Thursday, June 28, 2018

Cyprus, Part Six - Coral Bay

On our last day in Cyprus, it was unanimous...we had to hit the beach one last time!


Pete's ready to go even though he is still in his pajamas. 

Peter requested a sandy beach, but none of us had the appetite for the four hour round trip drive back to Ayia Napa. Fortunately, after a little research, we learned there was a sandy beach just west of Paphos, about 45 minutes away, Coral Bay.



Even though there was a lot of seaweed in the surf, Coral Bay ended up being my favorite beach and my favorite day at the beach.

The stretch of surf directly in front of our beach chairs was especially crowded with a long line of seaweed, but we discovered if we walked a few yards to the right, the seaweed cleared up. The wind had kicked up that day. The weather forecast rain, but fortunately the forecast did not hold. The wind churned up the sea, and we saw the biggest waves of our five days in Cyprus; perfect for body-surfing.

I indoctrinated Peter to body-surfing by first sacrificing my own body to act as his surfboard. He grasped my shoulders and rode on my back as we caught small waves and rode them to shore. Then, I did the same for Clementine.

All three of them were fearless in the surf, as my brothers and I were in Florida at their age. I think the greatest joy of the whole trip was just watching them play together in the ocean. The following morning when I woke, knowing we would have to board the plane and fly back to Amman, leaving the beach for the time being, I was sad to leave. Not because I didn't want to go back to Jordan and not because I was particularly sad to leave Cyprus, but I wanted to keep watching them play, perhaps freeze them, in a way, at the age, on that beach, in that blue water. As in the photo above, completely carefree and full of joy.




We also stopped at one winery -- though we wished we had seen more -- and explored the small village of Omodos. We also took in a few of the early rounds of the World Cup, cheering on our home team, Brazil.  

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