Long Beach (Iskele)

Good news for Long Beach. You may not find the jet ski and parasailing stands on the day you visit; those are set up in May and packed away at the end of October, but the beach itself is open all year round and nobody sells tickets at the entrance. This strip, running about three kilometres from one end to the other, is Iskele Municipality's public beach, and anyone typing "long beach iskele" into a search box is looking for this very shore. In our research we went through the state of the sand, the sea and the services on the shore one by one, plus the frequently repeated turtle claim. According to reviews and visitor reports, the sand is fine and light-coloured and the sea deepens slowly from the shoreline outwards; that shallowness is exactly why families with children choose this place so often. Showers, toilets and changing cabins are spread along the same strip, while sunbeds and umbrellas are charged separately. The claim that the beach is a turtle nesting site, however, is not true; SPOT's 2026 statement mentions it under a very different heading.

Fine Sand, Knee-Deep Sea

The sand is fine-grained and light-coloured, with no pebbles digging into your feet, which makes it a suitable spot for everyone. When you walk into the sea, the water stays below knee height for the first few metres and then deepens gradually; there are no sudden holes or drop-offs either. The first question of a family arriving with a small child comes from exactly here: could the child slip into deep water in the blink of an eye? No, because the depth increases step by step, and the child can measure how far they can go with their own feet.

Of course, not everything is this "positive". The sea's generosity does not extend to the sand. The beach has next to no natural shade; at midday the sun beats straight down and the sand gets too hot to walk on barefoot, so keep a hat and sunscreen in your bag. Anyone who does not rent a sunbed can rescue the middle of the day by bringing their own umbrella. The order in the water is drawn with markers: the jet ski corridor is clearly defined and motorised craft stay within that lane. The same line reads the other way round for swimmers, meaning you should keep away from the corridor and swim close to shore at busy hours.

Free Entry, Paid Sunbeds

You pay nothing to set foot on the "Long Beach Iskele" sands; there is no gate or turnstile either. Charges start with sunbeds and umbrellas, though the municipality does not publish the rental fee itself; since the tariff changes within the season, you only learn the figure at the kiosk on the beach. The same silence continues on the facilities side. Showers, toilets and changing cabins are scattered along the shore, but how many points there are is not disclosed. Parking areas have been set up close to the beach, yet the capacity figure is again not shared. Arriving early on July and August weekends solves part of this uncertainty, because those are the days when finding a spot really gets difficult. The rows of sunbeds get dense in some sections while other sections continue as bare sand, so where you sit is entirely a matter of preference. As for lifeguards, neither the municipality nor the operator gives any information. Sea safety is therefore left largely to the swimmer: keep the child in sight, do not swim out far, and enter the water carefully on windy days.

The Promenade Behind the Sand

On the landward side of the beach runs a well-kept promenade, and this strip changes hands constantly through the day. Runners use it in the morning hours, families on bikes and groups arrive in the late afternoon, and in the midday heat it almost empties out. Its length is the same as the beach; walking from one end to the other at a brisk pace can take 40 minutes. Children's playgrounds and outdoor sports areas are dotted along the route; wheelchair access has been arranged too, but no measurement such as ramp gradient or total path length is disclosed anywhere. The number of cafes and kiosks is not fixed either, rising and falling with the season: a few stay open in winter, and in summer the number multiplies. The promenade's real trump card over the beach is its shade. The shelter missing on the sand exists here in the form of trees and awnings, which is why families escaping the midday sun eat their meal on this strip rather than on the beach, then go back down to the sea. It is also the most used part of the shore for an evening walk.

An Age Limit of 18 for Jet Skis

Water sports at Long Beach Iskele run seasonally, with the stands open from May to October. Jet skis, parasailing, banana and ringo rides, SUP and pedal boats are rented along the same stretch of shore; since the stands are spread across different points of the beach, it is possible to walk past a few of them and compare prices. So from what age can you ride a jet ski? Stands generally set an age limit of 18, a life jacket is compulsory, and you do not leave the marked corridor. Some operators also give a short safety briefing before you ride. Parasailing is likewise subject to age and height limits. Banana and ringo rides are more flexible by comparison; a small child can ride together with an adult. Pedal boats are open to almost everyone, which is precisely why queues form on busy days. One single detail makes this whole list temporary: operators change from year to year. The stand that was here last summer may trade under another name this summer, and prices and hours shift along with it, so it is worth getting the current tariff from the beach at the start of the season. In the winter months most of the stands close, and only walkers remain on the beach.

From the Festival to the Half Marathon

The Iskele Festival began on 26 June 2026. Since the municipality gathered concerts, competitions and arts events on the shore throughout June and July, the festival was counted among the TRNC's most established festivals in that period. In autumn the calendar has its second big date: the Iskele Half Marathon will be run on Sunday 27 September 2026, and registration opened on 30 July. Alongside the 21K and 10K categories, a free 3K fun run and a 500-metre children's run are also on the programme, and naturally no registration fee is charged for these two. The shore's sports calendar does not end with these two, but these are the events with confirmed dates for 2026. Their effect on the beach is not the same either. In festival week the shore gets crowded in the evenings while the daytime beach routine stays unchanged; on the morning of the half marathon, however, the promenade belongs to the runners, and anyone coming to the beach that morning spends the day in the sea.

The Answer to the Turtle Question

Should you look for turtle nests on Long Beach Iskele? No, because this is not a known nesting beach. SPOT (the Society for the Protection of Turtles), in its statement dated 21 April 2026, points to Kaplica Beach as Iskele's traditional nesting site and to the Kantara shore as the place where nesting attempts have increased in recent years. Long Beach appears in the same text under a completely different label: an area where artificial light pollution is concentrated. Because light on the coast affects the neighbouring nesting beaches, the society recorded this not as a nesting claim but as a warning. For anyone walking on the beach at night the practical upshot is simple: no bright torches, and keep the noise down. Those who want to see hatchlings emerging from the nest go to Alagadi near Kyrenia; Long Beach is definitely not on that list.

For the town itself, where to stay and how to get around, see our Iskele Long Beach guide; for other shores on the island, our North Cyprus beaches roundup and the free beaches in North Cyprus guide are the places to look.