Jellyfish Sea Urchins Weever Fish
Avoid contact with jellyfish, which have stinging tentacles. Stings from jellyfish in Cyprus can be very painful, but are not dangerous. Dousing in vinegar will deactivate any stingers that have not 'fired'. Calamine lotion, antihistamines and analgesics may reduce the reaction and relieve the pain. Watch out for sea urchins around rocky beaches if you get sea-urchin needles embedded in your skin, immersing the limb in hot water will relieve the pain test the water temperature first . You'll...
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Wet nWild
As Lemesos' reputation as a 'good time gal' has to be maintained to compete with that of its younger sister, Agia Napa, so too Lemesos has to have a crazy water theme park. It actually has three, but Wet 'n' Wild 2531 8000 www.wetnwild.com.cy 13 yrs amp over 2-12 yrs under 2 yrs CY 12.50 6.25 free S 10am-6pm Apr-Oct is particularly special. It's in the middle of the tourist centre, and is set back a few hundred metres from the beachfront. There are raff rides, inner-tube rides, body flumes,...
Thalassa Municipal Museum of the Sea
This very swanky new museum 2381 6366 Leoforos Kryou Nerou 14 admission CY 1.50 S 9am-1pm amp 6-1 Opm Wed-Sun, 6-10pm Tue, closed Mon May-Oct, 9am-5pm Wed-Sun, 1-5pm Tue, closed Mon Nov-Apr is dedicated to all things to do with the sea thalassa means 'sea' in Greek . The museum's centre piece is the amazing reconstruction of a boat that was shipwrecked off the coast of Kyrenia in the 3rd century BC its original skeleton is displayed in Kyrenia Castle pl87 . The ship was reconstructed using...
Ancient Enkomi Alasia
Heading further west from the Necropolis of Salamis, you will come across the Bronze Age city of Ancient Enkomi Enkomi Oren Yeni admission 5YTL S 9am-5pm , which dates back as far as 1800 BC. Most activity at the site, however, seems to have taken place during the Late Bronze Age period 1650-1050 BC when Enkomi was a large copper-producing centre. The name Alasia derives from Akkadian cuneiform slabs found in Tel el-Amarna in Egypt, in which the Pharaoh of the time received promises from the...
Lemesos Mini Zoo Reptile House
Also good for kiddies, although slightly small is the Lemesos Mini Zoo Municipal Gardens GOING UNDER THE BEST DIVES IN CYPRUS What's an islander to do with all that water Well, dive in it, of course. If you love discovering remains, rocks or shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea, Cyprus is a perfect spot for a varied and interesting choice of dives. Either Larnaka or Lemesos is a good base for diving. The prime location is the shipwreck of the Zenobia, rated as one of the world's top-ten diving...
Beaches Xrt
Kyrenia's top swimming beach is west of the town and is known as Yavuz ikarma Five Mile Beach, which is overlooked by the restaurant of the same name pl91 . This sandy cove has three names in Turkish. Altinkaya, after the rock next to it, is also the name of the recommended restaurant that overlooks the beach pi91 . Its two other names are Bejinci Mil Five Mile , and Yavuz Qikarma Resolute Outbreak . This beach was used by the Turkish Army to launch their invasion rescue operation in 1974. The...
Music
Greek Cypriots have tended to follow the musical preferences of mainland Greece. Conversely, Cyprus has also produced some of its own home-grown musicians who have made successful careers in Greece as well as in their homeland. The bouzouki, which you will hear all over Cyprus, is a mandolin-like instrument similar to the Turkish saz and baglama. It's one of the main instruments of rembetika music - the Greek equivalent of American blues. The name rembetika may come from the Turkish word...
Zafer Burnu Cape Apostolos Andreas
A further 5km from the monastery, along a reasonable dirt road to the easternmost tip of Cyprus, the island ends or begins and drops off into or rises from the sea. You can gaze at the cluster of little rocky islets known collectively as the Kleides Keys . If you have a 4WD, you can take a rough northern track from here back to Dipkarpaz, though the going can get rough in wet weather. Most sleeping and eating places are on the expanse of Golden Beach p215 , ranging from basic to quite...
Akpothpi Kopmakith
The bare northwestern tip of Northern Cyprus is known as the Koru am Burnu Cape Kormakitis and, apart from being yet another 'land's end' in the same sense as Cape Greco and Cape Arnaoutis in the South, or Zafer Burnu Cape Apostolos Andreas in the east, it is also home to one of Cyprus' least-known religious communities see the boxed text, opposite . A trip to the cape makes for a pleasant excursion from Lapta. There is at least one decent beach on the way with a popular grill and fish...
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Choirokoitia
Archaeology buffs and early-history lovers should visit the fascinating Neolithic site of Choirokoitia 24322710 admissionCYE0.75 S 9am-7.30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat amp Sun May-Sep, 9am-5pm daily Oct-Apr , 32km southwest of Larnaka. It's best combined with a day trip to either Lemesos p82 or Lefkara below . Dating from around 6800 BC, this Unesco World Heritage site is one of the earliest permanent human settlements in Cyprus. The Choi-rokoitians lived in round stone huts and practised a...
Mara Varosia Bapoia
The ghostly sight of the barricaded Mara district known as Varosia in Greek in southern Famagusta is one of this city's more haunting legacies, and is a lingering reminder of the dark days of 1974. Only a small part of the town is still inhabited, and the lights that still flicker do so alongside dark, deserted tower blocks. At some of the windows of these buildings, you can catch a glimpse of the wind playing with a curtain -a remainder of what was once a residential town. Reports by UN forces...
Maheras Monastery
It's a fair hike out to the sprawling Ma heras Monastery S 9am-noon Mon, Tue amp Thu , perched in the foothills of the eastern spur of the Troodos Massif and under the all-seeing radar installation on Mt Kionia 1423m to the southwest. The Maheras Monastery was founded in a similar way to the Kykkos Monastery pi 10 . In 1148 a hermit named Neo-phytos found an icon guarded by a sword maheras means knife or sword in Greek in a cave near the site of the present monastery. The monastery developed...
Dipkarpaz Rizkarpas
The remotest and largest village on the peninsula, Dipkarpaz is where the electricity fizzles out and the generators kick in. Here, a mosque and an Orthodox church sit side by side, although the church is a mute companion whose bell cannot be sounded. A Greek and a Turkish coffee shop ogle each other from across the street, and there are around 350 Greek Cypriots who still live in the village. A small shop and petrol station are the only real facilities. Dipkarpaz is now mainly populated by...
LAPTA LAPITHOS AAilHOOX
The village of Lapta is popular as a day trip for its proximity to Kyrenia as well as for its views and cool, leafy atmosphere. Forest fires devastated much of the Kyrenia Range escarpment in the mid-1990s, but fortunately Lapta managed to escape most of the ruination and still retains its old-world charm. Lapta was one of the original city kingdoms of Cyprus and was a regional capital under Roman rule. Its abundant water and protected position have made it a favourite choice for foreign...
Chapelle Royale
This unassuming little church is just off the Lefkosia-Lemesos motorway Al , close to the village of Pyrga. hapelle Royale Royal Chapel admission CY 0.75 S dawn-dusk is a small Lusignan shrine dedicated to Agia Ekaterini St Catherine . Established by the Latin king Janus in 1421 the last of Cyprus' crusader kings , it has interesting French-influenced wall frescoes, not all of which are in good condition. There's a funny, rather incomprehensible guide, who points out the paintings of The Last...