Agia Napa

Introducing Agia Napa

Ask Cypriots about Agia Napa and they’ll all tell you the same thing: ‘Before 1974, this was a tiny fishing village, with two houses, a monastery and some fishermen. Look at it now!’ Look at it now, indeed. The village started its new life as a tourist resort after the 1974 division, when Famagusta’s Varosia (Maraş) beach strip and resort were locked behind barbed wire and oil barrels. Now infamous as the debauched tourist’s heaven, Agia Napa shoulders the mantle of Cyprus’ top sun-and-fun tourist resort. An entire little town has been made for (package) tourists, and a lot of it is, frankly, horrific. There are bars that look like dodgy sandcastles, and the Flintstones’ cave bar that greets you with (if you cringe easily, look away now) a ‘Yabba Napa Doo!’. There are pubs with names like the, ahem, ‘Organ Grinder’. Tourists wander about in bikinis, sleep their hangovers off on the beach, and go at it again at night. But such is life in Agia Napa, and there are plenty who love it and large it.

If you arrive in high season (mid-July to mid-August), it will be hard to find accommodation. While hoteliers are more used to package-tour visitors, most places will cater for individuals if a room is available.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009