The Akrotiri peninsula, between the base and the wetlands

Akrotiri is an oddity. On one stretch of land you find a British military base, one of the most valuable wetlands in the eastern Mediterranean, a Cypriot village of basket-makers and cattle, the cats’ monastery and an 8 km beach. To my mind it’s one of the most unusual trips you can make from Limassol, as long as you’re clear about where you are.

A British base

The peninsula makes up the Western Sovereign Base Area, Akrotiri. The Base Areas Administration explains that these are the parts of the island that stayed under British jurisdiction when the Republic of Cyprus was created in 1960, under the Treaty of Establishment, and that of the 98 square miles the two bases cover, 47.5 are at Akrotiri. For British visitors that may sound familiar, but it’s worth knowing what it means on the ground, which I set out in British Sovereign Base Areas.

The practical upshot is simple. Gov.uk reminds visitors not to photograph military sites, and there are plenty here. Follow the signs and you’ll be fine.

A natural treasure

Akrotiri’s other face is its wildlife. According to the Base Areas Administration, the peninsula matters environmentally for Cyprus and the whole eastern Mediterranean. The salt lake and Akrotiri marsh complex has been a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention since 20 March 2003, is a BirdLife Important Bird Area and is protected by the Bern, Bonn and Barcelona conventions, besides being designated a Special Protection Area and a Special Area of Conservation.

The same administration mentions some 300 bird species recorded, mostly migrants, nesting beaches for green and loggerhead turtles, and monk seals, dolphins and bats. It counts 27 habitat types, some very rare in Europe such as the salt lake, and thirty endangered plant species. The lake gets its own page, Akrotiri salt lake.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Limassol before prices climb.

Cyprus’s oldest history

Akrotiri holds the island’s earliest human traces. The Base Areas Administration cites the hunter-gatherer shelter of Aetokremmos, used over 12,000 years ago, where bones of pygmy hippos and elephants were found. It also lists more than 1,500 rock-cut tombs from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, the Lamnia site, the chapel of Agios Dimitrianos and the church of Panagia Galaktotrofousa, both 12th century, and the monastery of St Nicholas of the Cats, from the early Byzantine period.

The village and the environmental centre

CYSTAT counted 931 people living in Akrotiri village in 2021. The Base Areas Administration says its people work on the Bases, in Limassol or on the land, and traditionally lived from soft basketry and cattle, two crafts tied to the marsh.

This is where you’ll find the Akrotiri Environmental Education Centre, open since 2004 and in a sustainable building since 2014, with exhibition rooms, a laboratory, a library, an observation area with telescopes facing the salt lake and a botanic garden of more than 200 local species. Its hours are 07:30 to 13:30 on weekdays only, so don’t count on it on a Saturday. There’s also an ecological trail joining the village, the salt lakes and the centre, set up by the Limassol tourist board with panels and QR codes.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Akrotiri peninsula and choose by the reviews.

Beaches and diving

On the peninsula’s east coast lies Lady’s Mile, a beach of about 8 km according to the tourist board. For divers, the same board recommends the Three Stars wreck, in the Akrotiri area, a ship that ran aground in 1972 after catching fire and now lies at about 7 m, suitable for Open Water divers.

Getting there

In a straight line, Akrotiri village is about 12 km from the centre of Limassol, the lake about 9 km and Lady’s Mile about 8. By car it fills half a day. More on the area in Limassol district.

A car frees you from timetables: search car hire in Limassol on DiscoverCars and compare companies.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Limassol before prices climb.