Paphos Warnings Or Dangers

The island, lying in the east of the Mediterranean, is a hugely popular destination and attracts thousands of UK holidaymakers each summer.

Cyprus is in the grip of a heatwave with temperatures in places reaching a searing 43 degrees Celsius. Visitors are advised to take precautions against the extreme heat by drinking plenty of water to avoid dehydration, the main cause of heat exhaustion.

Don't stay in the sun for longer than one hour, especially not between midday and 4 pm.

Maintaining roads and pavements does not take as high a priority in Cyprus (or other countries) as in the UK. That's ok by me, but it's worth being aware of the fact that there will be potholes in the roads, and paving slabs missing, and new paving left unfinished, andkerbstones set awry, and slippery marble slabs set in front of shops.

If you are not particularly steady on your feet (or even if you are) you do need to keep an eye on where you are walking. Don't expect warning signs or roped-off areas; they may be there, or they may not be (mostly the latter).

Beware if you have hired a car and have to return it with the petrol tank full. Most petrol stations close close relatively early but offer an automated service whereby you insert your money into a machine and the pump dispenses petrol to that value.
However, say for example you stick a £20 note into the machine and your vehicle only requires £15 of fuel, guess what, no change!

Make sure that if you require fuel before returning your car, that you visit the petrol station before it closes for the day.

Beware the Go-Karts. My son was almost killed while visiting the Go-Kart track.
While driving around the track his Kart spun on a corner (not an unusual event), however both front wheels collapsed inwards.
Stupidly, he tride to carry on to the start/finish area to swap the kart, however he had no steering, which he rapidly realised as he shot through the barrier. His chin struck the scaffolding pole which formed the barrier and fortunately the weld, holding it to the upright, broke and he was pulled from the kart as it fell 6-8 feet down the enbankment. On this occassion I was glad there were no seatbelts, if there had been he would have been held in the kart and pulled down while hanging on the barrier from his chin. Fortunately his only injury (other than to his pride) was a bruised arm and several scratches on his torso.

While partly his fault (for continuing) I would suggest that the maintainence of the karts could well be better. Also the owner/person in charge was only concerned about any damage to his kart and had no interest in any injury etc.

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Watch out for the roads. The drivers out there are MAD.

When we arrived at the Airport at night we jumped into a CAB to the hotel. We must have been doing 80 MPH and people were over taking us.

Later in the week we hired a moped and drove back to the hotel (akteon) from Coral Bay. The moped was maxed out at full speed (which felt fast) and the speed of the cars and other motor cyclist going past was UNBELEIVABLE. I have read that they are thingking about putting speed cameras in but I think the Paphos government have rejected the plans, not 100re though.

IF YOU GET A MOTORBIKE OR MOPED, THERES A WHITE LINE AT THE EDGE OF THE ROAD WHICH WE STAYED IN. DONT THINK ITS FOR BIKES BUT THE CARS COULD OVER TAKE EASIER. BE CAREFUL THOUGH AS THE ROAD SOMETIMES DISAPPEARS AND ARE VERY DUSTY. ALSO WEAR SUNGLASSES, -BIG- BUGS AND CONSTANT DUST.

So you think that a two wheeled scooter is the way to go in Paphos. Better yet, all you need is a credit card and not even a drivers liscence and no helmet law!

The lawlessness that allows anyone to get into a car, bike or scooter rental in Paphos also contributes to its high injury rate. Everyone drives like a fool in Paphos. Speed limit signs and no passing zones mean nothing here. The cops don't enforce traffic laws at all. This is the reason NOT to rent a two wheeled vehicle in Paphos. In two weeks, we heard about three serious accidents involving tourists on bikes or scooters. One was a fatality. Considering that there are only 35,000 people in the area, that is a high statistic.
I have been riding motorbikes on the road for 20 years legally. I am not afraid of them and I have rented big bikes in many different places. This is the only place I was not interested in getting one. I was when I got there but after seeing how people drive, I changed my mind.
If you want to rent a scooter, go to Corfu or Hawaii, or somewhere else besides here.

As with most nighclubs, drink spiking is always a possibilty. But somehow I think, due to the increase of drunken English beer boys the chance of drink spiking in Paphos is a lot higher. I have turned around a few times to see someone putting something suspect in a friends drink, and have had the sad experience of seeing the effects of a spiked drink on a friend. Do not, leave your friends, do not go home with a random, scooter or no scooter. Common sense should not be relaxed on holidays.

I had the misfortune of breaking down on the Turkish Cyprian Border. There has been reports of snipper fire on this border. The Road down from the mountains to Nicosia marks the border. It is patrolled by police, who are very friendly ONCE they know you are a tourist.