Mermaid Boat Cruise.
Our son was just about to turn 4 and his birthday is in the summer. We figured this would be a magical surprise for him at this age, getting to meet and swim with mermaids and something really unique. Let's be honest, I was equally if not more excited than he was.
As you can see it was a huge hit, following a few years of lockdown this was something completely new to both him and our daughter (age 2 at the time). When we got on board the magic started with meeting Tinkerbell, then a pirate. There were games, stories, treasure hunts, and of course, the most amazing part was calling, swimming, and meeting the mermaids. Who knew that mermaids really existed off the coasts of Cape Greco!
After a swimming stop, he also got to have his face painted for the first time, safe to say that was a huge hit and he really didn't want to take it off. Agggrrr... my little pirate.
If you are looking for something a little different, a little magical, and a fun boat trip along the way this is definitely something we can recommend.
The golden donkey sanctuary
The golden donkey sanctuary is home to about 200 donkeys, you won't see that many when you are there but there are certainly a great number of adults and babies to see. When you get there you can purchase a bit bag of feed (carobs) at the entrance.
They have demonstrations of local product making like how to make cheese etc. They also have a restaurant, a play area, and a shop with products made from donkey milk. They also do events evenings so it's worth looking out for these.
The entrance price when we went was really reasonable, 4 euros for an adult and 2 euros for a child and there was tons of parking outside. We really enjoyed this place and had used it as a stop-gap on our way up to the mountains.
The Camel Park
This has become a family favorite with our little ones and has become somewhere we visit quite often. It is amazing that the park is actually home to a lot of camels, but not only camels other animals as well. You can buy feed from the front desk and the train ride is really fun with young kids.
This place is a great change of scenery from the beach and we definitely make a lot of memories here. The thing with this place is it is close to the airport so it makes for a great place to visit if you have to check out early and want somewhere to spend your day. They have a park, animals, camel and donkey rides, a kiosk and a second play area, a restaurant, and a swimming pool with changing facilities.
ocean Aquarium
I will be honest this isn't my most favorite activity that I have done with my children, I find it a tiny bit expensive compared to most of the outings we take but... that being said my son did have a blast seeing all the fish and playing in the play areas so I would say I was glad I took him. There is a restaurant and kiosk/shop inside and you can pay with a visa at the entrance but just make sure you take cash with you if you want to buy any feed.
Petridies Farm
Petridies farm for us was a good stop-gap on our way to somewhere else, its got a lot of play areas, mini zip rope, animals, a sand pit, a restaurant, and football/basket ball courts so its a good place to burn off some steam. For older children, there is also an indoor either laser tag or paint ball area.
All in all we would go here again on our way up to Nicosia or Kakopetria for example.
Cyherbia
We have done Cyherbia with our children at different times of the year and at different ages. It is a great place for kids to run and enjoy nature. It is definitely stunning at lavender time and a great opportunity if you wanted to get some nice pictures. At the park, there is a restaurant, toilet facilities, and a small gift shop with products like soaps, etc. There is a huge maze to get lost in as well. At Halloween, this place is super fun with activities and pumpkin carving too.
During June and July, the lavender is in full bloom and they have a festival to celebrate. It's a great time to try some lavender food/drinks and see how it is extracted. There are guided tours and the opportunity to book a photo shoot in the gardens. You can also purchase products from the store as well.
Bricks 4 Kidz
This one is based in Limassol so not quite in the local area. However, like many of the smaller places we visit we used it as a stopgap for when we were doing another activity on a road trip, on this trip we had been to the mountains to play in the snow so this was for on the way back after lunch. It was our first time here, they have a section upstairs with seating for drinks and food and then downstairs is a huge play area. There are brick stations with plenty of designs, car race ramps, big bricks and hats/jackets, and plenty of bricks to build things. The big hit for my kids was also the climbing wall, mini disco, and trampoline. We actually spent longer here than I expected.
The house of fairy tales
I cannot begin to tell you how much of a blast we had at the fairy tale museum. As you can see our first time was on Halloween and as my husband is Canadian we kind of make Halloween a big deal in our house. This was no disappointment! They had an entrance fee and then inside there were so many activities that were well planned out to keep everyone entertained and plenty of shade area for adults. (with free drinks)
Some of the activities included games, magic tricks, face painting, snow storms, and story time. We had such a blast at Halloween we booked to go back on Christmas eve. Although Christmas eve wasn't as structured there was lots of fun, Santa, bubbles, a snow machine, and games so all in all for a hot Christmas I would say it was a big hit for our little ones. This place is located on the outskirts of Nicoisa but isn't far to get to (nothing really is far in Cyprus) and they have lots of events throughout the year so definitely worth checking out if you want something a little different to do.
Coming Soon
We are working our way through our list of amazing places, some of the places we will be adding soon are
Waterworld pernera and Waterworld Ayia napa
Go-Karting
Mini golf
Indoor play areas like play4all
Theme parks
ice skating
horse riding
water sports
art sculpture park
underwater walking and scuba diving