Cool waters of Taurus Mountains welcome rafters

KNOWN for its one-of-a-kind beaches, Antalya offers various holiday opportunities to its guests.

While some holidaymakers prefer to swim and sunbathe on the sunniest beaches of the city, some enjoy rafting in the cool waters that come from the high points of the Taurus Mountains. Of the rafting spots, the Köprüçay Stream located inside the Köprülü Kanyon National Park is the favorite of adrenaline seekers.

Tourists who come to the national park at daybreak are the first to be informed on the rafting route. Later on, they gear up with helmets, life jackets and water shoes and enjoy rafting through the cold waters of the stream throughout the day.

From time to time, rafting enthusiasts stop to swim and take photos of the historic bridge. The rafting parkour, which is 14 kilometers long, is finished in three to four hours.

Beşkonak Karabük Tourism Development Corporation President Refik Armağan said the interest in rafting on Körüçay Stream has been increasing in recent years and last year the rafting facility welcomed more than 600,000 visitors.

“It is possible to go rafting on Köprüçay Stream eight months in a year. Thanks to the high flow rate of the stream, rafting here is quite enjoyable. We host tourists from Iran and Europe mostly. This year, the number of visitors to Köprüçay increased by 30 percent. We hope to reach 1 mil- lion visitors in the next few years,” said Armağan.

Starting from June, around 8,000 people go rafting on Köprüçay Stream in Antalya. During the weekends, the number of visitors can increase up to 10,000. The best feature of rafting on Köprüçay is that people from seven to 70 can raft here. Moreover, when tourists are exhausted by the extreme hot weather in Antalya, they can relax in the cold waters of the stream which is surrounded by tall trees.