I’ll confess, I’ve never quite got the Protaras area. There aren’t the spectacular mountains of Troodos and Kyrenia or the impressive archaeological sites of Paphos, Limassol and Famagusta. I knew there were some great beach bars, pretty bays and beautiful clear sea but, on the whole, Protaras seemed over-developed and a bit, well, shallow.
How wrong I was!
I hadn’t looked deep enough. And by deep, I mean under the water.
Last week’s holiday to the east of the island was a revelation. Look past the massive hotels, the tacky tourist shops and the rows of blue beach umbrellas. The treasure to be found on the east coast is its spectacular underwater world.
You’ve only just discovered this??!! I hear you say.
Yes. It’s taken five years. And now the east coast is the only place I want to be.
It was the wind that blew us to Vrysoudia Bay. We had planned to explore the bays around Ayia Napa and near our hotel in Makronissos. But for most of our holiday it was really windy and rows of white-topped waves pounded the south-eastern coast. Too rough for Herc and far too rough for snorkelling.
So we drove 20 minutes to Protaras and found that the sea on the east coast was much calmer. We looked on Google Earth for the most sheltered bay and found Vrysoudia.
Vrysoudia Bay is north of Protaras, in the Pernera area. Sirena Bay with it’s wonderful boho beach bar is just next door. There is parking near the Aigialos restaurant which overlooks the bay. Alternatively you can drive a few hundred metres north and make a right turn just past Kouzalis Courts. This road takes you to a coastal track which provides great access to the bay. This is what we did and avoided the crowds.
We walked along the track and had our first view of Vrysoudia Bay from its northern headland. It was better than we’d imagined. Small, pretty and, most importantly, the water in the bay was calm.
We enjoyed picnicking on the rocks of the northern headland, but if you prefer sand and sunbeds, there is a small beach in the bay with sunbeds you can use – though thankfully not a toe-curling amount of sunbeds.
Overlooking the bay is Aigialos restaurant where you can buy lunch. Chilled-out beach tunes sang across the water.
I called the southern side of the bay the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The rocks there were covered with trailing plants and pink flowers that spilled over from the hotel above. It was really luscious and made the whole bay look prettier.
Vrysoudia Bay was perfect for Herc to paddle in as it is shallow and sandy by the shore. The water in the shallows is warm and looks murky from all the sand churned up by everyone paddling in it. As you go deeper, the water clears.
The marine life in Vrysoudia Bay is so abundant that you can see it without even having to get wet. Which meant that Herc got to see the fish too. In the rocky shallows on the northern headland, countless numbers of fish swam around his feet, leaping in and out of the water.
It turns out that this is a protected marine area with artificial reefs and possibly wrecks (that’s what the sign below suggests) further out to sea. What a lucky find!
Goobie and I donned our snorkelling masks and fins and jumped in. We were immediately surrounded by fish.
We swam through the mouth of the bay, keeping to the north side. A large area of reef stretched out into the sea. It was like swimming through a rocky underwater kingdom built on different levels, with hidden nooks and deep channels. From the surface, you’d never know what existed beneath.
Smaller fish lived in the upper levels, nearer the surface. Baby sea bream, wrasse. As we swam to the end of the reef, two garfish shot out of a shadowy nook, skimming the surface and darting us suspicious looks.
The edge of the reef plummeted into deep royal blue water. In the deeper water we saw bigger fish. Fully grown bream, cornetfish and goatfish. Where the reef ended, a shoal of reddy brown damselfish swam around us – they seemed genuinely curious.
We swam through deep water from the north side of the bay to the south side. On the south is a large flat shelf of reef, like a rocky plain. Around the edges are some of the largest sea urchins I’ve seen. There are mini gorges in the plain, home to who knows what? I had hopes of seeing an octopus, but you’re more likely to see one at night.
We swam along the southern reef to shallower water at the mouth of the bay. Beneath the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are loads of massive submerged boulders. From the surface they just look like a bunch of rocks. But underwater they become stone monuments, columns, arches and swim-throughs. An underwater kingdom filled with its own distinctive architecture.
It also seemed to be one massive fish nursery. I looked through rocky windows and glimpsed thousands of tiny fish. Presumably they are safe here from larger predatory fish.
Massive shoals of micro-fish were perfectly camouflaged in the sunny water. I didn’t see them until they moved.
Large groups of little fish gathered to eat tiny plants that grew on the rocks.
I swear this looked like a mummy taking her babies out for a walk:
Without doubt, the rocks beneath the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was the highlight of my trip. I have never seen so many fish in such a relatively small area.
Goobie and I reluctantly swam back into the murky shallows of the bay, past shoals of fish.
While Goobie and I played with Herc, Matt went out for a snorkel. He came back proclaiming that he’d just had one of his best snorkelling experiences on the island. And I agreed.
Vrysoudia Bay – surprising, beautiful, majestic and teeming with life. It was our first taste of the underwater world of the eastern coast.
And it made me wonder. If this one tiny bay held so much life, what else is out there?
I can’t wait to find out.
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