Larnaca Salt Lake

The salt lake on Larnaca's edge is a set of connected shallow basins that fill with winter rain and then evaporate through summer to leave a salt crust. In the wet months it becomes one of the most important wetlands in the eastern Mediterranean, with thousands of greater flamingos wintering on it alongside ducks, waders and the occasional rarity, and the sight of pink birds against the salt with aircraft climbing overhead is peculiar to this place. Salt was harvested here commercially until the 1980s. On the western shore stands the Hala Sultan Tekke, an Ottoman mosque complex among palms, one of the most significant Islamic sites on the island and a quiet, shaded contrast to the open lake.

What you actually see

• Wintering flamingos - thousands of birds on the shallow water from roughly November to March.
• Hala Sultan Tekke - the Ottoman mosque complex among palms on the western shore.
• The salt crust - the dry white basin in high summer.
• The lakeside path - a walking and cycling route around part of the shore.

When to go

November to March for the flamingos and water; numbers peak in midwinter and depend on rainfall. By June the lake is usually dry and white, which is striking in its own way but empty of birds.

Honest expectations

In dry winters the lake barely fills and the flamingos go elsewhere, so a visit can find bare mud. Birds are usually distant and binoculars matter. The lake sits directly under the airport approach, so aircraft noise is constant. In summer there is nothing on the water at all.

Nearby

Larnaca's seafront and Ayios Lazaros church are in town; Choirokoitia lies west.