Camelot Beach (Alsancak)

The water you swim in here carries the signatures of three separate institutions. The land belongs to the Security Forces Command (GKK), the facility has been run for more than twenty years by Girne American University as a tenant, and a request to transfer it sits with the municipality. The lease was last renewed "for five years" by an Official Gazette decision dated 2 July 2020, with the rental income going to the GKK Reinforcement Foundation. For a visitor, the meaning of this is simple: the party that sets the rules and the price list can change along with the contract, and you should not assume that last year's arrangement will still apply this year. The cove itself is what it is, horseshoe-shaped, pebbly at the entrance, with ninety metres of sand. Because music plays in the evenings, the atmosphere turns into something quite different from the daytime, which is also why the Tripadvisor rating is so scattered. So when weighing this place up, it is worth judging the cove itself and the arrangement in force that season separately.

Alsancak Cove, West of Kyrenia

The facility sits inside a natural cove on the Alsancak-Karavas shoreline, west of Kyrenia. It takes 15-25 minutes by car from the centre, since depending on where on the coast road you start, the distance varies between 8 and 15 kilometres. About 2.4 kilometres further west is Yavuz Cikarma Beach, formerly known as "Escape Beach". Are they the same place? No, and their status is different too. At Yavuz Cikarma, private operation ended in 2024 and the area is being arranged as a memorial site, whereas at Camelot the operation stayed with "GAU". There is a category difference as well: because this is a beach club, it does not sit in the same class as Alsancak Municipal Beach or Karaoglanoglu Public Beach, which the municipality opens free of charge. If you are coming by minibus, one of the routes marked "Girne-Alsancak" or "Lapta" on the windscreen stops at a nearby point on the coast road, and taxis work too. The cove is reached without turning off the coast road, and since the facility has its own car park, those arriving by car have no parking worries.

Pebbles at the Entrance, Ninety Metres of Sand

You enter the shore over small pebbles, but that strip does not last long: about a hundred metres towards the sea, the ground turns to fine, golden sand. The sandy strip is ninety metres at most, so it is a narrow but tidy area. The sea is shallow, much like the Ilica beaches of Cesme in Izmir. Because the breakwaters surrounding the cove keep the waves out, the water stays as calm as a pool on most days and the seabed deepens slowly. For a family with small children, the real benefit is having both of these together. On the other hand, for someone interested in sports, someone who wants to swim long strokes, the area is small and the swimming distance within the cove is limited. As an important detail, and as with the previous ones, the facility does not announce that a lifeguard is present, so a family with children should absolutely not plan on the assumption that there is one.

Facilities from Sunbeds to Restaurant

At Camelot Beach, sunbeds, umbrellas, changing cabins, showers and toilets are standard equipment. The restaurant and bar work mainly with Mediterranean cuisine, and alongside them there is a snack kiosk. On the water sports side, jet ski, banana boat, water skiing and parasailing are mentioned, but since the facility does not list these one by one on its official page, only reception can tell you which of them is running on the day. Entry is charged, but the current price list is not published. The figures circulating online belong to different years and different currencies, so they do not show today's price. Sunbeds are counted as included in the fee in most periods, though this too is an item that can change along with the price list. So the only reliable way to learn the price is to call the facility on the day you plan to go. There is no statement on minimum spend or disabled access either, so it is worth asking these two questions in the same phone call.

Evening Music and the Tripadvisor Rating

In the evening hours, live music or a DJ plays at the facility, and this happens more often at weekends. For someone looking for quiet after sunset, the noise level can be a problem, because more than one review states that the music, as mentioned above in the negative reviews, is "extremely loud". The picture on the "Tripadvisor" side confirms this. The facility gets an average of 2.8 points from 17 reviews, and the reviews split in two. Those writing positively mention the clear water, the staff, the view and the comfort of the sunbeds, while those writing negatively cluster around the loud noise, the sunbed price and shortcomings in cleanliness.

So why does the rating stay in this band? Because an average built on 17 reviews can easily be pulled down by a few bad days. That is why 2.8 indicates a tendency and is in no way a definitive report card. Still, since music hours are not announced in advance, it is hard to predict. For anyone wanting a quiet evening, weekdays stand as the safer choice.

GKK Property, GAU Operation

The land belongs to the Security Forces Command, the operator is Girne American University. This relationship has passed twenty years, and the last renewal was made on 2 July 2020 for a period of five years. In the same period, Alsancak Municipality asked for the facility to be transferred to the municipality, and the GAU management opposed this. Since the operating rights have come up in the local press several times, the matter remains a contentious topic from time to time. The five-year contract expired last year, in 2025, yet no new renewal decision has been announced publicly; this does not directly affect a visitor's day, but it would not be surprising if the facility's name, operator and rules change in the coming seasons. On the Alsancak strip, this is clearly the only beach with such a layered ownership structure. On the same coast road, a few minutes away by car, "Denizkizi" is the beach of two sister hotels and "Mare Monte" is the beach of a private facility. At Camelot, however, there are three separate institutions: the landowner, the tenant and the municipality requesting the transfer.

2026 Season: Confirm Before You Go

So is Camelot Beach open this year? There is no clear answer. One record states that the service ended in May 2026, while other records from the same year show the facility as open. The Tripadvisor page continues to list the facility, but there is no statement from the operator. For this reason, it is worth finding out whether the facility is open before setting off for Alsancak. A wasted trip is not fifteen minutes; the round trip from Kyrenia can take close to an hour. Since the season opening and closing dates and daily working hours are not published anywhere either, this information is only announced during the season through the operator's own channels. The facility's official Facebook page is registered under the name CamelotBeachClubOfficial, and current announcements appear there.

For the rest of the coast on this side of Kyrenia, see our Alsancak and Lapta guide and the neighbouring Escape Beach Kyrenia page; if you are weighing entrance fees, our guide to free beaches in North Cyprus lists which shores charge and which do not.