No place is ever 100% safe, but Cyprus is about as safe as it gets. I have heard of no cases of muggings or other assaults on the coastal path - and news would soon spread around if there were.

The path is now very well lit, and there will certainly be people on it at "closing time". You always have the alternative of the main road link, but to be honest it is no more or less safe.

Crime is notoriously low in Cyprus - some crimes have increased recently, but these are mainly house burglaries (and usually only cash is taken). Personal attacks are very very rare.

I would say don't worry - and once you've done the walk back for the first time you'll feel much more confident.

Don't forget there is some entertainment in the bars in Pernera as well

Thanks BB....thats made me feel alot better now and like you said im sure once i've been along it once i will wonder what all the worry was about and yes hopefully we'll take a liking to somewhere in Pernera making the walk home alot shorter!

BBG, we walked along there regularly last year at midnight and there was loadsof people about, young and old going in both directions, so very safe.
If you pop along during the day, make sure you stop off at Zaffiros, they do lovely banana pancakes

Thats great to know - thankyou!

I have heard Zaffiros mentioned somewhere before (can't remember where now) but it had a great review then too, so now you've told me about these banana pancakes well will be rude to just walk by without trying one (or two)!!!

Thanks!

Hi Bostonbadgirl, We were a big fan of Zaffiros last summer and visited most days for lunch. The quality of food is great ( try the moussaka!!) and the prices were far cheaper than most. I think a pint of Leon was 2 or 2.5 euros. Its all set in a big garden overlooking the sea and they have huge fans to cool you down when its hot. The coastal path is great to walk along, you'll have great time! Don't forget to try the Zodiac Karoake bar at night, our kids love it in there!

Cheers DaveTracey!

Cheap food and cheap beer - sounds like we will be in there lots then!

Haven't heard of Zodiacs karaoke bar, but i'll certainly look out for it. Still wondering which bars to try, so think the first few nights will be walking up and down and just spending 5 mins having a look in until hopefully we decide which take our fancy! I love listening to karaoke so when i find it we'll pop in.

What kind of stuff do the shops sell? Any fakes at all (eg: clothing, movies, watches etc???).

Thank you - Malita & Keegan! (1 week tomorrow.....woooo hoooo)!!!

rockafellas is my favourite bar, roll on september

Not sure if it would interest you but you could also take your son bowling.

There is a bar called Bowland on the main Protaras strip which has 3 lanes of bowling.

It is upstairs also so the terrace has great views over the med.

Yes think we've seen pics of that Cardifflad! He's already asked me to take him

Do you know much about this KATAKLISMOS flood festival on Protaras beach at all? This years is apparantly on Sunday night (which is when we arrive). We were going to have a stroll into Pernera the first night (as we don't arrive at hotel until about 8pm) but now i've seen the festival advertised i don't know whether to go have a look, or whether it will be more for the locals? There is also a firework display after too which would be nice to see........
Thanks again....

There's some info here about the festival:-

http://www.visitprotaras.com/erracms/pages/out-about.aspx?articleid=46&zoneid=15

Hi BBG,

Update from Cyprus for you.

Kataklysmos is a very wet festival! Expect water balloons!

The Point in Pernera doesn't seem to be an all you can eat place anymore, but there's a mexican and a chinese all you can eat right next to each other in Protaras. About 10 euros each.

When you get the bus the tickets have money off vouchers on the back for the waterpark and the go carting - 2 euros off per person.

Finally for now, if you have a tv in your room, be careful of leaving your son unattended with it - after midninght one of the free channels become a completely uncensored adult channel! I had to check two nights running to make sure - hope you appreciate my efforts!

Finally - have a great holiday - prices are not much higher this year, but I'll log on here next week if you have any problems I can help with.

Richie

Thanks Glynis - yes thats the website i saw it on! Just wondered really if anyone had any extra info on it....BUT....thanks to Richie i now know to expect lots of water, so actually might give it a miss or at least observe from a distance, lol (remember getting caught up in the middle of a local festival in Spain years ago and they too had unbelievable water fights and fire crackers going off, etc and it was totally crazy, felt like we shouldn't have even gone to look really because we were the only Brits i could see - everyone there was Spanish!)

Great to know about the Mexican and Chinese! 10 Euro's still a bit pricey to us, but seems Cyprus is overall, so i guess not too bad in comparison and will definately be going to them both!

We haven't got a tv in our room thankfully - but thankyou for your help and time in checking out the channels

Thats good about the 2 Euro off vouchers because i downloaded a 3 and 2 Euro voucher off the waterworld website but printer is now broke so didn't get to print them out!

Can i ask, roughly how much does a meze cost, and would you eat one lot for one person or can they be shared for 2 people???

Thanks again for all your help! Suit cases downstairs and waiting to go now 3 days to go...Yippppeee!

I dont know resort price for meze's but I would guess 30-35 euro's.

They are normally for two or more people but now and then you can order a meze for one.

They normally consist of about 20-25 courses if you have a proper meze.

3 day to go I see.

I will see you waving from the Platomare very soon, and dont get jealous of our 4 pools lol.

Mezes are always for 2 or more people. Around Protaras you can get them for around 13 euros each - again, explore and search out the bargains. Some places do smaller mezes of around 13 dishes, but I'd go the whole hog and have the 20+ version.

Worth noting that Protaras is generally cheaper that Pernera for food and drinks.

Pernera is still pretty quiet, but Protaras seemed busy the other night. Plenty of entertainment - we found a guitar and vocal duo doing rock music - very good.

Its still quite cool at night, so I don't recommend you buying air conditioning at your hotel. Its expensive too - ours charge 6 euros per unit per day, which would cost around 200 euros. Just have a window open at night, but get a mosquito repellent. The best ones are the plug in ones. Mosquito bites can be quite unpleasant if you react badly to them, so a plug in at night and a good spray when you go out should suffice.

Also - the all you can eat chinese in Protaras is only 5 euros for under 14;s - the mexican may be too. I can't recommend strongly enough doing a full search around the srip to seek out the bargains - it really will save you shedloads.

Well - thats it - you'll be here tomorrow, just relax and enjoy your holiday. I really think you'll love Cyprus and you've researched it well which will be a massive help. If you have any problems just log on here and I'll try to help, and you have Cardiff lad around the corner who i know will always be helpful.

ALl the best,

Richie

Have a good time BBG only 8 more sleeps for us now

Thanks Groovychick (the last week will fly by for you also im sure

Cardiff Lad your pools do look nice and i might even be tempted to pay them a visit!

And thanks again Richie! We should be just on our way to Birmingham airport in 12 hours from now, and should have not long arrived at our hotel in 24 hours time. So excited now! Yes we will be walking up and down loads for the first couple of days and eyeing up the prices of everywhere. Im glad you said the mezes were about 13 euro's because thats what my friend said they roughly were in Paphos - can't wait to try some! We never pay for the air conditioning anyway. We do what you said and open the balcony doors with the curtains across to stop any mozzies, etc (although luckily we never seem to get bitten by them) but we do have some spray with us too just in case!

Well thanks again all, and next time i log in i should hopefully be there!

Never been bitten by mozzies since 2004 coming in Sept, August and April... this year spent 10 days in May (7th to 18th) and didn't get bitten until about second to last day... had been all over including the Strawberry festival without any sort of cream or spray.... but about 2nd to last day got one bite on my shin... and later noticed another on my finger.... that was it.... then got home to the UK and another appeared on the same finger on the otherside ??... and then a bit later one on my knee (same leg as shin)... then by the end of the day another 2 on my ankle????.... do they take a long time to show up and react ???..... did we bring one back ???..... do you get bit a lot and nothing happens then one day you start to react and they all come up ???

Steve

I never get bitten...except for last year. We were having our wedding pics taken in the sunset at Cape Greko and I forgot to put protection on, had two bites on each arm in exactly the same place, very weird.

well guys im here now! arrived at 8.00pm last night and so far loving it! best place we've been to so far!

weather scorching hot with a lovely warm breeze. food is quite expensive but we'll be ok. hotel is gorgeous and we have the best room out of the whole hotel as we have a sea and pool view also a view towards Protaras (as we have the only front/corner room)

in Bowland at the moment, just about to go over to Bells for a beer and watch the England game!! bye for now folks!

Malita n Keegan!!!