Enquiries about Cyprus are frequent but information is sparse, if you can provide a further details then please send an E-mail to the NEFF.
Cyprus is a divided island. In 1983 Turkish Cypriots unilaterally declared their independence as the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus'. You should also be aware that the partition of Cyprus is the result of what, in the past, has been a bitter ethnic struggle and feelings still run high. For example: Jeff Shambles jeff.shambles@ukgateway.net was moved to write "Anyone planning to go should note that Northern Cyprus is not a recognised country - recognised that is by the UK or the UN. It is an illegal regime since the invasion by Turkey. As a country not recognised, British citizens may not be fully protected by international law while visiting." Jeff added, "Also, for those who want a moral stand, all visits to north Cyprus help bolster the illegal regime and prolong the partition of Cyprus."
To cross the border between the Northern (Turkish) part and the Southern (Greek) you have to pass through a neutral U.N. controlled buffer zone. Don't expect to be able to do this without careful planning. For tourists, at best, it can be a time consuming and expensive process at worst you may find the border temporarily closed. Find out as much as you can before going to Cyprus.
The consensus reply to enquiries about going naked on Cyprus is that nude bathing or even being topless is not tolerated by the local authorities on the majority of public beaches. As a race, Greeks have a tradition of good manners and tolerance to foreigners which is why, in spite of active opposition from the Orthodox Church, Greece and the Greek islands have a number of well known beaches. However, Cyprus and the rest of Greece do not share the same history. The Greek Cypriots have seen too much bad behaviour from invading foreigners and are less inclined to tolerate or forgive. So even if you find a deserted cove where no one seems to mind it may still be prudent not to confuse "nobody made any objection" with "nobody found it objectionable".
Having said that, Steve expended considerable energy exploring the island in October 2001 and, as his diary shows, he met with some success.
This report relates to a week I spent in Cyprus from Sunday 7 October to Sunday 14 October 2001, staying in an hotel at the southern end of the resort of Paphos (Pafos) on the western side of the island. Before going to Cyprus, I printed off the relevant 'page' (it ran to 5 pages, actually) from Captain Barefoot's Naturist Guide and would strongly recommend that anyone wishing to locate naturist beaches on the island should do the same. This report can only represent what I saw on the particular occasion I visited, whereas the Captain's informants are people who appear to have visited the places mentioned on numerous occasions.
Day 1 - Monday 8 October. Morning on hotel beach; afternoon spent rehearsing and performing in concert as part of an English choir (the main purpose of the visit to Cyprus). No naturist opportunities.
Day 2 - Tuesday 9 October. Jeep safari with a few other members of the choir in the Troodos mountains. No naturist opportunities (and had to don long trousers for visit to monastery).
Day 3 - Wednesday 10 October. Hired a car for four days and headed north from Paphos. Stopped first at Cape Drepanon / Agios Georgios. Be aware that there is an Agios Georgios on the outskirts of Paphos (at Chlorakas), but the one I was looking for was somewhat further north. Captain Barefoot's instructions were accurate - turning left down a dirt track just where the road into Agios Georgios does a hairpin bend. Stopped at various points along this track, but found no naturists. Found the 'small harbour' beyond the 'small wood' referred to in the guide, but the 'beautiful small beach at the far side of the harbour' was occupied by about three textiles. Note that the track was blocked at this point, so I had to park up and walk to reach the far side of the harbour. Walked a bit further and found a tiny bit of beach where I settled down for some nude sunbathing for a couple of hours. Saw no other naturists, although one young German guy approached me (from the opposite direction) and asked me if I had seen any naturists where I had come from. He didn't, however, join me.
Headed back to the road and left Agios Georgios, driving off to the left down the track to Lara. I think there was a sign referring to the Lara Beach Restaurant and indicating a distance of 4 km. Progress was slow as the track was very rough and I was in an ordinary car (almost certainly breaching the conditions of my car hire). Continued to follow signs to the Lara Beach restaurant, where I parked. The beach to the north of the restaurant was sparsely populated, but I didn't spot any naturists. Walked south past the bluff on which the restaurant stands, and immediately found a young couple sunbathing nude. I settled down near to them, but on the other side of a rock to give them some privacy.
After a while, I decided to move on to Polis by way of Neo Chorio, crossing part of the Akamas peninsula. Made my way to the Baths of Aphrodite (Loutra tis Afroditis). Captain Barefoot lists an unnamed beach 'about 300 meters on the Polis side of the .. tourist pavilion'. I was unable to identify this beach, which is a pity as the Captain's informants call it 'our favourite'. More detailed instructions on how to get to the beach would be useful. I surmised that one would have to walk through someone's private yard on the other side of the S-bend by the tourist pavilion, but I didn't feel like trespassing on this occasion.
Drove back to Polis and followed signs to Polis Camping Ground. It was by now past 5 o'clock and I found no naturism on the beach, but I could easily envisage it happening as it was a long beach and most people were in the area nearest the car park. Returned to Paphos after a brief recce'.
Day 4 - Thursday 10 October. Time to head south-east. First stop: Aphrodite's Birthplace / Petra tou RomioU ('Rock of the Roman'), where Captain Barefoot refers to 'several shingle beaches on the Paphos side'. What I did was park at the tourist pavilion, take the pedestrian underpass to the Rock, then head north-west along the beach until I was past the last group of textiles (which was pretty soon). I then carried on for a further 200 yards and stripped off. Spent about 90 minutes there without seeing any other naturists. The beach extended much further back towards Paphos, and back on the road there were various places where it looked as if one could get the car off the road and walk down to a beach; however, I didn't explore any of these possibilities.
After lunch, continued on to PissourI, where I followed the (not very obvious) sign to 'K. PISSOURI', i.e. Kolpos Pissouriou or Pissouri Bay. What is not obvious on this route is that you then have to turn right at the Cypress Café to get the beach (otherwise you end up back on the main road). At the eastern end of the beach, I found several naturists (one couple and two or three single men), so I joined them for a while.
After probably less than an hour, I returned to my car and headed on to Avdimou. The Captain's instructions were very useful here, mentioning the need to follow signs to Kyrenia Café and then take the track to the left of the café along the beach. He said to drive to the end of the track, but it would be more accurate to say stop at the point where the track turns away from the beach. (In fact, just before this you can turn onto the beach itself.) Rounded some fallen rocks at the end of the beach, and found further sandy coves occupied by naturists, including one young couple and one family with two children. Found a spot to settle down in and stripped off. However, after a while I lost the sun as it was now late in the day and the beach faces south-east and is backed by cliffs. Moved back to the cove where the young couple were. (There was a textile there as well.) At one point I got up to go for a paddle and looked up at the cliff top only to see a man's head disappearing very quickly. I tend to think it was the young woman he was looking at rather than me (and I couldn't blame him)! Left the beach at 4.15 to return to Paphos.
Day 5 - Friday 12 October. Decided on a return visit to Avdimou and timed the journey from my hotel at 40 minutes. Went past the fallen rocks again, but found that the sea was higher than before and the coves round there were unusable. Decided to return to the main beach and simply strip off at the easternmost end of it. There were some people not far away, but no one bothered me. No other naturists seen.
After lunch, headed east on the A6 and A1 motorways, past Limassol, to Governor's Beach. This is at junction 16/17 on the A1. I was looking for the westernmost part of the main beach, which turned out to be at Sofroniou Beach Restaurant (signposted from the road as you get near Governor's Beach). Headed west from here into the White Rocks area and found what I thought might be the naturist beach (judging by the number of vehicles parked near by). However, there were only textiles on this beach, including a couple of young women in very scanty bikinis, who professed no knowledge of a naturist beach when I asked them. Left my car there and continued westward on foot, but increasingly had the impression that the area was mainly frequented by gays. Eventually found a guy sunbathing naked on a rock by the sea, and asked him about naturist beaches; he indicated a beach a bit further on still and something else beyond the next set of rocks. I stopped at the beach, which was deserted, stripped off for a while, and then headed back to the car, feeling that the journey to Governor's Beach had been, on the whole, a dead loss.
Day 6 - Saturday 13 October. Return visit to Pissouri again sunbathed at the eastern end of the beach just before some fallen rocks, and there were three or four other naturists about. I then explored the area beyond the rocks and found other naturists, including two couples, but decided to stay on the western side of the rocks.
About 3 p.m. I made another visit to Avdimou, where there were a few naturists beyond the rocks (including one couple). Returned to my hotel in time to use the sauna and steam-room in the health centre. Stepped into the sauna to find an obviously German couple in residence. (Firstly they were naked; secondly they had their feet as well as their backsides resting on their towels.)
Day 7 - Sunday 14 October. Departure day and no car, so stayed at the hotel all day. Explored a bit of waste ground between my hotel and the next and stripped off in a spot out of sight of both hotels. Unfortunately, quite a few people took a stroll along the track that ran through the waste ground, right past my sunbathing spot. I tended to roll over onto my front whenever anyone passed and ignore them. On one occasion I did this, waited a minute or to, then looked up to check that the coast was clear - only to find that the woman passer-by had stopped and was just taking a photo of the bay with me in the foreground! Quite amusing, really. After a while, I decided to don swimming costume and return to the hotel beach. Used the sauna/steam nude again later in the day before being picked up for the airport at 20.15.
f, like me, you do not particularly want a deserted beach where you can strip off in splendid isolation, but prefer to have other naturists around and preferably a mixture of the sexes, then Pissouri and Avdimou seem like the best bets based on the limited experience recounted above. Given that the two are close together, if one draws a blank you can always try the other. Avdimou has the advantage of sand - it was much easier wading past the rocks at the end of the main beach there than at Pissouri. But at Pissouri people do seem to use the area just before the rocks. Polis camping ground looks worth a further try, while the Baths of Aphrodite beach needs a bit more explanation. I won't bother with Governor's Beach again.
To get to Northern Cyprus and stay there you will need to travel via Turkey.
In February 2001, David david_sharon@my-deja.com wrote that nude sunbathing in the deserted beaches and places is tolerated by the local authority enforcement and by most of the people. He recommends Salamis, Famagusta, and the Cleopatra Beaches at Kantara. He suggests that you write to him for further information or visit the Turkish Nudist Club web site at http://www.geocities.com/turkish_nudist_club. This web site advises that it is advisable to cover up whenever there is a Moslem family nearby.
In the same month "Tanned" reported setting up an MSN community called "Naturism in Cyprus" http://communities.msn.co.uk/NaturisminCyprus. They invite anyone who may be planning a visit to their "Island of Venus" to get in touch and promise to provide all the information needed concerning beaches where one can enjoy the sun and sea in the nude on a selection of nice secluded beaches to offer.
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