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DIVING DESTINATIONS
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR HOTEL:
The Livadhiotis City Hotel is situated just 100
metres from the famous Larnaca Seafront
(Phinikoudes Beach) and located in the heart
of Larnaca’s town centre. It is surrounded by
lots of great cafés, pubs and restaurants, only
10 minutes away from the Larnaca International
Airport and just a stone’s throw away from the
towns main shopping and commercial centre.
The surrounding area is steeped in history with
the historical Saint Lazarus Church directly
opposite the hotel, while the Pierides Museum,
the Larnaca Marina, the Medieval Castle, and
the Larnaca Archaeological museum are all
within a short walking distance. It was a great
place to stay and the staff were brilliant.
So, we ended up on a road trip to Protaras, saw
some lovely scenery along the way and made
it over in a relaxed 45 minutes. The dive centre
is conveniently located at the Windmills Hotel
Apartments, a family owned and run complex
which offers studios for 2 or 3 persons or one
bedroom apartments for 2 or 4 persons with all
the amenities required for a comfortable stay.
Simon got us each sorted out with properly
fitting equipment in no time and we left the
dive centre and followed Simon’s pickup in
our little rental and he went out of his way
and stopped to show us a couple of beautiful
landmarks on our way to the dive site which
are great to see.
If you are not going to dive in Cyprus, there is
plenty to see and visit. They have a very rich
history and culture that is worth exploring and
finding out about.
We reached our lovely spot, parked the cars
and got ourselves ready for the walk down
to the water’s edge. Slightly tricky with steel
tanks and a little extra weight on our backs, plus
hauling the heavy camera and video equipment
while trying to keep our balance – but with
careful footing we made it down the rocky path
and did a backwards roll off the ledge into the
very clear blue water and descended beneath
the surface where a new world lay before us!
A fun fact we learnt: Believe it or not,
there are no tides or currents there.
The Caves is a really fun dive site and the
topography is beautiful and so different. It’s
an easy shallow dive with a maximum depth
of 12 metres consisting of holes, tunnels and
overhanging rocks. Photographers can have a
lot of fun here using diver models to add some
depth to their images.
Simon had seen a seal at this dive site a few
days before, but we unfortunately did not get
a visit. We did see a lovely little orange moray
eel and we saw our first Neptune’s Lace. Katie
Brooks, a marine biologist for The Manta Trust
came along as part of the EDA team and gives
a detailed description of the marine life we got
to see on our dives in Cyprus on page 74.
If it were not for the 5mm wetsuits, gloves and
booties, I don’t think I would have managed to
stay down as long as we did on our dives. It
was 16˚C at one point, which does take a little
getting used to. I highly recommend getting a
hoodie as most of the local/resident divers
were all (maybe not all of them…but most of
them) wearing one. I know I will be investing
in one for future dives in those temperatures.
As 3 divers sent out on a mission for this
latest EDA FAM trip, we have learnt to make
a turnaround out of something not so good,
into something so good you envisage coming
back to do it all over again, but this time with
the added value of good knowledge and
experience. We enjoyed our dives so much
and there are many more dive sites to explore.
That will be one to plan and look forward to
for another time.
Oh, and if you love to eat – as we sure do (you
won’t be able to get enough of the halloumi!)
– then Cyprus with the added bonus of good
food, diving and historical sites makes a great
long weekend destination. All the tastes and
sites of Cyprus are ever so close.
Emirates have a 4 hour direct flight from Dubai
to Larnaca!
Places We Recommend:
The hotel we stayed at in Larnaca:
Livadhiotis City Hotel
50 Nikolaou Rossou Street
P.O. Box 42800, 6021 Larnaca
Tel: +357 24 626 222
Email: info@livadhiotis.com
www.livadhiotis.com
These are the restaurants we experienced and suggest
you ask them to give you a sample of their choice (food
is fresh, homemade and incredibly sumptious that you
always manage to find room in the bottom of your
stomach for one last bite):
MILITZIS RESTAURANT
(they offer a rich selection of genuine homemade Cypriot
dishes – they make their own delicious halloumi)
42, Piale Pasia Street, Larnaca
Tel: +375 24 655 867
CHARMERS RESTAURANT
(famous for their meat dishes, but we opted for fish not
knowing this little fact)
Piale Pasia Street, Lordos Seagate, Larnaca
Tel: +375 24 624 127
TARATSA
(opposite the beautiful St. Lazarus Church)
Corner of Mehmet Ali & Pavlou Valsamaki, Larnaca
Tel: +375 24 621 782
KARAS VILLAGE TAVERN
(known for their exquisite seafood dishes)
Kennedy Avenue, Kappari 55, Paralimni
Tel: +375 23 820 565
www.captainkaras.com
The dive centre we can recommend to dive with:
WINDMILLS DIVING SCHOOL
Simon Banks
128 Prenera Avenue 69, Protaras
Tel: +357 96 213 982
Email: admin@windmillsdiving.com
www.windmillsdiving.com
The dive centre accomodation:
WINDMILLS HOTEL APARTMENTS
Pernera Avenue 75, Protaras, P.O. Box 33075, Paralimni
Tel: +357 23 831 120
Email: windmills@cytanet.com.cy
www.windmillshotel.com.cy
Thank you to the Larnaka Tourism Board in Cyprus for
arranging the FAM Trip itinerary and the guided tour on
our rest day to Agia Napa and thank you to the Cyprus
Tourism Board in Dubai for the overall invitation.
72 DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, JUNE 2012
JUNE 2012, DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 73