Belek Buggy Safari as a Passenger: Coming Along Without Driving

Yes. You can join the buggy safari without driving, in the seat beside the driver, for exactly half the driver's price: €17.50 on the Short Tour and €21.50 on the Long Tour, against €35 and €43 for the person at the wheel. The buggy is a two-seater, so you sit side by side rather than one behind the other, and you cover the same route from that seat. The part most pages leave you to discover at the base: there is no passenger-only booking. A second seat exists only next to a driver, so somebody in your party has to book as the driver. Everyone who comes along pays — driver, passenger, adult, child, even a guest who only wants to watch — and the half fare is the only reduction there is; there is no child rate. The seat itself has no lower age limit, but we do not recommend the safari for children under 4, because a small child can find it hard to hold on safely.

Yes, you can come without driving

If somebody in your group is enthusiastically planning this day and your honest answer is that you do not want to drive anything, you can still come. The buggy is a two-seater: you sit next to the person driving rather than behind them, and you do the whole route from that seat, for half of what they pay. Nobody hands you the wheel at the base, and nobody asks you to justify yourself.

Most pages about a buggy safari are written for the person who wants to drive. This one is not. It is for the guest who is quietly anxious about it, or older, or has a back or a knee with opinions, or who simply has no interest in steering anything on holiday. All of you fit into the same seat, and it is a proper seat rather than a leftover. Which machine suits your group is a different question, and our quad and buggy comparison answers that one.

  • You are nervous about handling a machine on loose ground — the seat beside the driver takes the decision away entirely
  • You would rather look at the countryside than concentrate on a track
  • You are travelling with somebody who very much does want to drive
  • You want to be in the day and in the group, without a steering wheel in front of you

There is no passenger-only booking

This is the honest bit, and it is the part guests usually discover too late. A passenger seat exists only next to a driver: a buggy with nobody at the wheel does not go out. So the booking asks how many drivers and how many passengers you are, it needs at least one driver, and it allows at most one passenger for each driver. You cannot put yourself down as a passenger on your own.

In practice that means somebody in your party books as the driver and you go on the same booking as their passenger. Two of you who both want to ride along need two drivers between you, one each. If you are travelling alone and you already know you do not want to drive at all, write to us on WhatsApp at +90 536 603 75 84 before you reserve, and we will tell you honestly what we can do rather than take a booking that cannot work on the day.

Who ends up driving is settled at the base, not in the form. No driving licence is needed by anybody here, because we ride a private off-road course rather than a public road, and every driver takes a compulsory test ride before the tour starts. Anyone who does not complete it, or who decides in that moment that they would rather not, takes the passenger seat instead. The driving rules, including who is allowed at the wheel, are set out in full on our age limits page.

  • Every booking needs at least one driver — a passenger place cannot stand on its own
  • One passenger per driver: the buggy seats two, and that is the whole of it
  • Two people who both want to ride along need two drivers between them

What the seat beside the driver costs

Exactly half of the driver's price, and we do not round it up. On the buggy Short Tour, with 1.5 to 2 hours of riding, the driver pays €35 and the seat beside them is €17.50. On the Long Tour, with 2.5 to 3 hours of riding, it is €43 and €21.50. Two of you sharing one buggy therefore comes to €52.50 on the short version and €64.50 on the long one.

That half fare is the only reduction on our price list. There is no child rate underneath it and no unpaid place: everyone who gets on the transfer and comes out to the safari is counted, including a guest who intends to do nothing but watch, because they take a seat on the transfer and a place in the day's organisation like everybody else. Nothing is paid online — you reserve without a card, pay in euros on the tour day, and cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before departure if the day turns out not to suit you.

  • Buggy Short Tour, 1.5-2 hours of riding — €35 for the driver, €17.50 for the seat beside them
  • Buggy Long Tour, 2.5-3 hours of riding — €43 for the driver, €21.50 for the seat beside them
  • One driver and one passenger together: €52.50 on the Short Tour, €64.50 on the Long Tour
  • What you pay follows the seat you are in, not your age and not how keen you were

What the day looks like from that seat

The same day as the driver's, minus the steering. You are collected from your hotel with everybody else, because round-trip transfer is included in the price, and from a Belek hotel the drive out is around 35 to 40 minutes depending on where you are staying. The safari itself does not happen in Belek at all: it runs inland in the Aspendos area, on the natural land that follows the Köprüçay river. There are two departures a day, a morning session and an afternoon one.

Then comes the briefing, the drivers' compulsory test ride, and the route: forest tracks, open off-road ground and shallow river sections, dust the whole way, and water or mud where conditions allow — we never promise a splash or a muddy trail, because both depend on the week and the weather. You are in all of it, not waiting anywhere for it. Door to door the programme takes about 4 to 4.5 hours.

What is different in the passenger seat is small, and mostly in your favour: you can look around properly instead of at the ground ahead, you can talk to the person next to you, and you can take the photographs nobody driving is able to take. What is not different: the dust, the noise, the length of the day and the state of your clothes at the end of it.

  • Hotel pickup with the rest of the group, then the transfer out to the riding area
  • Safety briefing, then the compulsory test ride that decides which of your party drives
  • The full route from the second seat — forest tracks, open terrain, dust, and the river sections when conditions allow
  • A stop along the way, then the drive back to your hotel: about 4 to 4.5 hours in total

Comfort, safety, and when to think twice

A helmet is included for everyone on a machine, whether you drive or ride along. So are the round-trip transfer, the instructor who leads the group, and insurance for the activity. Goggles are not included; they are sold at the base if you want a pair, and for many guests their own sunglasses do the same job. The dust mask and the bandana are not included either — if you would like something over your face, bring a bandana from the hotel.

The tour is not right for everybody, and taking the passenger seat does not change that. We do not recommend it for pregnant guests, or for anyone with back or neck problems: this is an active off-road route over uneven ground, and the seat beside the driver takes the same bumps as the driver's. If you are not sure whether that describes you, ask us before you reserve rather than on the morning of the tour.

Dress exactly as a driver would. Old or comfortable clothes you do not mind ruining for a day, proper closed shoes rather than flip-flops or slippers, and a change of clothes waiting at the hotel. Sunscreen and water are worth having with you. You will come back dusty, and that part is not optional.

Children in the seat beside you

The passenger seat has no lower age limit, so there is no age at which a child is turned away from it. What there is, is a caution: we do not recommend the safari for children under 4, because a small child can find it hard to hold on safely for a whole route. If a younger child does come along, the passenger fare applies to them exactly as it does to an adult.

There is no child rate anywhere on this tour. A child riding beside a parent in a buggy costs €17.50 on the Short Tour and €21.50 on the Long Tour, the same half fare as anyone else in that seat. This is also where the buggy differs from the quad in the way that matters most to parents: your child sits next to you in a seat of their own rather than behind you holding on. Who is allowed to drive is a separate question with its own rules, and our age limits page answers it properly.

Booking a driver and a passenger together

The form is short. Choose the buggy, choose the Short or the Long Tour, say how many of you are driving and how many are riding along, add your hotel and a phone number, and send it. Nothing is charged, no card details are asked for and no deposit is taken: you pay in euros on the tour day, and free cancellation stands until 24 hours before departure.

Round-trip hotel pickup is included in the price with no surcharge from Belek, Kadriye and Boğazkent, from Lara, Kundu, Antalya, Muratpaşa and Konyaaltı, and along the Side coast through Manavgat, Evrenseki, Kumköy, Çolaklı, Gündoğdu and Kızılot. Your own pickup time is confirmed after booking, once we know which hotel you are in. Staying somewhere outside that list? Tell us before you reserve and we will answer honestly.

And if you are the one being talked into this day rather than the one planning it, send the question straight to us on WhatsApp at +90 536 603 75 84 — how many of you there are, who wants to drive and who does not — and we will describe what the day looks like from your seat specifically. We answer in English, German, Russian and Polish.

Questions

Frequently asked

Can I join the buggy safari without driving?
Yes. You ride the whole route in the seat beside the driver and pay half the driver's price: €17.50 on the Short Tour and €21.50 on the Long Tour. The buggy is a two-seater, so you sit side by side rather than one behind the other, and nobody will push you towards the wheel.
Can I book a passenger place on its own, without a driver?
No. A passenger seat exists only beside a driver, so every booking needs at least one driver and carries at most one passenger per driver. Somebody in your party books as the driver and you go on the same booking. If nobody with you wants to drive, write to us on WhatsApp before you reserve and we will tell you honestly what is possible.
How much is the seat beside the driver on a buggy?
Half the driver's price, unrounded: €17.50 with the Short Tour and €21.50 with the Long Tour, against €35 and €43 for the driver. One driver and one passenger together come to €52.50 or €64.50, paid in euros on the tour day.
Does a guest who only comes to watch still pay?
Yes. Everyone who joins the transfer and the safari has a paid place — driver or passenger, adult or child — because they take a seat on the transfer and a place in the day's organisation. The half fare for riding along is the only reduction there is, there is no child rate underneath it, and nobody comes along unpaid.
Is there a minimum age for the passenger seat?
No, the seat itself has no lower age limit. We do not recommend the safari for children under 4, though, because a small child can find it hard to hold on safely; if a younger child comes anyway, the passenger fare applies. The rules for who may drive are separate and live on our age limits page.
Do I need a driving licence to sit in the passenger seat?
No licence is needed by anyone on this tour, passenger or driver, because we ride a private off-road course rather than a public road. What the drivers do have to do is complete the compulsory test ride before the tour starts.
Can I decide on the tour day that I would rather not drive?
Yes. Say so at the base or during the compulsory test ride and you ride in the passenger seat instead — nobody is put on a machine they do not want to drive. If you already know before the day, tell us when you book, so the seats are counted the right way round from the start.
Will I still get dusty if I am not the one driving?
Thoroughly, yes. The passenger seat is in the same open buggy on the same trail, in the same dust. Dress for it: old clothes, proper closed shoes and a change of clothes waiting at the hotel. Water and mud we never promise, because both depend on the conditions that week.
Can we swap seats halfway through?
That is a question for the guide on the day rather than something we can promise here. The driver is the person who took the compulsory test ride, so any change has to be agreed with the guide before it happens.
There are three of us — can we all go on one buggy?
No. Each machine seats a driver and one passenger, so three people means two buggies: two drivers at €35 each on the short tour, plus one passenger at €17.50.
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