Kantara Castle
The easternmost of the three crusader castles on the mountain range, and the one hardly anybody climbs. From the top you can see both coasts of the island at once.
İskele
Iskele
Twenty years ago this was farmland and fishing villages. Today it has the longest sand on the island, a wave of new projects, and behind it the Karpaz, which is still almost empty.
~40 kmOf coast from Boğaz out to the Karpaz
3Nesting turtle species on the peninsula
FastestGrowing property market in the country
The quiet end of the island
The Icon Museum
The church of Panagia Theotokos in Iskele keeps 12th century frescoes and a collection of icons. Small, cool and empty on most days.
The Karpaz peninsula
A long finger of land running north east, with the monastery of St Andreas at the tip, herds of free roaming donkeys, and some of the last undeveloped coastline in the Mediterranean.
What people come for
Long Beach
Kilometres of open sand with beach clubs at intervals and nothing behind them but new build. Shallow for a long way out, which makes it the easy choice with small children.
Golden Beach
Out at the end of the Karpaz, reached down a rough track, and worth every minute of it. Dunes, no buildings, and turtles nesting through the summer.
Boğaz harbour
A working fishing harbour with a row of fish restaurants along the quay. Boats come in during the afternoon and you eat what they brought.
What to order
Whatever the boat brought
At Boğaz the answer changes daily. Sea bream, sea bass, red mullet, grilled simply with lemon and a bowl of greens picked that morning.
Village halloumi
The Karpaz makes goat and sheep milk hellim in small quantities, saltier and firmer than the supermarket kind. Buy it at the roadside.
Carob molasses
Harnup pekmezi, boiled down from carob pods, is the island's oldest sweetener. Eaten with tahini on bread, and sold everywhere out here.
Life by the water
Built for the beach
Almost everything new here is within walking distance of sand, with pools, gyms and beach clubs attached. It is designed for holiday letting and it lets well.
Still the cheapest way in
Entry prices remain the lowest of the five regions, which is why most first time buyers on the island start here. Studios and one bedroom apartments dominate.
We are replacing the photography on this page with our own pictures of Long Beach, Boğaz and the Karpaz. The images here are illustrative in the meantime.
Buying in Iskele
The most new build, the lowest entry price and the strongest short term rental demand. If you are buying to let rather than to live, this is where the numbers work hardest.