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New website to promote Paphos district
By Bejay Browne
The Paphos
regional board of tourism has launched a new comprehensive
website as part of a wider campaign utilising technology and
upgraded literature to help to promote the entire district.
“This is one of the actions to renew the promotional
material of Paphos. It is very necessary to use new
technology to meet the changing needs of the user,”
Nasos Hadjigeorgiou, the head of the Paphos regional
board of tourism, told the Paphos Post.The site, he added,
is dynamic and responsive and was developed by a Paphos
based company using the latest technology.
It is expected that the site will garner thousands of
unique visitors a year, as the previous one, which was dated
and far harder to navigate, welcomed over 170,000 unique
overseas users every year.
The site contains stunning
photographs of all sorts of areas of the wider district and
contains useful information about the area: what to see,
where to go, where to stay, news and events, and the
‘highlights’. These includes: Paphos old town, the medieval
castle, sea caves, Avacas Gorge, Baths of Aphrodite,
villages, fascinating fauna, mouflon, boat trips and more.
“Visitors can see what is available and it gives them an
opportunity to understand Paphos and what there is to enjoy
in all of the area of Paphos district.”
An
accommodation section includes everything from luxury beach
hotels and resorts for a city and spa break, to holiday
villages and authentic back-to-basics family-run
establishments.
All sorts of upcoming events are also regularly added to
the website.
“There is emphasis on rural areas, the beautiful nature
we have and the cultural aspects of Paphos,” he said.
The new website, along with a video of Paphos that was
launched earlier in the year and newly designed promo
material, means that the promotion of Paphos tourism has now
been upgraded significantly, he said.
www.visitpafos.org.cy
Conservation efforts see rise in turtle nest
numbers
By Bejay Browne
The number of turtle nests this year
has increased over last year and stands at around 1,600 so
far, according to the founder and co-head of the turtle
conservation programme, Andreas Demetropoulos
The
number is still growing and has already exceeds last year’s
1,100.
This is due to the work undertaken by
conservationists 20 to 30 years ago, he said, as this is how
long it takes the endangered Loggerhead and Green turtle
(Cheloniamydas) to reproduce.
When the programme
started, there were just 300 nests.
“The best year
was three years ago, in 2016, with 1,800 nests,”
Demetropoulos said. “The numbers fluctuate but they are
still going up.”
One of the reasons for the success
is that the nesting grounds are now protected from foxes, as
cages are placed around them.
Also, two large areas
which are the habitat of turtles- Lara and Toxeftra beaches-
have been protected since 1989 and are designated Natura
2000 sites. Previously, visitors would confuse and disturb
the turtles by camping and lighting fires.
However,
the rise in tourism and the threat of building permits for
hotels and other buildings in the region may bring the
numbers down in future, the conservationists fear.
The fisheries department and other organisations are working
to ensure the survival of the species.
In March this
year, a 24-hour hotline was launched to report injured,
sick, or dead sea turtles by the Oceanic Institute of the
University of Cyprus to help improve their management and
protection.
Injured turtles are taken to the marine
research centre of Cyprus, where they are treated and then
released back into the sea.
Green turtles reproduce
almost exclusively in Cyprus and Turkey and there are only
around 1,500 female Green turtles that lay eggs in both
countries.
The Loggerhead or Caretta caretta also
breeds in Greece and in smaller numbers in other
Mediterranean countries, the number of females is around
6,000.
Both are protected by the European Union’s
habitat directive.
The hotline number for reporting
dead or injured marine turtles is : 96 952929
Two
Cyprus hotels among Europe’s top 20 for September sun
By
Bejay Browne
Two of the top 20 hotels to spend time
at in Europe in September are found in Cyprus, according to
The Times newspaper.
The prerequisite was- the best
places to book now, when, “temperatures will still be high
but prices are low”.
Topping the list are hotels in
Greece (4) and Cyprus (2), France (3), Italy (4), Spain (4),
Portugal (2) and Croatia (1).
Cypriot hotel, the Columbia
Beach Resort at Pissouri Beach was listed. The hotel is
built in a traditional Cypriot style and described as
“garden-rich” with “strong fly-and-flop credentials, a vast
pool, four restaurants and an opulent spa with Elemis
treatments.”
According to the Times, it is popular with
families during school holidays, and at term-time its suites
and surroundings are considerably quieter and packages fall
in price.
Also on the list is the Constantinou Bros
Asimina suites hotel in Paphos, an adult-only accommodation.
“There’s a spa, a pool surrounded by cabanas and a choice of
table clothed restaurants serving classic Cypriot food.”
Hotels in Greece on the list of recommendations are in
Mykonos, Pelion, Naxos and Paxos.
Last year, no
Cyprus hotels were included in the top 20, whilst five
hotels in Greece - two in Crete, one in Pelion, one in
Kefalonia and Parga respectively made the cut.
I-escape, who promote themselves as the boutique hotel and
hip hideaway experts, also feature ‘European hideaways for
late summer sun’ on their blog, and Cyprus is the first of
their four choices, followed by the Algarve in Portugal, the
Aegean coast of Turkey and Kefalonia in Greece.
Dive centres to cater for increase in disabled divers
By Bejay Browne
A local dive company promoting
disabled diving in Cyprus has started a crowd funding page
to raise the thousands needed to purchase new specialist
equipment, including a hoist and trailer.
Sean Flynn, of
Freedom Divers, is a professional diver and a qualified
disabled diving instructor and told the Paphos Post that the
number of enquiries from disabled customers has doubled in
2018.
He is determined to raise the funds needed to
purchase further specialist equipment to help disabled scuba
divers experience the water in Cyprus.
Sean said that a
hoist, trailer and other equipment will cost around 29,000
euros altogether and it’s a necessary investment as he
believes that Cyprus has the potential to become a preferred
choice with disabled divers from around the globe.
“It
might not sound like a lot but we have 12 disabled divers
this year and many more enquiries for next year, as it takes
longer to plan holidays and to ensure their needs are
covered,” he said.
A portable pop up changing room, a
beach wheelchair, a pro lift sling and an underwater scooter
are all on the list of items needed.
Sean has already
spent around eight to nine thousand euros on equipment, but
would ideally next like to purchase a mobile pool hoist that
would enable him to get would-be divers in and out of
swimming pools at holiday homes and hotels. Pool training is
what every diver must go through before heading out into the
sea, he said.
“I just can’t afford to buy anymore
equipment and I would really like to be able to help them,”
he said.
Sean said that most people are able to dive,
no matter what their disability is, and although most other
dive centres in Cyprus that take disabled people charge them
more as the costs are higher, he doesn’t. His aim is to help
divers feel the freedom of weightlessness in the water.
“For us, It’s not about the money. I only cover my costs on
dives with disabled people and that’s not why I do it. To
see the joy on their face and to be able to give them an
experience that they never thought was possible is a really
amazing feeling. It gives them such pleasure,” he said.
On such dives, Sean employers a minimum of a second
experienced diver, and in some cases this will be more, to
ensure the safety of the disabled diver, this pushes up the
costs, he said, but these are not passed onto his customers.
Sean is a fully qualified PADI instructor (Professional
Association of Diving Instructors) and also as a disabled
diving instructor with DDI – Disabled Divers International.
He recently took a Russian diver into the water to dive in
Limassol using a new ‘Seatrac’ motorised ramp which has been
installed at a beach there.
He explained that the young
Russian holiday maker broke his neck cliff diving a few
years previously and was left paralysed from the neck down.
As and more and more disabled people are making
enquiries, Sean said that other dive centres have offered
their services, helping with tanks, equipment and staff..
For further information:
www.freedomdiverscyprus.com
Baby Zoe’s father remains at Menoyia
By Bejay
Browne
At the time of going to press, the father of a
baby who had a life-saving operation in Israel in 2013 after
the minister of health stepped in, was still being detained
at the Menoyia detention centre.
Speaking from the
facility, John (Sanjeev) Dhull, 36, from India told the
Paphos Post that he is hoping to be released in order to be
reunited with his family.
Dhull has been held since his
arrest in July, when he visited immigration at their request
to collect a letter. On July 20 he was moved to Menoyia in
Larnaca where he remains.
Menoyia is used to
facilitate immigrants ahead of their deportation or until
the Civil Registry and Migration Department process their
application for refugee status or grant them asylum.
However, many of these cases are complex and the department
often takes a long time to reach a decision.
Dhull’s
wife Virginia said: “I am very upset and Zoe often cries
asking where her Daddy is as she can’t find him. We need him
at home with us.”
The family hit the headlines when
Zoe, now 5, who was born in Paphos general hospital on June
25, 2013, was diagnosed with a heart defect shortly after
her birth, which had gone undetected during pregnancy.
She was rushed to the Makarios Hospital and her parents had
less than two weeks to raise the €15,000 needed to pay for a
vital cardiac catheterisation in Israel as the operation
could not be done in Cyprus.
They had no private
medical insurance and were unable to obtain a state medical
card as their visas had expired. The health ministry stepped
in and offered to pay the costs, and at just three weeks old
Zoe underwent the life-saving operation at the Schneider
Children’s Medical Centre in Israel. The family said they
were extremely grateful for this act.
Nicosia-based
lawyer, Maria Serghi Mirbagheri was only engaged by a couple
of months ago, as they had been unable to contact their
previous lawyer for some time.
She said that she had put
in a request at the office of Leda Koursoumba, to put the
family unit first on humanitarian grounds by granting Dhull
an extension. The welfare of the child must come first, she
stressed.
The ministry of the Interior previously
listed the couple’s immigration history, noting that they
both remained in Cyprus illegally after their visas had run
out – before Zoe was born – and that Dhull was given a
‘final residence permit’ which expired on 3/10/17. The
ministry said this ‘cancels out any requests filed by him,
his wife or daughter’, despite him having a work permit
valid until October 2018.
However, Dhull’s lawyer
said she was not disputing these points and noted that
subsequent permissions to stay had been granted on
humanitarian grounds, adding that although Dhull was given a
letter by immigration to leave Cyprus, it also includes the
right to appeal the decision, which is what he is doing.
Inspiring ninety five year old diver to set new world
record
By Bejay Browne
Ninety five year old Ray
Woolley will attempt to set a new world record as the worlds
oldest scuba diver by diving to the sunken wreck of the
Zenobia ferry in Larnaca in September.
The dive will see
Ray attempt to dive to a depth of around 40 metres and the
entire process will be filmed, photographed and documented
in line with guidelines approved by Guinness World Records.
The inspiring nonagenarian, who lives in Limassol,
already holds the Guinness world record title following a
similar successful dive on his 94th Birthday last year,
where he dived to a depth of 38.1 metres for 41 minutes.
Ahead of the event he told the Paphos Post:“ I am really
looking forward to breaking the record again and thankful
for the support from my fellow divers. It’s really exciting
that so many divers will be with me to celebrate this
event.”
Ray celebrated his 95th Birthday on August 28,
and members of his family flew to Cyprus to celebrate and
see him undertake his dive.
Ray is a World War II
veteran who served in the Royal Navy and ‘SBS Special Force
281’ in the Dodecanese. After the war, he trained as radio
engineer and whilst working for the British foreign office
was posted to Cyprus in 1964.
He is originally from Port
Sunlight on the Wirral Peninsula in the UK, and started
swimming at his local swimming baths aged five. In Cyprus he
dives with the British sub aqua club- BSAC-at RAF Akrotiri
and began diving with the Portland and Weymouth British Sub
Aqua Club in 1960.
Ray has also gained global
attention after appearing on TV in both Cyprus and the UK
and is now featuring in a documentary film about his life.
‘Life Begins at 90’, was filmed in Cyprus and highlights
Ray’s life, his passion for diving and the water, and his
healthy approach to ageing. It premiered at the 13th Cyprus
International Film Festival in July, scooping the award for
‘Best Cinematography in a documentary feature film’ and is
currently competing in film festivals worldwide.
Ray
said : “Its rather nice, if surprising to get all this
attention and its all because I'm active.As we age, plenty
of exercise is necessary to be fit and keep everything on
the move. Also, to do everything in moderation.”
Ray
will know if he has officially been awarded the title in a
few weeks time.
Film trailer:
https://www.facebook.com/documentaryfilm90/videos/443791259383879/
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