Island Escapes

Best for island escapes: Cyprus

“From up there, up there you can see everything,” said the speedboat’s grizzled captain, pointing skywards with a grin and a wink. And with that, he snapped me into my parachute, leant on the boat’s throttle – and lifted me gently from the deck and into the air, attached only by the slenderest of ropes to the back of his craft as it bounced through the waves beneath me.

It was my first experience of parasailing- and as I flew like a modern-day Icarus, in sunglasses and swimsuit, hundreds of feet up, with the crystalline waters of the eastern Mediterranean stretching to infinity beneath me, it really did seem as the whole of Cyprus was laid out for my inspection below.

There were the famous beaches of Ayia Napa, which have drawn visitors to this coast for decades; there was the magnificent rocky headland of Cape Greco, home to tiny coves and some of Europe’s best snorkelling; beyond that loomed the peaks of the Troodos Mountains, the island’s most surprising landscape, with its hill villages, cool forests and trout streams; and finally, over there-a few kilometres into the hazy distance – was the abandoned city of Famagusta.

We had come to sample a little of Cypriot life and the distinctive culture of this ancient land that has been coveted by so many- including the British-down the centuries. We finally ventured west to view the ancient ruins and mosaics of Pafos, south to watch the ships pass by the bustling port of Limassol, north to the fascinating walled city of Nicosia, the world’s last partitioned capital. We drove up into the hills to nibble on sticky preserved fruits in the enchanting village of Kakopetria, where shady squares brought welcome respite from the summer heat.

Perhaps, I thought- as my parachute billowed above me, and I gazed from on high at Cyprus’s unique, complex beauty- the speedboat captain is right. From up here, you really can see everything.

The Independent, February 2010, Jocasta Jones