textile-less freedom on Aphrodite's island
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The Golden Beach
Sand, Sand and Sand
The Golden Beach (other names:Altınkum plaj, Chrysí Actí, Pashi Amos or Nangomi) is a wide natural sand beach at tip of the Karpaz peninsular; in total about four kilometers long.
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The Golden Beach is, along with other sand beaches in Karpaz, an important nesting area for sea turtles. Camping on the Golden Beach and elsewhere in the protection zone of the nature park Karpass is forbidden. Police is regularly checking at the main areas near the parking spaces at evening times.
Until 2017, there were two restaurants and a couple of wooden chalets for overnight stay directly in proximity of the beach. Following a court order, they were destroyed since they were illegally built. Nowadays, there are no facilities on the beach; also there is no sunshade; therefore we recommend taking your own umbrellas.
For many years, there used to be a large sign warning beachgoes of nude sunbathers; this sign is not anymore there, probably a collatoral damage when the illegal restaurants were turned down.
History
In the first years after the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in 1974 the Golden Beach and the tip of the Karpaz peninsular were under Turkish military control and access was restricted. After the unilateral independence declaration in 1983, the area became a natural park and protection was further strenghend in 1997 and 1998 TRNC Environment Law [5]
Access
The Golden Beach is located next to a coastal road that leads from the village of Rizokarpaso/Dipkarpaz to Apostolos Andreas Monastery and the tip of the peninsular. The beach is about 20 km from the village centre and 9 km from the monastery. The road is paved, however in bad condition with occasional potholes; the last hundred meters on the way to the parking space are unpaved. During the high season the Golden Beach has been one of the stops of a regular bus connection (Karpaz-Express)[7] which serves Kyrenia and several sights-seeing spots in the Karpaz area. This bus connection is currently discontinued, though. Tourist busses used to stop for one or two hours at the beach.