Last Updated on March 5, 2023
Coral Bay is home to a couple of the nicest beaches in the Paphos District in Cyprus. It’s approximately 25 minutes away with direct buses leaving Paphos Harbour every 10 minutes. There are two main Coral Bay beaches: Coral Bay Beach and Laourou Beach (also known as Corallia Beach). Both Coral Bay beaches are considered ‘Blue Flag Beaches’, which means they meet a high level of environmental, safety and accessibility criteria. Here is a guide to the facilities and things to do near to the beaches!
Coral Bay Beaches
During the summer, the sea temperature around Coral Bay reaches 27c, however during the winter months, it drops to 15c. Although people do swim year round, a wetsuit may be more comfortable during the colder months.
Coral Bay Beach
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The largest beach in Coral Bay is Coral Bay Beach. It’s 600ft long with dark sand and plenty of facilities nearby. It’s also the closest beach to the main town area, roughly a 10 minute walk from the main street with all the restaurants, cafes and shops. Alternatively, there is a bus stop right next to it and a large free parking area.
The beach sits a little lower down from the main road, so there is a bit of a slope to get to the sand.
A lifeguard is on duty at the beach between April and November, from 7am until 6pm – 8pm depending on the season. Although there is no lifeguard on duty in the winter, people do still swim in the low season. Common sense is needed during these times though, as the sea can get a little rough around Cyprus in the winter.
During the summer, there are also rentals available at Coral Bay Beach. A ‘package’ of 2 sun beds and 1 umbrella is €7.50. Additional sun beds are €2.50 each. Even though a large portion of the beach is used for these rentals, there are areas where there is space just to lay down a towel.
Facilities at Coral Bay Beach
There is a cafe/takeaway kiosk at either end of the beach. Coral Bay West Bar has a selection of drinks and snacks on offer. Coffees from €3.50, soft drinks are €2 and cocktails from €8. This is quite expensive for cocktails, compared to other bars in the area that charge around 6.50 euros. But then you are paying for the convenience of it being right at the beach.
During the winter the kiosk is closed so I went to Second Cup for a drink and Da Vinci’s for a crepe with gelato (they have a huge selection of flavours, well worth a visit!). Both offer takeaway options.
Connected to the kiosk are public toilets and showers. The toilets were free but there is a €1 charge to use the showers. It’s a coin operated box where the pay slot corresponds to a shower number. I didn’t use them but my guess is that they are also timed. They also ONLY accept €1 coins.
There is however a free foot washing tap next to the beach, if you did need something just to rinse off. I appreciated the public toilets being open in the winter, even when the kiosk was closed and the foot tap did the job fine.
Coral Bay Watersports offers a whole range of rentals and activities, from pedal boats with slides, various forms of paragliding, fly boarding and banana boats and more. They close for the season at the end of November and reopen April/May.
Laourou Beach (Corallia Beach)
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A 15 minute walk from Coral Bay Beach (and 25 minutes from the main town area) is Laourou Beach. It is much smaller than Coral Bay Beach, but in my opinion I think it was the nicer out of the two. The sand was whiter, the sea looked bluer/clearer and it was surrounded by rocks which creates a break wall, making the water calmer for snorkelling or if visiting with younger children.
HOWEVER, it is a much smaller beach area. Visiting in winter, the sun beds and umbrellas had been removed for the off season but the umbrella poles still remained. Without renting the sun beds with an umbrella (same price as Coral Bay Beach), there’s not a whole lot of room left over to lay down a towel.
From reading reviews online, the beds also fill up very fast in the summer, so it’s best to arrive early. People have also said that even if you arrive late afternoon they will charge you a full day’s rental fee. So even with empty sun loungers, you may still struggle to find a place to sit.
Between June until August a lifeguard is on duty from 6.30am until 8pm. There is a hotel right next to the beach which may be the reason for these longer hours?
Facilities at Laourou Beach
Laourou Beach is also a lot further from other facilities. The Arapis Coral Bay Restaurant has a range of ‘sit down’ meals (rather than takeaways). Unless you want to pay ‘beach prices’, it may be worth stocking up with snacks and drinks from one of the supermarkets in town. There are public toilets (open in winter, even when the restaurant isn’t) and a foot wash tap.
The other side of Arapis Coral Bay Restaurant, there is a smaller cove, just before you reach a mini harbour area, but this beach wasn’t as nice. It was more stoney and a bit of a seaweed trap.
If you carry on along the boardwalk, past the harbour, there’s another 300m stretch of beach that’s similar (stoney with seaweed). Unfortunately this section of the beach is private. It is part of the Coral Beach Hotel & Resort (along with the Olympic swimming pool, that used to be the training location for the British Olympic swimming team).
As I was travelling out of season, the car park area was closed up too (potentially it’s open when the restaurant is open?), so Coral Bay Beach may be a better option if travelling with a car. Bus 615 stops at the top of the car park entrance and then there was a boardwalk with steps leading down to the beach.
Coral Bay Beachfront Hotels & Resorts
Corallia Beach Hotel & Apartments, Coral Beach Hotel & Resort and Panareti Coral Bay Resort are large hotels located next to Laourou Beach. Other than a few villa rentals, there are no large hotels near Coral Bay Beach. Ascos Coral Beach Hotel is said to be ‘beachfront’, however it’s on a private stretch of shingle and rock beach on the far side of the town.
I stumbled onto this section of beach while trying to walk from Kissonerga to Coral Bay and it’s not a beach I would personally choose for swimming or relaxing on (see image below). If staying in this area, I would recommend walking to Coral Bay Beach instead.
Getting To Coral Bay By Bus
As mentioned, both Coral Bay Beach and Laourou Beach have their own bus stops (Laourou Beach is the ‘Olympic Swimming Pool’ stop). Bus route 615 goes from Paphos Harbour to Coral Bay (as far as the swimming pool) and takes between 25 to 35 minutes. A single ticket is €1.50 and can be purchased from the driver.
The bus also passes through the village of Kissonerga. Potima Bay is a large stoney beach and here you’ll find the popular ‘Sea You Beach Bar’ which has sun bed rentals, food, drinks and sometimes live music. The sea in this area can be dangerous for swimming though and is prone to rip currents. If you walk along the 2km coast path (away from Coral Bay, heading back towards Paphos), there are a couple of protected swimming areas with ladder/step access into the water.
There are also several beaches in Paphos within walking distance of the main tourist area/harbour. You can find a full guide here: Best Beaches in Paphos Cyprus Within WALKING DISTANCE | Kato Paphos
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