Koprulu Kanyon Milli Parki

This certainly is a beautiful area. We took the mandatory photos near the bridge. We then took a drive up to the zip line. That is quite a trek and probably why it was not too busy. My 9yo daughter did that and loved it. We had lunch at a cafe (Çağlayan Rafting Restaurant) which was good and reasonably priced. We returned a few days later and tried the rafting which was also fun. Expect to get wet!

Nice view all seasons. We are really happy because we get a Chance to visit this place several times. There are really cheap tours for rafting. For 20-30 $ you can buy rafting tour for this place even include transfer and lunch to this tour.

This national park can be visited at any time of year. In the summer or Spring you can go canoeing and whitewater rafting. If you do not want to go on a tour then just drive to the park and you can easily find other independent people looking to split the cost and go rafting. The price will include all the equipment,bringing you back to the start and lunch. I can highly recommend doing this! If you are not so active there are amazing views, picnic spots and lovely walks a long the river. There are two Roman bridges which should not be missed. The scenery is particularly spectacular in autumn with all the different colors of the leaves.

First of all, you should know that wherever you stay in the Alanya area, there is only one rafting place. In my case, it took 3 hours to get there. Upon arriving at the rest stop near the launch point, one of the guides came on and told us we had to wait while he ate breakfast. He later came on and began his spiel as we traveled to the actual launch point. Now, I know he was trying to be entertaining, but I was traveling with my 11-year-old son. All of the ‘humor’ was about sex and the girls losing their bikinis or rafting naked. This was spiced up with the ubiquitous use of profanity. I was not the only one who had kids along, but, as an American, maybe I was more aware of the discomfort of the situation. Had we all been adults, it wouldn’t have mattered much to me.

At the launch preparation site, we were given jackets and helmets I had canoed before and done a long white water trip as well. I asked for a “kayak” (which was actually more like a rubber canoe) for my son and I. I thought the 8 person rafts to be more on the order of riding a sofa down the river. However, they refused to give me a normal paddle, insisting that I use the double-ended kayak paddle which I was totally unfamiliar with. Nonetheless, I was pushed onto the river with no recourse.

Now, if you’re expecting a quiet trip through a natural area, forget it. There were hundreds of rafts and ‘kayaks’ at the launch site. Guides began yelling at me to go and then to not go as I tried to figure out how to use the kayak paddle. The first rapid you go over is right at the beginning. It is the most difficult rapid on the river and is called ‘the waterfall’ for good reason. With the new paddle and a son who had never been on a canoe in any river before, I barely survived it. I then realized that I had one goal: to survive going down this river without causing any harm to my son. It no longer seemed like a fun trip.

After the waterfall, you are corralled onto a beach and told to follow your guide. You are then commanded to stand in a line, holding onto the life jacket of the person in front of you. I finally realized this is for the $35 cd they will try to sell you at the end of the trip. All the while, the guide kept yelling at us to “shake your ”. None of us did. We were then led to a small waterfall where our pictures were taken, yes, to be sold to you later for $10. Then we were told to hold onto the life jackets of the person in front of us and told to wade through a deep mountain stream. The water was over our heads and I began to see the person in front of me going underwater. I felt my son trying to climb up on my back. I let go of the woman and began to swim to the opposite shore despite the guide yelling at us all not to let go. The water was quite cold and some of us were shivering on the opposite bank. The guide, then, jumped off a bridge into the river to entertain us. Unfortunately, he survived the plunge.

Upon the river again, we were continuously screamed at to go faster or slower. You should also realize that the highest form of humor here is to splash other people with water. Whenever I heard the cry, “hey, kayak” from one of the guides, I realized it meant that when I turned I would get a face full of river water with the guide laughing hysterically. As I said, all I wanted to do was to survive the trip with my son. I accepted the fact that I would be routinely hit with water. However, one time when I did not turn my head to the “hey kayak” call, the disgruntled guard struck me over the head with his paddle. That was the last straw and I told him that when we got to shore I would have a few words with him (this is a paraphrase of what I actually said). Realizing that he had overstepped his bounds, he apologized; however, the damage was done.

To all women thinking of taking this tour, be forewarned that you will be pushed off the raft at some point. Yes, this is considered as hilarious. The younger and more attractive you are, the more you will be the target for various forms of abuse. At one point you will stop and be told to climb a 3 meter platform and jump in the river, whether you want to or not (don’t forget they are making a cd). If you happen to be an attractive young woman, you will be picked up, carried to the platform, and thrown in.

I realize that those traveling in the big rafts will have an entirely different experience as there is really no danger involved, unless you cannot swim when the guide pushes you off the raft. It’s too bad. If you were allowed to travel at your own pace without the guides, this could be an enjoyable experience. As it was, I was happy to be done with it and to get back to my hotel. No, I did not buy the cd.

Yesterday we took a cultural family trip to visit the sites east of Antalya. After visiting Aspendos we continued to our next destination of Koprulu Canyon which was 37 km off the main Antalya -Side highway. Offically it is called Köprülü Canyon National Park and is in the mountains 49km northeast of Antalya.

The road was good, a bit narrow at times and very curvy. As we approached along the road we started to noticed a few small hotels or pansiyons, fish restaurants with decks jutting out over the gorge and rafting companies. Rafting is a very popular sport in this area as the waters are perfect and the scenery is very beautiful with rich vegetation. We then came upon the first bridge call the '' Roman stone bridge '' and I was surprized that you could still drive across this bridge allthough very narrow. The bridge was built in the Roman period in the 2nd century A.D and is about 20m long.

We parked up top the hill and then made our way down to the river's edge. The water was awesome and even we noticed some areas where spring water was flowing out from cracks and gizers. The water was cold but on a hot summer's day I think it would be very refreshing. There is also a second small bridge called the Insuyu bridge with beautiful bright blue pools of water.
The canyon stretches for 14 km along the Kopru River and is 400 meters deep in some places.

Other places of interest include the ruins of the Roman city of Selge, 12km away but we did not travel there. If you are travelling around the Antalya area then this would be a great day trip.

We decided to visit the canyon whilst coming back from Apendos and we were very glad we did, as this ended up being one of the best days of our holiday.
On the way its quite funny how reps from the rafting companies keep jumping in front of you for business.
Once we had seen the canyon which is beautiful and pristine, we saw many people below rafting so we decided to give it a go. We went with a company called Yayla rafting, the whole trip took three hours and the price included a fish dinner at the end which was great. The reps are right the best way to see the Canyon was to actually be in it. We went as a group of five which included a 6 & 2 year old and we all loved it. The rafting isn't too taxing but the rapids are fun and your rep will stop and give you areas where you can swim (the water is the cleanest, most pristine fresh water you will find). During parts of the rafting you could easily forget you are in Turkey and as the environment is similar to British Columbia. We even stopped at a point where you can climb a tree and jump in the water which was great. Looking back, if you don't do the rafting, driving all that way to see the Canyon isn't really worth it. Overall we took some great photos, saw beautiful views, the kids had a blast and all topped off with a fresh fish dinner looking over the river watching the sunset, and all that for what worked out £20PP!!. If you are the Antalya area it is worth making this trip as you really shouldn't miss it.

Like most of Turkey the salesmen really spoil it for the tourists!
we were driving and exploring the area in our car then a bloody salesman stopped us. He was a young man on a motor bike pretending to be working in the National park and was trying to sell a guided tour of 4 hours, told him we didn't have that much time as we had to get back but like most of these pig headed Turkish salesmen there, he just wont bug off - real pests!

There are a lot of rafting businesses on this river and same number of restaurants. We had lunch in one, were presented with a small fish cooked in banana leaves, a small portion of chicken cubes and a plate of chips - Bill came to £40! yet again rip off the stupid tourists approach
We ended up with food poisoning as an extra!

Visited Koprulu Canyon October 2005.
This place is simply and stunningly beautiful. The small twisitng winding roads up and through the mountains are a force to be reckoned with but all the while you cant help but take in the scenery and the tiny villages going about their daily life.
The white water rafting here is very straight forward and suitable for all the family (except teeny weenys ofcourse!) We rafted with a company called Air-Raft and had a really good day out. Their guides are proffessional and your safety always at heart, yet they have a wicked sense of humour.
Even if you are not 'into' scenery you cant help but be in awe as you splash your way down the canyon.
Go see it, have a great day.

Definitely worth seeing. All the better if you are willing to part with 50 euros (just us 4 in the dingy with one guide and two helpers) to get one of the locals to take you on a dingy into the canyon to see the waterfalls that are fed by spring water. It was a good break from the hot day and since we went around 5pm, the weather was perfect and the tourist buses and crowds have already left. The young chap who was our guide spoke pretty good English and I understand he doesn't always work there. He helped us get past the narrow bridge (a 2000 year old structure partially restored from Roman times) with our car. He also helped us take pictures and stopped us at one of the waterfalls during the ride where we could take a closer look at a cave and taste the very cool spring water. Definitely a much more worthwhile sight than the tourist traps in the cities. Enroute, you will get glimpses of the villages in the mountains and if you are up for rafting, there are stops along the way for you to try it out.

On a cruise stop in Antalya, we decided to forgo visiting ruins and instead opted for a white water rafting trip of Koprulu Canyon. What an amazing day! The water was as blue as the sky and refreshingly cold. Our rafting company was spectacular and the fun part: we were the only Americans! Most of the vacationers were from Germany, Russia, Poland. We luckily met a wonderful family of 6 from Scotland with whom my husband and I shared a raft. We had a blast! Our Turkish guide, John, spoke excellent English. The other rafters were also grouped with guides who could speak Polish, Russian, German, etc. They loved that we had come all the way from America to raft the Koprulu Canyon. We were on a cruise that had added Antalya to their itinerary for the first time. I had looked up Antalya before leaving the states and found out about the rafting trip beforehand. They sent a private vehicle to the ship's port to pick us up and drive us the 1 1/2 hour distance to the canyon. We waited for the other guests who were being picked up from their respective hotels to arrive. In all there were about 40 guests from all over Europe. After a brief introduction to rafting, we were fitted with helmets, life jackets and given our oars. We were then driven to the start point where we first were encouraged to get into the water and pose for a picture with a small waterfall behind us! Beautiful. The water was cold but pleasant on a very hot June 23 day. Then we got into our rafts. Our guide, John, was so much fun. He really made sure we all were enjoying ourselves. The class of river went from 1-3 in places, so a very easy river for beginners and families. After about an hour down river, we stopped for time to swim and also buy a turkish cheese pastry and soda.We then got back in the raft for another hour. Our next stop was for lunch which was buffet style and included grilled chicken shish kebob, couscous, pasta, salad and bread. Soft drinks and beer were extra. After lunch it was back into the river for another 30 minutes. Members of Neva Raft took pictures of the rafts as we went over rapids and at the lunch stop we could jump into the river as well and have pictures taken. They also video taped the trip. At the end of the tour, pictures were posted on the board and could be purchased for 2 Euros each. They then played the video which you could also buy. We needed to get back to the ship by 6:00, so we didn't stay to watch the video. Our new friends from Scotland did and they are going to send us a copy. Our driver, who had waited for us, drove us back to the ship's port. The total cost for the day? 145 Euros!!! I highly recommend this activity and would love to hear from others who do go!