My Life in Travel

Cyprus is an awesome island with so many places to visit and so many beaches to stay. More famous is the Eastern part of the island because of more active life and blue flag rated beaches in Ayia Napa. But the Western part of Cyprus also deserves your attention. To the places you can visit there I will come back in my next posts. Today I want to take you to the best (and not only) beaches of Paphos city and its surroundings. Prepare your swimsuits and let’s start!

When we reached our hotel, the staff at reception gave a small printed map of the area and started to introduce the most famous places we can go during our short stay and showed where the beaches are. The closest beach to us was the Venus beach, which was in about 15 min. walking distance from the hotel. The beach is located just next to the Venus Hotel, but it’s open for anyone who wants to enjoy the crystal clear waters of Mediterranean. When we came here, the golden sand was shining under the sun rays like diamonds, water was transparent and warm. The beach was not empty, but wasn’t also full like was in Ayia Napa or Protaras. For those who wanted to hide from sun, there were beds and umbrellas for 5€ each. But if you don’t want to hide or don’t want to pay, you are free to use your towels to stay on the sand.

Once when we were walking in the city, we asked for a local where is the closest beach, he looked at us and asked: “You want the closest or the best beach?” We smiled and the guy said that is better to go to Venus beach than look for another. And I agree with him. There are few main beaches in Paphos city, but the best one with the best sand and the best water is Venus. Also from here you can clearly see the Shipwreck of Demetrios II, which was a Greek cargo ship, built in 1964 in Germany. On 23 March 1998 the Honduran-flagged M/V Demetrios II was transporting wood from Greece to Syria but ran aground off Paphos Lighthouse by a wild storm in heavy seas and sank about 500m. Since then the ship became a decotative item and a famous attraction for tourists.

The other biggest beach in Paphos city is called Lighthouse beach. It is starting from the harbor area and going almost until Venus beach. Most of the coastal area is closed with hedges, because on the other side of it are the main archaeological site areas. Plus, as you can see, not all its coasts are like a beach. But the beauty is everywhere and you cannot hide from it. Just look at this wavy coast and the colors of the water. It was like a magnet, like a hypnosis, calling you to look at unwavering. We didn’t go to the beachy part of Lighthouse beach, so don’t have a picture from that side and cannot say exactly how it was, but according to locals, this is the closest beach in the city but not the best 🙂 So I let you choose yourself which beach you prefer, closer or best 🙂

The other awesome beach we’ve found and I would definitely recommend you to go is the Coral Bay. This is a bit far from Paphos city, but you can come here easily by taking a bus N615 from city center. The ticket price is the same as inside the city, 1.5€. Travel time is about 15-20 min from center as well. Bus stop is very close to the beach. You can look around to find the sign “Coral Bay beach” or ask the driver to call you when you’re there. They always help. Coral Bay itself is like a small town or a village with a lot of hotels and villas all around. Nothing interesting for sightseeing, unless you like walking around private buildings surrounded with colorful bougenvillias.

In the morning hours the water here was calm but little by little it became wavy too. At the end of September the temperature of the water was still warm, pleasant for swimming, while the sun was still burning as much as it could. If you are looking for a shadow to hide from this burning rays, you can always rent an umbrella and a bed. Like in a Venus beach, the water is crystal clear here too. And it is not to deep as well. You can walk for 20m and the water would be up to your chest. Amazing place for people who cannot swim well. There was also a small cafe nearby for some refreshing drinks and ice-cream.

The beaches in Paphos have another benefit. Here you can catch the best sunsets, when the sun goes down directly “into the sea”, making the blue waters colored in more red and orange palettes. In the Eastern part of Cyprus sunsets are also nice, but if you are a real sunset lover, then you should come here to admire this awesome warm colors. This magic moment caught in the picture below is also from Venus beach.

One more place that I’d like to go but didn’t have time this time was the Rock of Aphrodite (AKA Petra tou Romiou), the legendary birthplace of Greek Goddess of Love. This was also one of the recommendations from our hotel staff because of its beauty and the status in mythology. As they said, the area is on the way from Paphos to Limassol and can be reached by bus N631. People say that anyone who swims around the rock will be blessed with eternal beauty. Maybe one day I will come back to Cyprus again and will take a picture for you from this side as well. Who knows?!