Best beaches in Cyprus, ranked
Turquoise water and pale sand in a sheltered Cypriot bay
Ten beaches judged on water clarity, shade and crowding, from a 40-metre shallow shelf to a turtle beach reached by a 40-minute dirt track.
1. Konnos Bay, Cape Greco
Konnos is the most beautiful accessible beach in Cyprus: a small horseshoe between pine-covered headlands at the Protaras end of the Cape Greco national forest park, with water that goes from clear to jade to deep blue in 30 metres. The sand is pale and fine, there is a beach bar, sunbeds run about €2.50 to €5 a bed, and boats moor in the middle of the bay. Parking is on the road above and involves a steep walk down, which is exactly why it is less crowded than Nissi at the same hour.
Go before 10am or after 5pm in July and August; between noon and 4pm the bay holds perhaps 400 people and every lounger is taken. Combine it with the Cape Greco loop — the sea caves and the bridge arch on the eastern side, the tiny chapel of Agioi Anargyroi, and the cliff path with signposted trails. From Protaras it is 10 minutes by car or a 90-minute coastal walk; from Ayia Napa it is 12 minutes. Bring water, because the beach bar prices reflect the monopoly.
2. Lara Bay and 3. the Blue Lagoon, Akamas
Lara Bay on the western Akamas is the wildest beach on the island and a protected loggerhead and green turtle nesting site — hatchlings emerge from roughly August through October, and the nests are caged and marked by the conservation project. There are no sunbeds, no bar, no shade and no lifeguard. Access is a 40-minute dirt track north of Agios Georgios that genuinely requires high clearance; ordinary hire cars are usually prohibited by the rental contract and people ignore that and regret it. Come for the emptiness, not the swimming, which can be rough.
The Blue Lagoon at Fontana Amorosa, on the northern Akamas coast, is not a beach at all but a mooring in impossibly clear water reached by boat from Latchi harbour at €25 to €40 per person for a half day, or by a rough track from the Baths of Aphrodite. The water clarity is the best in Cyprus, easily 15 metres of visibility on a calm day, and the snorkelling over the rocks is excellent. The boats arrive in convoy around 11.30am, so an early or late trip is a completely different experience.
4. Fig Tree Bay, Protaras and 5. Nissi Beach, Ayia Napa
Fig Tree Bay is the best family water on the island: a shallow shelf you can wade 40 metres out on, fine pale sand, a rock islet to swim to, and full facilities including lifeguards, watersports and a dozen places to eat within 200 metres. It is also completely developed — hotels rise directly behind it and by 11am in August the sand is a lounger grid. Rent a bed at around €5 or take a towel to the northern rocks where it thins out. Outside July and August it is genuinely lovely.
Nissi is the famous one and the most overrated. The sandbar to the islet is photogenic and the water is beautiful, but from June to September it functions as an open-air club with competing sound systems from about 11am, and the sand-to-people ratio is dire. If you want that scene, it delivers it well. If you want to swim, go 1 kilometre west to Makronissos, where the same water arrives with a third of the noise, or to Ayia Thekla further along. Nissi in May at 8am, though, is one of the prettiest places in Cyprus.
6. Coral Bay and 7. Governor's Beach
Coral Bay is the west coast's best swimming beach: a 600-metre arc of soft sand between two headlands north of Paphos, sheltered from the prevailing wind, with lifeguards, sunbeds and enough shallow water for children. The rocky headland at the southern end is good snorkelling. Behind it is a functional strip of bars and tavernas rather than anything charming. In August it fills, but its size absorbs crowds better than the eastern bays. It is 20 minutes from Kato Paphos by car or on the frequent 615 bus.
Governor's Beach, 20 minutes east of Limassol off the A1, is a run of small dark-sand coves under bright white chalk cliffs — a strange and striking landscape, and the dark sand gets seriously hot underfoot by midday. The coves each have a taverna above them, several with long-standing reputations for fish. Water deepens quickly, so it suits swimmers rather than paddlers. Go for a long lunch and a late swim, park at the top and take the steps down, and do not expect facilities beyond a shower and a beach bar.
8. Pissouri Bay, 9. Mackenzie, 10. Golden Beach
Pissouri Bay sits in a deep cove between Limassol and Paphos below the village and the vineyards, with grey-gold sand, sheltered water, a handful of tavernas along the front and a distinct lack of anything else. It is the best beach on the island for reading a book. Mackenzie Beach in Larnaca is the opposite proposition: a flat working city beach with a strip of seafood restaurants, beach bars and passenger jets on approach overhead every few minutes. The food and atmosphere carry it; the sand does not.
Golden Beach on the Karpaz peninsula in the north is the longest undeveloped sand in Cyprus — several kilometres of dunes, wild donkeys in the scrub behind, a couple of very basic beach huts and almost nobody. It is a three-hour drive from Kyrenia and worth an overnight rather than a day trip. Check your hire-car insurance before crossing the Green Line, and carry cash. If you can only do one wild beach and cannot get a four-wheel drive to Lara, this is the substitute.
What to skip, and what nobody tells you
Petra tou Romiou, the Aphrodite's Rock stretch on the Paphos–Limassol road, is a magnificent viewpoint and a poor beach: large uncomfortable pebbles, a strong undertow, and a pedestrian tunnel under the road from the car park. Photograph it from the viewing area and drive on. Lady's Mile near Akrotiri is a long flat stretch of hard sand popular with locals and dog walkers, but it is shallow, silty and next to the port. And any beach directly in front of a Limassol five-star will be coarse dark sand — perfectly swimmable, never beautiful.
Practicalities: Cyprus has more than 60 Blue Flag beaches, and organised ones charge roughly €2.50 to €5 per lounger with umbrellas around €2.50 to €3, often sold as sets of two beds plus umbrella for €7.50. Lifeguards operate at the main beaches from around April to October, typically 11am to 6pm. Sea temperature peaks at 27 to 28 degrees in August and September and drops to about 17 in February. Jellyfish are uncommon; sea urchins on rock shelves are not, so pack reef shoes if you are swimming anywhere without sand.
Where to base yourself for beach access
For the top-ranked water, base in Protaras: Konnos, Fig Tree Bay and the Cape Greco coves are all within 10 minutes, and hotel rates run €140 to €340 depending on season. For variety over perfection, base in Paphos, where Coral Bay, the Sea Caves, Lara and the Akamas boats from Latchi are all within an hour and the town gives you the mosaics, the harbour and year-round trading. For a city holiday with swimming attached, Limassol, and accept that you will drive 20 to 40 minutes to Governor's or Pissouri for the good beaches.
The single best beach fortnight is the second half of September: water at its annual warmest of 27 degrees, air around 30, and August crowds and prices gone. Early June is the runner-up, cooler in the water at 24 degrees but greener on land. Avoid mid-August, and avoid any of the east-coast beaches on a Sunday from June to September, when domestic day-trippers from Nicosia arrive in numbers and the Konnos road parking is full by 9.30am.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Cyprus, answered with this month’s numbers.
Konnos Bay at Cape Greco, for water colour, shelter and the pine headlands around it. Fig Tree Bay in Protaras beats it for families because of the 40-metre shallow shelf, and the Akamas Blue Lagoon beats both on clarity but is a boat mooring rather than a beach.
No. The access is a rough 40-minute dirt track north of Agios Georgios, and most rental contracts specifically exclude unsurfaced roads, voiding your insurance. Take an organised four-wheel-drive trip from Paphos or Latchi instead, and go between August and October for turtle hatching.
Roughly €2.50 to €5 per lounger on organised municipal beaches, with umbrellas around €2.50 to €3, often bundled as two beds plus an umbrella for about €7.50. Hotel beach clubs charge more. Wild beaches such as Lara and Golden Beach have no facilities at all.
