A traveler's guide to Cyprus
The southeast is the beach holiday. Stay there if that is the brief, and rent a car for the day you want the rest of the island.
Cyprus is a Mediterranean island with a beach season that starts early and stays late. Ayia Napa's Nissi Beach is the famous shallow turquoise. The southeast is busier. The west and the Troodos are how you leave the sun beds without leaving the island.
When to go
May, June, September, and October are warm and kind. July and August are very hot. The sea is swimmable from late April well into November, which is the island's advantage.
The beach
Nissi is a sandbar and a shallow lagoon, beautiful and crowded. Fig Tree Bay and the Protaras coast are the slightly calmer neighbors. Public beaches are the norm, with loungers for rent. The west has wilder, less organized sand.
In the water
The southeast water is shallow and clear, which is ideal and also why everyone is standing in it. A boat toward Cape Greco is the snorkel upgrade. The west coast has more wave.
If you only remember this
- Drive on the left.
- Ayia Napa at night is a choice. The beach at dawn is the correction.
- The island is bigger than a taxi habit. Rent a car for one day at least.
- Shade at noon is not optional in August.