Protaras
| Protaras | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Protaras
|
|
| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |
| Country |  Cyprus |
| District | Famagusta District |
| Population | |
| • Total | 20,230 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
Protaras (Greek: Πρωταράς; Turkish: Protaras) is a predominantly tourist resort which comes under the administrative jurisdiction of Paralimni Municipality in Cyprus. In ancient times, where Protaras is now located, stood the old city-state of Leukolla. The city possessed a small safe harbour where the Athenian Demetrius Poliorketes sought refuge in the year 306 BC, lying in wait for Ptolemeos, one of the successors of Alexander the Great. In the ensuing battle, Ptolemeos was defeated and fled to Egypt, leaving Cyprus in the hands of Demetrius for a short time. Protaras is also referred to as "the land of windmills", maintaining the nostalgic quality of the past.
Protaras has clear sky-blue waters and sandy beaches, the most well-known of which is Fig Tree Bay. Building on the success of Ayia Napa, located about 10 km (6 mi) southwest, it has expanded into a modern holiday resort of considerable size with tens of high capacity hotels, hotel apartments, villas, restaurants, pubs and associated facilities. Being quieter than Ayia Napa and having less of a club scene, it has a reputation of catering more for family and Cypriot tourism. Cape Greco is a 10-minute drive from the center of Protaras, and is considered one of the most beautiful places on the island.[citation needed]
Protaras is one of the most popular diving destinations[1] with some of the best dive sites of Cyprus and the East Med. Green Bay being the most popular dive site with thousands of first timers trying scuba skills.[2] The Blue Hole, the Chapel, the Decosta Bay, Malama bay. Protaras most famous dive site for Technical Diving and Commercial Diver training is the Cyclops bay located on the boarder with Ayia Napa.
Contents
Hydrologic Features
The Mediterranean is a sea between the continents of Europe and Africa. It is composed of several basins. The basins of Albora, Algiers, and Tiran are in the western section while the basins of Ion and Levant are in the eastern section. It is a large water mass extending east-west some 4000 kilometers from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Anatolian coast and 800 Kilometers north south from the Adriatic coast to Libya. The deepest point is some 5000 meters in the basin of Ion south of the Greek mainland.
Diving in Protaras
the more we dive in Cyprus waters, the greater our surprise at the variety of Red sea marine life that has become well established in this area. The parrot fish of the Red Sea have clearly established themselves around Cyprus and most recently trigger fish and lion fish. You will also see large and small Mediterranean groupers, and an abundance of sea bream and damselfish. Our experience in more than 20 years of diving Cyprus waters has been a steady increase in the numbers and variety of fish. This is in contrast to many other Mediterranean dive sites.
Wreck Diving in Protaras
The creation of the Protaras Artificial Reef program started in May 2009, by the purposely sinking of the Liberty vessel as a pilot project. The Cyprus Dive Center Association led by I Dive Tec Rec Centers Plc, Technical Team, undertook the tender for cleaning the vessel according to the Barcelona convention requirements for dumping and made the wreck safe and marine life friendly for incubation. In December 2013 a second vessel by the name Nemesis III, was deployed as a part of the wrecks for reefs project. Nemesis III, is a spectacular wreck dive due to the marine life gathered around the ship over the past few years, and the best underwater images can be captured by underwater photographers.
Corals
Hard and soft corals are now rare in the Mediterranean. Cyprus however has a growing panorama of brightly colored coral varieties. Further out into the open sea one will find large vividly colored sponges and a mat of associated plant life. these provide excellent cover for octopus, scorpion fish, john dory fish, cuttlefish, Mediterranean plaice, stingrays, amber-jacks, cuckoo, and moray eels. These are only a few of the splendid examples of marine life awaiting the observant diver.
Currents
Water movements or currents[3] are created by three factors - wind, the rotation of the[4] earth, and the density and pressure of water. the interaction of these factors with the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. The rivers flowing into the Mediterranean can only renew one-third of the water lost due to evaporation. As a result, there is always a continuous surface current from the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean,
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.
<references />, or <references group="..." />
