... Protaras! A fair drive North from Larnaca Airport. A few miles on from Ayia Napa...
A few of the holiday makers were dropped off at some of the nicest looking places, but quite a distance from the sea.
We ended up right on the sea front in Protaras, in a 3 * Hotel, self catering, that ... Read review
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Advantages: Definately the best side of the island for Diving. Disadvantages: None except it goes really quiet in the winter.
...world to dive in the Protaras area, I would say it is one of the best areas on the Island of Cyprus.
Booking a Diving Holiday
Booking for a course with the diving school is easy. You can call from the U.K. to arrange the details and they will even recommend a hotel for you to stay. If you are at all doubtful about your ability to dive for health reasons, they can arrange a visit to the local Doctor for a check up, which ... more
Our first package holiday in Cyprus found us in a place we hadn't even heard of before. Protaras! A fair drive North from Larnaca Airport. A few miles on from Ayia Napa... A few of the holiday makers were dropped off at some of the nicest looking places, but quite a distance from the sea.
We ended up right on the sea front in Protaras, in a 3 * Hotel, self catering, that was o.k., we were right by the best restaurants and pubs. The food and entertainment was excellent. Even in October the weather was fantastic! we couldn't go bare foot, the pavements and the sand burned our feet. We weren't complaining. Two whole weeks of glorious sun. At this time of year the flowers in the gardens and along the beach are at their best. After the heat of the summer sun they come into bloom with vigour.
The beaches are beautifully soft and sandy, the sea slopes gently, no rocks like Paphos area, but thats another story. Sun beds lay along the sand, but it wasn't too busy in October. The ideal time for Scuba Diving I would say. On the main part of the beach were a couple of sea-sport sun shelters, where you could book most of the sporting activities, these were constantly busy.
Parascending was one of our favourite, the views from the top were fantastic. First my partner Chirs went up, while I took photos from the boat. They didn't charge for me to come along for the ride. From where I was sitting the parachute looked like a speck in the blue sky, it certainly reached great heights. I decided then, that I would have a go. I would recommend anyone to try this, it's easy, comfortable and safe.
Water sk-ing, jet ski-ing, banana boating, are great fun but you can end up in the water, and now even Kite Surfing is becoming popular. All these activities start from early in the day until about 5 pm in the evening.
Best of all was the Diving. Neither of us had done anything like this before. We were recommended to try a diving school just across the road from our hotel. They are friendly, helpful and very easy to get along with, the equipment is great and everything is provided that you need.
Chris my partner went along for a trial lesson, I declined to dive, so was provided with a wet suit, mask and fins, and offered to go snorkelling while the rest dived. It was in the shallows just a few miles south of the main beach. Along a little track, to a pretty cove where a few boats were moored. Hardly a house in sight. The trees came down to the beach as did the bushes and wild plants, birds were flying around quite tamely. The views were great, the sea calm and so clear that everywhere you could see the bottom.
Our First Attempt.
Having never worn a wet suit before it felt quite strange getting into the water. It took a while practicing with the face mask and snorkel. However as I followed the divers around the bay, looking down and watching their progress, I soon forgot my new environment. There were fish everywhere, not in the least worried that I loomed overhead, or worried that they were being followed by the divers.
The biggest surprise was the bread roll, produced from the instructors pocket. Instantly the sea around them was filled with fish, swimming from the top to the bottom, around in circles, some brave enough to take food from the divers hands. I hadn't expected to see anything like that on my first try at snorkelling.
The Diving School
The school has proffessionally trained 5* Padi instuctors. Are qualified to train in Open Water diving courses, and the extra qualifications, like night diving, wreck Diving and diving for Photography. The school has been awarded the 5* school of excellence to the instructors.
To finish the beginners course takes several days out of your holiday, which includes watching videos on diving and safety, learning all the underwater sign languages and getting to be familiar with the equipment. Essential when you rely so much on the air being supplied from the tank. The total cost of the weeks training as a beginner was approximately £240, including all the books and paper work, enrolment to Padi, and the actual diving lessons.
The first practice swim is in the local hotel pool, to check your confidence. The next day you can dive in the shallows. Graduating throughout the week to deeper waters. I was delighted that I was allowed to snorkel throughout the week while Chris was Scuba - Diving, all my equipment was supplied by the school free of charge.
Other Sites To Visit.
FIG TREE BAY is one of the prettiest Diving areas and popular with most of the Divers in the area. In fact Diving schools in Cyprus often take their pupils to this site. Travelling quite a distance, especially if the weather isn't so good on the West or South side of the island.
However the ultimate Dive would be to the Zenobia, a Swedish roll-on-roll-off ferry, that went down in June 1980 off the fishing harbour in Larnaca. She was on her maiden voyage. This is in quite deep water, so only really experienced Divers can go to that depth. However they have made the area into a special Aqua Diving Site, and have even provided small sub marines to take passengers down to see the sunken ferry. She went down with 108 trailers and trucks on board. She was liscenced to carry 140 passengers.
Swimmers and Aqua Divers travel from all over the world to dive in the Protaras area, I would say it is one of the best areas on the Island of Cyprus.
Booking a Diving Holiday
Booking for a course with the diving school is easy. You can call from the U.K. to arrange the details and they will even recommend a hotel for you to stay. If you are at all doubtful about your ability to dive for health reasons, they can arrange a visit to the local Doctor for a check up, which only costs £10.00.
You can check their site out at www.ezdivers.com/
Even though I am not a Scuba Diver myself, I can honestly recommend you to try this area, I am sure you will love it.
