The Cyprus Blog

Few weeks back, we had been camping in Polis in the north western corner of Cyprus. We wanted to go camping again, but were bored to drive more than an hour to reach Polis. So, we went to a camping site near Governor's beach, which, even if we follow the speed limit, takes little more than 20 mins to reach. So, even if we get bored there, we could always drive back home anytime during the day/night.

This camping area is just to the left of the actual beach (you have to take a left on the way to the beach from the exit). It looks much more organised than the Polis camping area. But, the number of people with tents was almost negligible. Most of the people had their own caravans (some with even a satellite connection with the dish hooked up outside the caravan). I heard that the slots are kind of permanent and rented out to people with caravans. But, we liked the place. It was much more peaceful than in Polis and Vidhya liked the absence of dogs here.

It was Vidhya's birthday and it was a nice surprise with the gang organising a cake cutting ceremony and giving us lot of gifts.

Btw, if you go for camping, don't forget to take along someone who will always volunteer to show the way for you by holding a light (as you can see in the photos above). Sarvesh also gives a Statue of Liberty pose below.

The beach is just a short walk away. Governor's beach is known for its blackish sand and clear waters. If you keep walking down the beach, you can see interesting cliff formations and also small caves. An ideal camping site, close to home!

Labels: camping, limassol, picnic, sea

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The last time i went camping was more than 5 years ago on the occasion of the first anniversary of landing in Cyprus. We didn't celebrate the anniversaries after that and now after 6 years, there are probably a few of us still in Cyprus as compared to the 42 when we went camping last time.

This time, it was with a group of around a dozen friends. Until the last minute, we were discussing on where to go camping. The options were to either go to troodos or to the more famous, well known Polis camping site. We chose the latter for the numerous other things we could do in Polis, as the site was right on the beach. But, all we ended up doing most of the time was to just play cards!

Polis is a beautiful little hamlet in the north-west of Cyprus. It is probably the first choice for camping in Cyprus. Polis is just a short drive away from Latchi, a popular fishing village. The Baths of Aphrodite, a famous tourist stop in Cyprus is also very close-by. Polis can be used as a gateway to explore the wild west of Cyprus - Akamas.

The camping site is in the midst of a large Eucalyptus grove situated right on the shore. There are clear directions to the site once you enter Polis. Even though the site is huge, almost every inch of it is occupied during the summer weekends. We had to spend some time walking around the site to find a location for us to pitch our tents. We were lucky as a group was just packing off when we arrived and we got a location under the trees and also close to the beach.

Few of the things you need to keep in mind before going camping:

Get your own tents. They have stopped renting out tents. Also, get some bedding/pillows to put inside the tents as the ground is uneven, unless you want to totally rough it out!
You have to get your own lighting. Either you can get a long wire with a bulb and attach it to the electricity outlets available or you can get one of the portable lamps which run on gas (like the ones you see in the middle of one of the photos below). They cost around 10 pounds and are available in all the big supermarkets. The gas containers last for around 4 hrs each and a replacement costs under 50 cents.
It can get cold in the nights. Though it is very hot nowadays, we found it to be pretty cool in the mornings and a light blanket was needed.
Try to get a portable stove to make the wonderful late-night or early-morning tea/coffee. The cafe there near the camping site is a lame substitute.
Take Torch Lights. You will definitely search for dropped keys at least once :-)
Mats to put on the ground. Or you can use the sun-screens of the cars as a substitute.

camping polis cyprus tents

I had always wanted to drive along the road to the east of Polis, going towards Pomos and Kato Pyrgos. It is supposed to be one of the most picturesque drives in Cyprus. On Sunday, after we packed our stuff and left the camping site, we decided to go for this drive. It was a good drive even though it was 12 in the noon and it was very hot. This place would look much more beautiful in winter and spring with the beach on one side of the road and the hillocks on the other. The road goes close to the Kokkina, the Turkish Cypriot enclave surrounded on all sides except the sea by the Greek Cypriot part and totally cut-off from the other Turkish Cypriot areas. Even after 6 years of roaming around a lot in Cyprus, there are times like this when i go to an area or drive on a road for the first time. This is testimony to the fact that Cyprus has a lot more to offer than just its beaches and you can never get bored of it.

camping polis cyprus tents pyrgos pomos