Akrotiri salt lake, the great wetland of the south

It’s easy to come to Akrotiri for the cats’ monastery or the beach and drive straight past the lake. For me it’s the most valuable thing on the peninsula. It’s one of the great wetlands of the eastern Mediterranean, a wide expanse of salt water, and with some patience and binoculars it’s hugely rewarding.

What the salt lake is

Akrotiri salt lake, which OpenStreetMap calls Limassol salt lake, fills the centre of the Akrotiri peninsula, within the British Sovereign Base Area. The Base Areas Administration explains that it’s Crown land held by the Administration and counts it among the peninsula’s 27 habitat types, some very rare in Cyprus and Europe, the salt lake itself included.

Together with Akrotiri marsh it forms a complex that has been a Ramsar wetland of international importance since 20 March 2003. The peninsula is also an Important Bird Area, is protected under the Bern, Bonn and Barcelona conventions and has Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation status. The Limassol tourist board places it within the European Natura 2000 network.

The birds

What brings birdwatchers here is the birdlife. The Base Areas Administration speaks of some 300 species recorded on the peninsula, most of them migrants travelling from northern Europe and Russia to Africa in autumn and back in spring, with many spending the winter in the wetlands. The tourist board calls the lake a key stopover on the migration routes.

On flamingos, which plenty of people look for, I’ll tell you what I can verify. The Base Areas Administration includes flamingo surveys among its environmental monitoring, alongside counts of demoiselle cranes and Eleonora’s falcons. I have no official source giving the months when they’re most numerous, so I won’t invent them. If you want flamingos with dates attached, Larnaca salt lake does publish them.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Limassol for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

The ecological trail

The Limassol tourist board, backed by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, created the Akrotiri, Salt Lakes and Environmental Centre ecological trail. It explains that it was designed with light-touch work so as not to upset the wetland’s balance, with information panels and QR codes that open documented audio in several languages on your phone. It’s the easiest way to explore on your own.

The environmental centre’s observation area

In Akrotiri village, the Base Areas Administration’s environmental education centre has an observation area overlooking the lake, with good-quality telescopes and binoculars for watching birds. It opens Monday to Friday from 07:30 to 13:30. Between 2015 and 2017 the same centre took part in a project to restore Akrotiri marsh with BirdLife Cyprus and the RSPB, aiming to revive traditional activities such as grazing and basketry.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Akrotiri salt lake on GetYourGuide.

Getting there and how to behave

The lake is about 9 km from central Limassol as the crow flies and about 3 km from St Nicholas of the Cats, so the two go well together, and Lady’s Mile beach is another 3 km. My rules are those of any protected wetland, stay on the path, keep out of the water, don’t approach groups of birds and take your rubbish home. And, as everywhere on the base, no photos of military installations.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Limassol: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Limassol for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.