A Beach of Your Own, Karpas Style

One of the great pleasures of living in North Cyprus all year round is a walk on a Karpas beach in winter. Even during the summer, the beaches of the Karpas Peninsula are rarely crowded, certainly not by Spanish Costa del Sol or Limassol standards anyway. Even on high days and holidays, you can still find a patch of sand to call your own, and set up your parasol and beach towel for a hard day’s loafing about.

Personally, I long for the last of the half term Harrys and Harriets to depart back to prep school with Mumsy and Daddy, when North Cyprus breathes a (small) sigh of relief. Then, you know the only people you will encounter on a beach are those who enjoy the fresh air and peace as much as you do.

The Karpas beaches always fuel my imagination so much. I can almost see St Andrew’s ship on the horizon, the crew desperate for water, and the miracle of the spring found (or created, depending which story you read) just in the nick of time. I love the ruined churches of the area, whose ancient walls have survived for centuries, and the wild flowers that spring from their deserted flagstones. (I must admit, I can live without the Karpaz wild donkeys, but that’s another story.)

Most of all I love to walk for miles across deserted sands, birds wheeling overhead, the sea glinting in the winter sunshine. OK, it’s a long drive back home, but every such walk reminds me exactly why I came to North Cyprus in the first place – space, and miles of it.

Kathy