Belek → Köprülü Canyon Transfer

Belek to Köprülü Canyon private transfer

Belek is built for staying put: the pool, the long beach, the golf courses laid out behind the hotels. When a week here does get one day in the mountains, it tends to be a rafting day on the Köprüçay at Beşkonak, where the river comes out of Köprülü Canyon National Park cold enough to make you gasp and the rafting camps line its banks. The excursion coach covers the same ground, but it starts by working its way along the hotel entrances of the Belek shore and then puts everyone on a single schedule. With a private car from your own door, you set off at the hour agreed with the camp, and the day ends when your group is done, not when the last raft is stacked.

The leg is 60 km and takes about 55 minutes. From the hotel strip the car heads inland past the golf courses to the D400 and runs east through Serik. A few kilometres beyond the town it turns left at the sign for Taşağıl, Beşkonak and the national park, and the coast is behind you from then on: the inland road climbs north through Taşağıl, the farmland thins out into pine-covered slopes, and for the final stretch the Köprüçay stays in view on the way up to Beşkonak. Upstream of the camps, the single arch of Oluk Köprüsü, a Roman bridge that still carries traffic, spans the gorge. Treat it as a full day: hours on the water, a slow afternoon by the river, dry clothes, then the drive back down.

• Bring a full change of clothes, a towel and a carrier bag for the soaked kit, and change at the camp, because the ride back to Belek is close to an hour in the car.
• The fare is fixed per vehicle and covers the drive up; if the car should wait at Beşkonak all day or return at a set hour, arrange it when you book, since rafting days seldom end exactly on time.
• Rafting is usually booked with a camp directly, so send its name along with your booking and the driver can stop at the right gate on the riverbank.
• If you want a few minutes at Oluk Köprüsü for photos on the way up or down, mention it when booking and the stop can be built into the day.