Scuba Diving Northern Cyprus from Villa Rockheart

by Alison Boler

I shall have to be completely honest right up front here and say that I am probably a bit biased about diving in Northern Cyprus! A couple of years ago Bob and I started looking around for somewhere we could retire to in a few years once our daughters have flown the next. Lots and lots of research of all sorts later, we settled on Northern Cyprus, and have since bought a house there and everything. So, I'm going to tell you about diving in the area in this report, but just keep in mind that I'm speaking as someone who is very partial to the place.

Where is Northern Cyprus?

Cyprus is the largest island in the eastern Mediterranean has been fought over for thousands of years due to its strategic position. Up until the 1960s it was occupied by Britain who had large military bases there to guard British interests in Suez and the Middle East. After independance was granted, running disputes broke out between the Greek Cypriots and their Turkish counterparts, culminating in 1974 when Turkey invaded from the North in order to protect the Turkish Cypriots from the attacks and annexed roughly one third of the island. That third, is now termed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The major cities of the north are Nicosia, Famagusta and Kyrenia, Kyrenia being the most picturesque. It is fair to say that northern Cyprus incorporates some of the most beautiful parts of the island and the northern coastal strip which is backed by the staggeringly gorgeous Besparmak Mountains is a sight to be seen.

Because the TRNC has not received the economic aid that has been sent to the south, it has avoided most of the development seen elsewhere in the Mediterranean in the last 20 years and it remains very unspoilt and ruggedly beautiful. This is beginning to change as more villas and apartments are being developed and as Turkey approaches EU membership.

How do you get there?

You can fly direct to Ercan (the airport near Kyrenia) from the UK from a number of airports but it is necessray to put down in Turkey first. Most of these touchdowns do not involve a change of planes. Some do, and it is a great idea to build a couple of days in Istanbul into your trip - fascinating place to see.
Flights take about 4 hours + 45 minutes on the ground. The airport is about 20 minutes from Kyrenia.
Alternatively you can fly to Larnaca in Southern Cyprus and then get a taxi across the border to the north. There are little or no formalities at the border - you don't generally even have to get out of the taxi. The taxi trip takes about one and half hours.

The main airlines are Turkish Airlines, Cyprus Turkish Airlines and Atlas Jet to the north. British Airways, Cyprus Airways and Helios all fly into Larnaca. In the summer, there are numerous charter flights to both airports.

Where to Stay:

There are lots of hotels - mostly small to medium sized - along the coast and up into the mountains. Accommodation is extremely reasonable. We liked the Hotel Sempati Website very much and found the owners to be incredibly hospitable and the accommodation to be simple but excellent. There is a diving school on site called the Turtle Bay Dive Centre Website and they also seemed very nice, although we haven't dived with them yet. Next time!

We now prefer to stay in our villa, obviously, and think that for divers or divers with families it is a more comfortable solution because you get more space and "chill room" when you're not in the water. There are a number of villa rental companies. We can recommend North Cyprus Rentals Website who have a great selection of rental villas from large to small. We also rent our own villa, Villa Rockheart, Villa Rockheart Website which is in a great place for a diving holiday - 10 minutes from a BSAC diving school and some of the best sites. We have a very large private swimming pool if you want to soak out all that salt and plenty of room for 8 people to relax in comfort.

The Diving:

Diving in Cyprus is really good but not world class in the same way that the Red Sea, for example. Having said that, in our opinion, diving in the north is far, far better than diving in southern Cyprus. We have dived southern Cyprus quite a few times, and to be honest, there's the Zenobia.... and there's the Zenobia.... and there's.... maybe that's a bit unfair, but the reefs are a bit sparse, and there aren't that many of them. In the north, maybe because of the underdevelopment, maybe because of the completely different topography, maybe because of the historic ports along that coast - there's just a lot more to dive, the viz is much better, there's far more fish, amphora, and you can still dive.... the Zenobia.!! Not to mention some walls and the historic wreck site.

There are various dive operators in the north, but we would recommend Amphora Diving Centre at Escape Beach. A more idyllic location for a diving school is difficult to imagine. The school is built into the side of the cliff on the beach, right in the bend of the cove, very near the little islet just offshore. Very sheltered, good launch site, right outside the door of the place. The bay itself is picture perfect and ideal for first dives.

Amphora are a BSAC school and have been operating for a long time - they know the area very well. The diving is from RIBs and inflatables.

They run dives to well over 20 local dive sites which range from lovely reefs, to walls, modern wrecks and historic wreck sites. Depths are from 6m right up to 40m+ and more. Our favourites are Paradise and the Power Station. The latter has loads of sealife. In the museum in Kyrenia you can see one of the oldest shipwrecks ever found on display (300 B.C.). After viewing the wreck, it is absolutely fascinating to go out and dive the site where it foundered. You can see the archaological grid in place plus crates of amphora, all in about 30m.

The Karpas Peninsula is the long finger of land that points out north east towards Turkey and is one of the last really unspoiled areas in the Mediterranean, much of it protected. There are a number of dives sites along this coast that you can do as a special day trip - but much of it is to be discovered, and it really represents completely virgin diving. There is nothing like this in the south or on many of the other islands of the Med.

Kyrenia and the northern area have been ports for thousands of years. The Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, The Crusaders, The Knights Templar, the Moors, the British - have all been here and ships have traded these waters prolifically. It is almost inconceivable that there aren't lots of wrecks and artifacts yet to be discovered.

Visibility is good due to the topography and the fact that there is a lot less sand than in the south. The northern shoreline is rocky with cliffs and the sandy bays are in coves rather than long stretches. The marine life is prolific. There are still lots of different groupers, octopus, ee;s, crabs.lobsters, rays and all the other small fish in abundance.

Prices are very reasonable. A single dive starts at around £15 and there are big discounts for booking dive packs. Diving takes place all year. The winter (Jan/Feb) water temps are around 16C going up to 28C in August. May through November sees the water temps over 22C.

Food and Drink

It is really, really cheap to eat out in Northern Cyprus. There are a vast variety of restaurants - Cypriot, Turkish, Italian, French, Australian, Chinese, Indian and you have to try pretty hard to spend more than about £15 a head. Many places are more like £4 per head. Local meze will serve you course after course of delicious food including varous varieties of kebab. We especially liked The Address, which is right on the seafront at Karaoglanoglu. It's hard to go wrong though.









What else is there to do?

There's lots of choice. The developed beaches - like Escape - come complete with loungers, umbrellas, cafes, showers and a large variety of watersports. If you like watery fun, look no further.

There is an excellent horseriding stable at Catalkoy which is run to European standards - you can ride along deserted beaches or through the mountains.

There are two 9 hole golf courses and one super duper 18 hole course which is almost finished at Esentepe (due by the end of 2006).

There are various adrenalin sports available - paragliding is particularly popular and you can do this as a solo or in tandem.

For a more relaxing time, traditional wooden gulets are available from Kyrenia harbour for day cruises or sunset dinner cruises. They make a variety of stops along the coast and for about £20 you get a great day out with food and soft drinks included.

If you like walking, North Cyprus offers a variety of lovely mountain walks through the Besparmak range and you can see waterfalls, monasteries and ancient castles along the way quite apart from the breathtaking views.

Northern Cyprus is very rich in history and we have had some great visits to the castles at St Hilarion and in Kyrenia. Really atmospheric.

Kyrenia itself is a very charming town built around a picture perfect harbour. At night it really comes alive with lots of restaurants and bars. The shopping in town is great and you can spend a lot of time here watching the world go by. It's more expensive than the outlying areas, but you get a lot of atmosphere for very little extra.


Car Hire

Driving is on the left (YAY!!!!) You can hire a car from about £16 per day. Petrol is about 1/2 the price of the UK. The car hire company will either deliver the car to you at your accommodation or have it at the airport for you. If you take it at the accommodation, they generally throw in a return transfer to the airport for free. This even applies if you fly into Larnaca. A very good deal.

Summary

We have had some fantastic holidays in Northern Cyprus and can thoroughly recommend that you give it a try. About 4 hours flight from the UK brings you to a very unspoilt and charming corner of the world that is very good value. The ambiance is Mediterranean/Turkish but with so many familiar Britishisms that you feel at home. The electrical system is exactly the same as the UK, for instance, same voltage same plugs.
The diving is good and varied with plenty to keep you occupied. It could scarcely be more convenient - everywhere is very close as long as you stay in the Kyrenia area. There is loads to do here for everyone and a group of divers could have a very good value break. There are many accommodation choices from 1 star upwards and self catering is a definite best choice given the number of restaurants and quality of food.


Amphora Dive Center
Villa Rockheart