Cyprus / Ammochostos
Protaras
Protaras is a coastal resort area in Ammochostos, Cyprus. Its longest mapped beach (Vrissi Beach | Sunrise Beach) stretches about 842 m and has a sand surface. The sea averages 28.1 °C in August, its warmest month, and 16.6 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in June–November.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
The beach is tagged as supervised.
Services in the resort
- 124Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 11Public toilets
- –Showers
- 3Drinking water
- 51Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 58Hotels & guesthouses
- 3Grocery shops
- 4Water-sports spots
- 11Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
- 12Cash machines
- 1Bike rental
- 3Viewpoints
- 1Historic sites
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 77 restaurants, 10 cafés, 33 bars and 4 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 58 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Bathing water quality
The official EU bathing-water site “Protaras Bay”, 550 m from the beach centre, was rated Excellent for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 11 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Excellent
- 2016Excellent
- 2017Excellent
- 2018Excellent
- 2019Excellent
- 2020Excellent
- 2021Excellent
- 2022Excellent
- 2023Excellent
- 2024Excellent
- 2025Excellent
Source: European Environment Agency, EU Bathing Water Directive assessments · national site profile. Classes are based on four seasons of bacteriological sampling.
Month by month
October at Protaras
Beach-day index 9.4/10 · Cyprus median 9.4
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 17.1 °C | 16.6 °C | 17.0 °C | 18.2 °C | 20.9 °C | 24.4 °C | 27.1 °C | 28.1 °C | 27.3 °C | 25.3 °C | 22.2 °C | 19.1 °C |
| High °C | 16° | 16° | 17° | 20° | 24° | 28° | 30° | 31° | 29° | 26° | 21° | 18° |
| Low °C | 14° | 14° | 15° | 17° | 21° | 24° | 27° | 28° | 27° | 24° | 20° | 16° |
| Rain mm | 82 | 54 | 32 | 19 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 26 | 46 | 91 |
| Cloud % | 65 | 61 | 55 | 53 | 40 | 26 | 24 | 25 | 28 | 44 | 56 | 65 |
| Wind m/s | 5.3 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 5.2 |
| Daylight h | 10.0 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.5 | 11.4 | 10.4 | 9.8 |
| Record high/low | 20°/7° | 20°/6° | 22°/9° | 29°/12° | 31°/17° | 35°/20° | 37°/24° | 35°/26° | 35°/23° | 31°/16° | 26°/12° | 23°/8° |
| Beach index | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 8.2 | 9.7 | 9.8 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 7.1 | 3.9 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in June–October; July scores 9.8/10 with highs of 30 °C, sea at 27.1 °C and 1 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Cyprus in the same month.
At its warmest the water here is 0.4 °C warmer than the Cyprus median for August (27.7 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 21.9 °C, warmer than 69% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
December is the wettest month (91 mm) and July the driest (1 mm); the yearly total is about 390 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.8 hours in December to 14.5 hours in June; in mid-July the sun rises at 05:40 and sets at 19:58 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-east (50°). Open water fills about 31% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
At no time of year does the sun set over the sea here: sunset bearings run from 242° to 300°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in February–October.
Straight out to the north-east the next coast is roughly 200 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell. The beach is on an island of about 9,291 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 14 m deep and 78 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 43 m above sea level 500 m inland and 109 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 43% built-up land, 26% tree cover and 19% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 32% of that circle.
- Built 43%
- Tree 26%
- Grass 19%
- Crop 8%
- Bare 5%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larnaca International Airport Larnaca | LCA | 42.0 km | west |
| Ercan International Airport Tymbou (Kirklar) | ECN | 52.0 km | west |
| Paphos International Airport Paphos | PFO | 147 km | west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 11 bus stops within 1.5 km and 51 mapped car parks within 1 km.
3 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 36.8K residents); within 30 km there are 15 (about 146K).
Photos
From above
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Protaras LUNA PARK attraction 290 m SW
- Magic Dancing Waters Live Show attraction 620 m NW
Historic sites
- Léfkolla monument 550 m SE
Islands in view
- Νησίδα Παραλίας της Συκιάς 600 m E
Lighthouses & piers
- Watersports Pier pier 220 m NE
- Protaras Pier pier 750 m N
Diving & boat hire
- XS Watersports 220 m E
- Yerimos Motorbikes 370 m NW
- Stavros Water Sports 490 m E
- Ham-Yam Rentals 900 m SE
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protaras | – | 28.1 °C | 842 m | Sand |
| Nissi Beach | 8.2 km W | 27.5 °C | 593 m | Sand |
| Larnaca Beach | 41.1 km SW | 27.3 °C | 127 m | – |
- Nissi Beach8.2 km WCompare
- Larnaca Beach41.1 km SWCompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 13.9 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature r1201169; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2A_36SWD_20240417_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site CY0003101000000008).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 5.4K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.