Ayia Napa’s Sea Caves – we go on a trip to explore this magnificent network of caves and tunnels. And make a few surprising discoveries along the way.
We’ve been enjoying the sea a lot this month. There aren’t as many tourists and the water is a wonderful temperature after the hot summer. We decided to go further afield and visit the Ayia Napa Sea Caves. I love caves and tunnels and there’s something particularly special about sea caves. Is it because deep down I hope to find pirate treasure hidden inside? Possibly.
You can get to the sea caves one of two ways – on foot or by boat. We didn’t know how to get to them on foot until later and so we bought tickets aboard the Yellow Submarine. The Yellow Submarine lives up to its name, painted bright yellow with an underwater viewing area. For €10 for adults and €5 for children, it takes you on a 15-minute trip from Ayia Napa’s harbour to the caves. On board is a loo and you can buy snacks and drinks.
Goobie headed straight for the submarine section of the boat, Herc tearing after him. Goobie remembered the Yellow Submarine from a previous trip four years ago. This time he had a brother to share it with. It’s a steep climb down a ladder but once you reach the underwater area, you are bathed in aquamarine light. We sat on stools in front of circular windows.
We didn’t see many fish near the harbour. The visibility was poor from all the churned-up sand. But as the boat set off into deeper sea, the water cleared and we spotted shoals of fish. I recognised a cornetfish. The rest fell into categories of ‘big fish’, ‘small fish’, ‘silver fish’, ‘black fish’. Goobie and Herc were enthralled.
When we arrived at the sea caves, the skipper donned scuba gear and jumped into the sea with handfuls of bread. We watched from the submarine as fish flocked to him.
We climbed up onto the deck and looked out at the caves. In front of us was the massive gaping mouth of a huge sea cave. I couldn’t see to the back of it. Nearby, loads of smaller caves were begging to be explored.
The Yellow Submarine has inflatable rings and life jackets for children if you need them. Some of us climbed down a ladder into the sea, others bombed down a slide attached to the side of the boat. I put my snorkelling gear on and looked down through the clear water at all the fish.
The skipper called to everyone who wanted to go in the big cave to join him. And this was where Goobie lost his nerve. He’s a strong swimmer and the sea was flat. But that climb down the ladder into the sea freaked him out.
So we put Herc in his life jacket and Matt handed him down to me in the sea. Goobie will go anywhere if Herc’s there and, soon enough, he was in the sea with us. But Herc hates the life jacket. He’s a true water baby and any swimming aid offends him. Matt took him back to the boat while Goobie and I swam on to the big cave.
Goobie felt intimidated by the black chasm as it swallowed us up. It soared above us, stretching back, deep into the cliff. At the far end we climbed out of the sea onto the rocks. Goobie was fascinated by the rock pools and spotted big red anemones clinging to the sides.
The great thing about this cave is that you don’t have to swim back the way you came to get out. There’s a more fun route through a low archway half way along. We swam through this arch into a curving sea tunnel, a natural skylight high up near the tunnel roof. It felt a bit cathedral-like.
As we swam out, I spotted another tunnel leading into darkness to the right.
‘Let’s go down there!’
But Goobie was having none of it. His nerves had had enough and we swam back to the boat.
It was Matt’s turn in the sea. But time was limited and the small caves were too enticing. So I asked the woman who worked on the boat whether she would mind looking after Herc and Goobie for ten minutes. She happily agreed, telling me she often looks after the little ones.
I jumped in and swam after Matt into another cave.
This cave turned out to be a tunnel that curved round and reached a junction with a couple of other tunnels. One led to pitch darkness, the other was low and narrow and stretched into the distance. We swam down it, trying hard not to think about rock falls. It opened out into a small cave.
We swam back to the entrance and sat on the rocks, savouring two minutes without children hanging off us.
‘Ouch!’ Matt yelped. ‘Something pinched me!’
A crab scuttled off into the darkness.
The boat sounded its horn, ready for departure, and we reluctantly swam back. I looked over my shoulder at the caves we hadn’t had time to explore. Next time.
As the boat circled back in the direction of the harbour, it took us past the magnificent Love Bridge, formed naturally from the rock. We’d tried to find this from land before but never spotted it. It was hard to understand why when it was just in front of the Sculpture Park on the edge of town.
People were climbing on the bridge and, most excitingly, I saw that the bridge offered a way to more sea caves by foot. Maybe we wouldn’t always have to rely on a boat to take us to the caves.
The Yellow Submarine dropped us off at Ayia Napa harbour, we had lunch in one of the harbour restaurants then jumped in the car and headed off to find the Love Bridge. I was determined to find it on foot.
To get to it, head out of town in the direction of Cape Greco. Drive past the Grecian Sands hotel. In front you’ll see the Sculpture Park. To the right by the sea is a small car park with an ice cream van in it. We parked there and headed towards the edge of the cliff. And I realised immediately why I hadn’t found the Love Bridge earlier.
In front of us was a sign warning that the cliff was unstable and not to go any further. In the past I’d obeyed this sign. Ha! To see the bridge you have to walk past this sign, towards the edge and look down.
And there it was.
Goobie and I climbed over to it. A word of caution here. The sign is right, the cliff is dangerous. There are fissures you could fall down and the rocks are sharp. If you decide to take the risk, wear sea shoes. We didn’t and I scraped up my feet.
The climb down the bridge to the rocky island the other side is steep and you have to take extra care. Fall and you land on sharp rocks.
The cove behind the bridge had a couple of big caves. I swam over to one but couldn’t explore far. Not only were the rocks sharp, algae made them very slippery. I nearly fell a few times. If only I had my sea shoes!
Goobie jumped in and swam under the bridge and half way round the little island. Soon he was back.
‘I’m not swimming round there again!’ he said. ‘I came face-to-face with a jellyfish!’
‘Really?!’ I said skeptically. ‘Are you sure it wasn’t a plastic bag?’
‘It had tentacles, Mummy,’ he said condescendingly.
I jumped in and swam round to find it. I should never doubt Goobie’s knowledge of marine life. He’s obsessed by it.
There in front of me was a perfectly beautiful moon jellyfish, bobbing serenely in the sea. I have never seen a jellyfish in the wild. Magical.
We returned back home, buzzing after a fabulous day in the sea.
Wear sea shoes.
Bring your own life jacket if you have toddlers. I wasn’t convinced by the inflatable ones, though they seemed fine on older children.
Bring a waterproof camera and figure out how to dry the lens when you are in the caves so that you don’t have water drops ruining your photos. Then tell me how.
Go in the morning when the sea is calmer.
Go late summer when the sea is warm and it’s less crowded.
Don’t go near jellyfish. They can sting.
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