How the quad feels: you sit on it, not in it
On a quad you sit on top of the machine, saddle-style, with the terrain right under you. Steering is by handlebars and speed is a thumb throttle on the right grip — press to go, ease off to slow down — and the practice drive at the base is where you learn how much thumb means how much speed.
The feeling is open and physical: you lean into the corners, shift your weight over uneven ground, and the dust, mud and spray at the water-splash stops reach you directly. The helmet is included and stays on for the whole safari; goggles and a bandana against the dust are sold at the base.
How the buggy feels: a wheel, pedals and a low seat
The buggy is the one that feels closest to a car — an automatic one. You sit low, inside the tubular frame around the seats, with a steering wheel in front of you and an accelerator and a brake under your feet. Nothing to shift, nothing to balance: steer, press, brake.
You take the same forest tracks, dirt roads and small stream crossings inside the frame rather than on top of it. The dust and the mud still arrive — nobody leaves this course clean — but the ride is about the wheel in your hands, not your body weight, which is also what makes the buggy the easier vehicle when a passenger comes along.
Who rides along — and on which safari
This is where the two really differ, and it is a rule rather than a preference. The Buggy Safari sells adult seats only, for everyone aged 11 and over. A child aged 6–10 rides as a passenger beside an adult driver on the Family Buggy Safari — same buggies, same course — or with the adult on the Quad Safari. Children under 6 cannot take part in any of the three.
Drivers are 16 or older and show ID at the base as proof of age. No driving licence is required — the safari runs on a private off-road course, not on public roads. The guide watches every driver on the practice drive and has the final say; anyone who does not drive rides the same route as a passenger at the adult fare.
- Quad Safari — drivers and passengers from 11; child passengers aged 6–10 with an adult
- Buggy Safari — adults only, from 11; drivers 16+ with ID
- Family Buggy Safari — at least one adult and one child aged 6–10 per booking
- Under 6 — no safari and no infant seat
What is identical, whichever you choose
Everything around the vehicle is the same: the same private off-road course inland from the Side coast — forest tracks, dirt roads, dust, mud, water-splash stops, uneven ground, small stream crossings, none of it guaranteed on a given day — and the same round-trip hotel transfer from Side, Kumköy, Evrenseki, Çolaklı, Titreyengöl, Sorgun, Kızılağaç, Gündoğdu and Kızılot.
Both take approximately 4–4.5 hours door to door, both run the same 18 km off-road route, with three departures a day in season: 08:00, 11:00 and 13:00. Those are departure times, not pickup times — pickup is earlier, depends on your hotel and the route, and is confirmed with your booking.
Included on both: helmet, information and safety briefings, vehicle briefing with practice drive, guidance on the route, insurance where applicable under the operating policy, and changing cabins and showers at the base. Extra, paid at the base: goggles, bandana, food and drinks, photos and video.
The prices, side by side
The quad is the cheaper seat and the buggy the dearer one; that is the whole price difference. Quad Safari: €25 per adult, €15 per child aged 6–10 as a passenger. Buggy Safari: €30 per person. Family Buggy Safari: €30 per adult, €18 per child aged 6–10.
Everyone from 11 pays the adult fare, driving or riding along. You pay on the day of the tour, nothing is charged online, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure — so changing your mind costs nothing.
So which one? A fair way to decide
There is no winner here, and we are not going to invent one. Pick the quad if you want to feel the ground and do part of the work with your body; pick the buggy if you want a wheel and pedals, a frame around you and a passenger beside you.
With a child aged 6–10 in the party, the choice is between the Quad Safari and the Family Buggy Safari. Anyone with back or neck problems is steered by the operator to the passenger seat — the vehicle still shakes — and pregnancy, recent surgery and heart conditions rule out both.