Are Cyprus's beaches dirty?
 

Planning a trip to Cyprus but discouraged by a lot of information online referring to beaches (especially in the north) being "dirty," "filthy" and full of garbage. Some of these posts are fairly old so I am not sure if the situation has improved dramatically in the last couple of years? We'll still go to Cyprus but may focus on the inland areas more if the beaches really are that unpleasant.

Noting that we will be self-driving so we would not be focusing on the really heavily touristed beaches and looking for more off-the-beaten-path/less popular beaches.

Many thanks,

mp413

Certainly in the Greek part in the north they are very clean. Are you thinking about the Turkish country or the Greek country?

Are you focusing on the north only?
What time of year are you travelling?
Where did you read online info that beaches are "filthy"?

There is no Greek part in the north. The north is occupied by Turkey since 1974. At peak tourist times there might be some rubbish around as it is pretty crowded eg on Ayia Napa beach, but it is not "filthy" and I have never seen a filthy beach in Cyprus but have not been to the north. The north doesn't have great beaches anyway, Famagusta was "the" place to go for the beach.

Thanks a lot for these replies although a bit confusing! Odin, I have heard and seen photos of the north which is actually supposed to have lovely beaches - e.g. Karpaz peninsula and all along the north coast basically. But, a lot of travel forums and blogs make the kinds of comments I described, lots of discussions about how to resolve the rubbish problem, how the Govt doesn't take care of the beaches, etc.

Bilbo we aren't sure whether we'll focus on south or north or both - this was kind of part of the research to help us decide where to go. I heard the north is less touristy which is appealing, but not if it's less touristy because the beaches are full of trash!

mp, I've not been to the north so I cannot comment, the Greek bit is touristy along the south coast and into the interior. It was pretty good along the north coast of Paphos Forest (see google)

I should have said the ones in the north that I have seen are not that great. Karpaz might indeed have nice beaches. The north is not very developed so could well have dirty beaches which would be a great pity. It's not an area I would want to go to unless out of curiosity or if there are specific antiquities that I'd like to see.

I don't know what time of year you are going. In the south is the Akamas area and you can take a boat trip from Latchi along the coast and swim in very clear water. It is called the Blue Lagoon. Latchi has many tavernas and a sea sports centre, small supermarket. It's a quiet area of the island. Also in this area are several beaches, some sand, some shingle/pebbles, by Afrodites Baths. Further along is the beach at Argaka and a remote village called Pomos. Well worth visiting. From Pomos you can take the mountain road to Platres/Troodos and down to Limassol. Curium has a nice beach too, busy at weekends but it is not developed at all. Coral Bay in Paphos, Lara Bay for looking out for turtles, in the east of the island are the best beaches but the most crowded during the summer, Ayia Napa, Macronissos, Fig Tree Bay with very clear water. Ayia Napa used to be very quiet before the invasion as the best beach on the island was/is Famagusta which is close by. I also like the Sea Cave areas in the Paphos district.

Thanks to you both, very helpful! I will give a bit more background: we are going end Sept/early Oct. We like to avoid touristy areas and crowds, though of course we make exceptions for historical sites. We are mostly interested in enjoying nature - including beaches if there are nice one - and food and wine. Akamas and Latsi indeed came up in my research but I wasn't sure whether those had become quite touristy over time as I come across tons of villa websites. Good to hear that it's still a pretty quiet area! I think we're missing turtle season but thanks so much for all the recommendations, Odin! Very helpful!

We are also very interested in Troodos area. Still finding it difficult to decide on south vs north - or some combination of both. So much to see!

End Sept/early October is already out of season, it would start to get busy at the end of October for school holidays. It is the perfect time to visit as most tourists have gone home, it is no longer 45C in the shade so you can tour comfortably.

There is nature in Cyprus, the mountains have trails and small waterfalls (google Caledonia). The mountains are covered in pine trees and some of the summits are quite high. The north east corner is the quietest and IMO the best part of the island. Latchi is a small harbour and Polis is a small traditional town. There is an open air restaurant in the Akamas called Viklari, not sure it is still open in autumn as it doesn't have electricity (or didn't used to). They only cook 1 thing on charcoal and it is popular with tourists and locals.

I went to a Cypriot beach in Latchi and it was beautiful. No mess, all just natural beach scenery! It was also very peaceful though, so not sure how it would look in a busier area.