Ayia Napa Lazy Day Cruise: Sea Caves and Swim Stops

An Ayia Napa lazy day cruise spends a slow day on the water: the boat follows the Cyprus coast east of the resort while passengers swim, eat lunch and watch the cliffs go by. Travellers planning other days out can browse more tours in Greece from the home page.

The sections below start with the inclusions and the route, then follow the coast past the sea caves and Cape Greco, the Blue Lagoon swim stop, Crow’s Arch with the Agioi Anargyroi chapel, Protaras, the view of Famagusta and Konnos Bay, and end with the questions travellers ask.

What does an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise include?

In one traveller’s account, an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise mixes coast sightseeing with two swim stops. Lunch comes on the boat itself, and the pace is relaxed. The same review lists snorkelling gear and sun mats on the deck.

The title of the tour names Turtle Cove, the Blue Lagoon and lunch. The reviewer lists the use of snorkelling equipment as included and notes that lunch is included too. Each stop came with a clear explanation, and the stories behind Cape Greco and Famagusta gave the views more context.

The review adds that guests can choose different dietary options, including vegetarian and vegan meals. A bar on board sells drinks through the day. That suits a cold drink between stops on an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise.

The reviewer found the swim stops well timed. There was time to enjoy the water instead of rushing in and out. The boat also never felt overcrowded, and there was room to pick a sunny or shaded spot. Those remarks describe one boat on one day, so they are an opinion, not a promise.

One booking portal lists boat trips and cruises from Ayia Napa and Protaras. The portal also lists submarines, catamarans, sunset cruises, private cruises, megayachts, party cruises and chilled out day trips. The reviewer calls an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise a balance between sightseeing and relaxation. The review is written for solo travellers, couples and families.

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What is the route of an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise?

One operator’s Ayia Napa lazy day cruise makes eight stops. The sea caves come first and Konnos Bay comes last. Two of the eight are swim stops, and the rest are for looking and for lunch.

The south coast of Cyprus ends in the east at the resort of Ayia Napa. Between Ayia Napa and Protaras lies Cape Greco. An Ayia Napa lazy day cruise of this kind visits the cape and Protaras.

  • Sea caves: the first stop, where the boat changed position for different photo angles.
  • Cape Greco: the boat sailed around the cape to see it from different vantage points.
  • Blue Lagoon: the first swim stop.
  • Crow’s Arch: a quick photo stop at a natural rock bridge.
  • Agioi Anargyroi chapel: the next photo stop.
  • Protaras: the boat passed the resort while lunch was served.
  • Famagusta: a stop to look at the town from the water.
  • Konnos Bay: the second and last swim stop.

The route mixes two kinds of stop on an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise: looking stops and swimming stops. The caves, the cape, the arch, the chapel and Famagusta are for looking from the deck. Konnos Bay and the Blue Lagoon host the swims.

The reviewer boarded around 9 in the morning, and the boat headed out around 10. The reviewer took the cruise in October and still found the weather warm enough for swimming. These are one traveller’s remarks about one day, not rules for every sailing.

The day ends with the sail back to Ayia Napa after the swim at Konnos Bay. The tour’s title also names Turtle Cove, which the review does not list as a separate stop. Another operator can run a different route. Read the stop list in the listing for your own Ayia Napa lazy day cruise.

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What can you see at the Ayia Napa sea caves and Cape Greco?

On one operator’s Ayia Napa lazy day cruise, the sea caves come first. Nature carved them into limestone cliffs on the seaside edge of Cape Greco National Forest Park. People also call them the fairy caves, or sometimes the Palaces. The cape itself juts out between the resort towns of Ayia Napa and Protaras.

One travel blog saw impressive rock formations and azure water at the caves during an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise. The blogger’s boat changed position a couple of times for different photo angles. Another source, a travel wiki, places the caves beneath a cliff in a small bay. It says boat trips are offered to them.

Cape Greco closes Famagusta Bay in the south and belongs to Ayia Napa Municipality. Tourists visit the cape for its natural environment. No place in the part of Cyprus run by the Republic lies further east. One blog describes cruising around the cape on an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise, with views from different vantage points.

Its ancient name was Cape Pedalion. Above it rises a trapezoidal hill that Strabo, in his Geography, calls sacred to Aphrodite. Local legend says the “Ayia Napa sea monster” lives here too. An Ayia Napa lazy day cruise passes a coast with a long story behind it.

The Forestry Department, under Cyprus’s Ministry of the Interior, runs Cape Greco as a National Forest Park. Raptors migrate through here, among them honey buzzards, pallid harriers, red-footed falcons and common kestrels. A travel wiki calls the peninsula wild and undeveloped, with dramatic cliffs and sea caves. An Ayia Napa lazy day cruise views that coast from the water.

Ayia Napa lazy day cruise: swimmers spread across clear turquoise water below pale limestone sea cliffs with dark cave openings, a hotel garden with palm trees on the clifftop and a deep blue sky

What is the Blue Lagoon swimming stop?

The Blue Lagoon is the first swim stop on the Ayia Napa lazy day cruise that one blog describes. The blogger loved swimming there in the clear blue water. The blog adds that daring swimmers can jump from the top deck.

The blog lists the stop right after Cape Greco, so the caves and the cape come before the swim. Tour titles for an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise also name the Blue Lagoon, next to Turtle Cove and lunch. This order comes from one blog, so check the stop list of the tour you pick.

The blog calls the water at the Blue Lagoon calm and crystal clear. It says the relaxed schedule made it easy to swim, snorkel or jump. The writers also felt no rush in the water. Another Ayia Napa lazy day cruise can feel different, since these are one traveller’s words about one day.

Cyprus has more than one place called Blue Lagoon. The island’s tourism site lists a Blue Lagoon dive site at Latchi, in the Paphos district. Ayia Napa is in a different district, Famagusta, so the two lagoons are not the same place. Keep them apart when you search for an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise.

The jump from the top deck is the blogger’s remark about one boat. It is not a rule of every cruise, so ask the crew first. A travel wiki says it is possible to enter the water and swim to the cave entrances. It also mentions jumpers at the eastern part of the cliff, where the water is deep enough.

What are Crow’s Arch and the Agioi Anargyroi chapel?

On an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise, Crow’s Arch and the Agioi Anargyroi chapel are quick photo stops. Both stand on the Cape Greco coast. The arch is a natural rock bridge, and the chapel is a small whitewashed church above a sea cave.

Crow’s Arch has a local name, Kamara tou Koraka. One travel site also lists it as the Sin Bridge. The waves wore away the cliff face, and that erosion left a natural bridge of rock. The same site places the arch on the way to the chapel.

You cannot walk out on the arch. One travel site warns visitors not to cross it and says it is fenced off for safety. One blog says rock erosion has made it unreachable by land. On an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise, the boat gives the photo from the water instead.

One travel article says the arch makes a frame for photographs. It adds that the shot is strongest while the sea is calm and the light is soft. On that blog’s route, the chapel on the cliff follows the arch.

The Agioi Anargyroi chapel is a recognisable landmark of Cape Greco. One blog counts it among the stops of an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise. One travel article describes it as small and whitewashed. The blog says it stands in a secluded spot on a rocky cliff, above a sea cave.

The same article mentions a popular diving site beneath the chapel. So the sea below the building is known to divers. On an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise, you see the chapel from the water, just as you see the arch.

What do you pass at Protaras, Famagusta and Konnos Bay?

An Ayia Napa lazy day cruise passes Protaras and shows the ghost town of Famagusta from the sea. One operator ends the day with a swim at Konnos Bay, a sheltered cove between Protaras and Cape Greco.

Paralimni is the municipality that runs Protaras. Both lie in the Famagusta District. Fig Tree Bay is the beach it is known for. One blog says its Ayia Napa lazy day cruise sails past Protaras and its beaches, such as Green Bay Beach.

Protaras is calmer than its neighbour Ayia Napa, with fewer clubs. It has a name for catering to families and Cypriot holidaymakers. Green Bay, in Protaras, is a popular dive site with underwater statues. From the boat, an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise shows you that calmer coast.

Famagusta lies on the east coast of Cyprus, and an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise shows it from the water. Before nineteen seventy-four, its Varosha quarter was the modern tourist area of the city. In that year the Greek Cypriot residents fled, and the Turkish army fenced the quarter off. Parts of Varosha have reopened since.

One blog says the boat cannot go closer, because Famagusta lies in Northern Cyprus. A reference page places Famagusta city and the larger part of its district under the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. So an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise offers only a view from a distance.

Konnos Bay is the second swim stop on one operator’s Ayia Napa lazy day cruise route. A beach site calls it a sheltered limestone cove with golden-white sand and calm, shallow water. It says limestone formations frame the shoreline, and the clear water suits snorkelling.

On land, the road down to Konnos Bay is steep and winding, with stairs to the sand. A swim from the boat skips both. Another site puts the bay at the border of Ayia Napa and Paralimni. On that route, the bay is the last stop.

What else do travellers ask about an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise?

What kind of island is Cyprus?

An Ayia Napa lazy day cruise sails along the coast of Cyprus. Cyprus is a country that is also an island, close to the Levant mainland in West Asia. It ranks third for both size and population among Mediterranean islands. In total it covers 9,251 square kilometres.

The two official languages are Greek and Turkish. English is not official, yet people speak it widely. The capital and largest city is Nicosia.

Can you see sea turtles on an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise?

Cyprus’ shores host breeding green sea turtles and loggerheads. A turtle on an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise is a bonus, never a promise. A green turtle female crawls out onto a beach, digs a nest and lays eggs during the night. A loggerhead female makes brief trips onto the beach to lay her eggs.

Green turtles of the Mediterranean carry a critically endangered listing. Loggerheads also nest along the coasts of Cyprus and Turkey, next to the Greek coast.

Which Ayia Napa beaches hold a blue flag, and what is Nissi Beach?

One portal states that Ayia Napa has 14 blue flag beaches. At Nissi Beach, the water is clean enough for the beach to have won the blue flag designation. The beach stretches for 500 metres. From the central square of the resort, it is about 4 kilometres away.

The beach is named after the small islet of Nissi, close to the coast. Nobody lives on the islet, and a walk through the shallows leads there. Water-skiing and windsurfing are available. For a swim without a boat, Nissi Beach is a land alternative to an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise.

Which sight in town pairs with an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise?

In the middle of town, next to the square, you find the Ayia Napa Monastery. It is a Venetian-era monastery, and the resort takes its name from it. In Greek, ayia translates as holy, and napa, an old word, means a wooded valley or dell.

Parts of the walls go back to the Middle Byzantine era, and these are the oldest sections. The majority of the buildings date from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. A museum now sits inside the monastery.

What is the Ayia Napa Marina?

The resort added a new marina to its facilities. When its foundation stone was laid, the Ayia Napa Marina was the largest private project in Cyprus.

The Mermaid of Ayia Napa, which has two tails, is a sculpture at the harbour of the resort. These are facts about the town; they do not say where an Ayia Napa lazy day cruise boards.

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