Kiti–Mazotos (Careta / Softades Beach) & Pyla (CTO Beach)

Kiti–Mazotos (Careta / Softades Beach)Pyla (CTO Beach)

1. Kiti–Mazotos (Careta / Softades Beach)

   beginner ok

   Softades Beach in Kiti, south-west of Larnaca, is where most of the island's lessons happen: a dedicated kite beach on the Kiti-Mazotos coast, in use since 2008 and licensed for kitesurfing, though nobody has produced the licence text or a zone map.

   intermediateadvanced

   In seasonApr to Oct

   1. JanJ35
   2. FebF21
   3. MarM42
   4. Apr, riders' monthA35
   5. May, riders' monthM60
   6. Jun, riders' monthJ58
   7. Jul, riders' monthJ66
   8. Aug, riders' monthA85
   9. Sep, riders' monthS52
   10. Oct, riders' monthO19
   11. NovN25
   12. DecD16

   modelled: days with three hours in a row at 12 kt or more, between 06:00 and 19:00 local

   Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.

   Kiti–Mazotos (Careta / Softades Beach): the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Kiti–Mazotos (Careta / Softades Beach)

   The wind is a south-coast sea breeze on top of the Meltemi, SSW through W, building through the day and strongest in the afternoon; the season runs April or May to October and the summer months are the ones you can count on. The water is clear, with chop and small waves over sand and pebbles, shallow for roughly the first 15 m and then deep, so it is a forgiving beach rather than a standing lagoon. Booties help on the pebble launch. First lessons and progression both happen here through the schools on the beach, it is listed for expert riders too, and July and August are the busy months, with the King of Kite and Cyprus Championship events in summer. The Kiti-Pervolia Caretta stretch has loggerhead turtle nests; give the marked ones room. The naming is a mess: Softades, Careta or Caretta, Mazotos, Kiti-Mazotos all get used for overlapping bits of the same Larnaca coast, and taken together the Mazotos/Kiti beaches count among the stronger kite zones in Cyprus and the Mediterranean.

   Getting on the water

   Dedicated kitesurf beach on the Softades/Careta stretch of the Kiti-Mazotos coast, south-west of Larnaca. Softades is a village of a few dozen people 3 km west of Kiti, and the sand in front of it is called Careta or Caretta as often as Softades; Mazotos is the next stretch west. Kahuna, KiteMed and Windbandit launch from here, and the beach itself is unorganised apart from what the schools run.

   If it goes wrong

   No lifeguard covers this stretch, so rescue is whatever the schools have running that day. Ask which school is open and whether anyone has a boat on the water before you launch. Kahuna, KiteMed and Windbandit all operate from the Softades/Careta sand, and Windbandit is reportedly licensed through the Republic of Cyprus, the Cyprus Coast Guard and the safe-watersports scheme.

   Room to rig

   medium to ample depending on the exact school/launch area

   Rules and access

   2026: Softades is reportedly the only kitesurfing beach licensed under the Cyprus Republic Government, but no licence text, municipal rule or zone map has been published. Parts of the Cyprus coast are closed to kitesurfing over the summer bathing season, which is a large part of why every school sits on this one stretch: launch from the school area rather than from the swimming beaches either side. Schools here hold Republic of Cyprus, coast guard and safe-watersports licences. Loggerhead nests on the Kiti-Pervolia Caretta stretch are marked in season and must be left alone.

   Everything on Kiti–Mazotos (Careta / Softades Beach)

2. 

   Pyla (CTO Beach)

   beginner ok

   CTO Beach is the long sandy beach in the middle of Larnaca Bay off Dhekelia Road, 20 minutes from the airport, with Vulcan Surf Club (school, rental, rescue, showers, toilets, parking) working off the sand.

   intermediateadvancedmedium rigging room

   In seasonApr to Oct

   1. JanJ31
   2. FebF19
   3. MarM35
   4. Apr, riders' monthA25
   5. May, riders' monthM47
   6. Jun, riders' monthJ43
   7. Jul, riders' monthJ52
   8. Aug, riders' monthA69
   9. Sep, riders' monthS45
   10. Oct, riders' monthO16
   11. NovN22
   12. DecD11

   modelled: days with three hours in a row at 12 kt or more, between 06:00 and 19:00 local

   Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.

   Pyla (CTO Beach): the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Pyla (CTO Beach)

   The wind builds through the day: afternoons run 4-5 Bft, occasionally 6 Bft, side-onshore from the SW, and an easterly comes in side-shore. How often that happens is the honest problem. Older guide figures give 50%+ wind probability from April to October with a midsummer peak, while model statistics put kiteable days at about 2% year-round, and nothing reconciles the two. Water is shallow near the shore and tide-independent, 28 C in summer and 18 C in winter, so shorts in summer and a full suit in winter. Hazards are urban ones: swimmers, boats in the bay, breakwaters, not much downwind room; July and August are the swimmer months, and reportedly windsurfers outnumber kiters in summer. Treat it as a lesson beach and a Larnaca backup; if it is light or crowded, Softades at Kiti is the dedicated kite beach. The beach sits inside the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, British territory, and whether that changes any access rule is unconfirmed.

   Getting on the water

   Large sandy CTO beach in the middle of Larnaca Bay by Dhekelia Road, with Vulcan Surf Club's Larnaca base at GPS 34.979, 33.7008.

   If it goes wrong

   Rescue is advertised as a spot feature. Confirm current cover with Vulcan before you go out.

   Everything on Pyla (CTO Beach)

• Larnaca International Airport (LCA) about 15-20 minutes from Kiti/Mazotos and roughly 15 km / 20 minutes from Pyla's CTO Beach

Kite bag rules for your airline

Type the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.

Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →

1. Lessons sit at €40-50 an hour, a full set rents for €50-90 a day and a beginner course lands between €250 and €350; renting without an instructor normally means producing a certification card.

   consensus×4 riders

2. The Kiti-Softades strip is run as kite-only water, so what you watch out for is other kites rather than rocks, shorebreak or current.

   consensus×3 riders

3. The wind is thermal and arrives with the afternoon; mornings are usually still and the session runs from roughly midday to sunset.

   consensus×3 riders

4. May to October is the window everyone books; outside it there is still wind but it swings easterly, comes less often and blows gustier.

   consensus×3 riders

5. What people write about afterwards is the teaching and the crew, instructor by instructor, far more than the conditions.

   consensus×3 riders

6. In summer the developed beach on the Dhekelia side is windsurf and swimmer water; kiters use it more out of season and head for the licensed beaches west of the airport in high season.

   majority×2 riders

7. The shallow water has an edge to it: the bottom drops away about fifteen metres out, so the wade-out reputation only covers a strip.

   contested×2 riders

• Larnaca sits atop the ancient city-kingdom of Kition, founded around the 13th century BC; the modern name is thought to come from the Greek larnax ('coffer' or 'sarcophagus'), after the many ancient sarcophagi found in the area.
• Pyla, the village behind CTO Beach's access road, is the only settlement on Cyprus where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots still live side by side, inside the UN buffer zone.

What we could not settle. Ride here? These are the gaps worth filling.

• Is 'Kiti–Mazotos (Careta / Softades Beach) & Pyla (CTO Beach)' the name riders actually use for this area?
• Current day-rate lesson/rental pricing at Kiti-area schools (only multi-day camp packages were found)
• Whether independent (non-club) kite launching is freely permitted at Softades/Careta beach or is effectively school-run in practice