked under a plinth there. It is a gallery with a permanent collection and an ever-changing exhibition — and it belongs to whoever is curious enough to descend twelve metres to see it.
How the Dive Day Works
The museum sits offshore and is only reachable by boat, so it is dived as part of our flagship full-day trip from Side — about 7 hours door to door, €45 per diver, with a morning hotel pickup whose exact time is confirmed the evening before.
The day is built around two guided dives. The morning dive is your training ground: a calm, shallow site at 5–8 metres for 15–25 minutes, where you practise breathing from the regulator, equalising your ears and the basic hand signals, with your instructor right beside you. In the afternoon comes the reward: the second dive descends to about 13 metres — museum depth — and you glide between the sculptures you came to see. Those 13 metres are the ceiling for beginners; certified divers come out on the same boats and dive their own, deeper profiles — roughly 30 metres on standard certified dives, and down to 60 metres on the deep sites for suitably qualified divers. Groups are kept deliberately small at 3–4 divers per instructor.
- All diving equipment
- Free two-way hotel transfer
- Fresh lunch served on board
- Passenger and diving insurance
- Full safety briefing before the first dive
No licence is required — the trip is designed for first-timers, and complete beginners make up most of our guests. If you already dive, bring your logbook: our instructors sign your dives at the end of the day. You can compare this excursion with all our boat trips on the prices page.
Why This Site Is Unique on the Turkish Riviera
The coast between Antalya and Alanya hides genuinely impressive dive sites. Off Kemer lies the MS Paris II, a French freighter from the First World War era, about 70 metres long, resting at 21–31 metres. Nearby sits the DO-28, a Dornier aircraft from 1967 at 19.5–23.3 metres, along with the reefs of the Three Islands and the Lighthouse. Near Alanya harbour, an ancient amphora field is a place where octopus, grouper and moray eels are often seen. All remarkable — and yet none of them is anything like the museum.
What makes the Side Underwater Museum unique on this coast is simple: it is the region's only purpose-built sculpture gallery underwater. Wrecks like the Paris II and the DO-28 are strictly for certified divers because of their depth — and they sit squarely inside the range certified divers dive here as a matter of routine: roughly 30 metres on standard certified dives, and down to 60 metres on the deep sites for suitably qualified divers. The museum, by contrast, rests at around 12 metres, just inside the 13-metre beginner ceiling — which means a complete beginner, on their very first day of diving, can visit the most unusual sight on the Turkish Riviera.
If you hold a certification and dream of the wrecks, that is simply normal diving here: certified divers go out on the same boats and dive the real profiles, with the exact site depending on your qualification level, the conditions and the day's plan. Discovery divers never go to those depths. Just get in touch and tell us what you hold and what you would like to dive. For everyone else, the museum is the rare world-class site that asks nothing more of you than curiosity and a morning of practice.
Practical Information: Booking, Health and Kids
Booking works the way holiday plans actually work: reserve online for free, pay on the day of the trip, and cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before departure. Pickup is in the morning from your hotel in the Side area; the exact time is confirmed the evening before.
- Non-divers: friends and family can join the boat as visitors at a reduced rate and enjoy the day on the water.
- Snorkelling-only seats: available on request — just ask when booking.
- Children: try-dives are possible from around age 10; ask us about options for younger kids.
- Courses: CMAS diving courses can be arranged on request.
A few honest health rules apply to all diving: the trip is not suitable during pregnancy or for guests with severe asthma, heart conditions or serious respiratory problems. And plan your calendar so that you do not fly within 24 hours after diving. If you are unsure whether diving is right for you, ask before you book — we would rather answer ten questions than have one disappointed guest on board.
