Location: the Aliki lake is on your right if driving from Larnaca to Larnaca’s airport. If travelling from other towns – take B4 road to Larnaca (from the last roundabout before the airport) and you will later see the salt lake on your left. There are some parking lots if you turn to Hala Sultan (there will be a sign) or later on the road ahead.
Sunday was a good day for Buddy! Not only we enjoyed the newly opened beach for dogs near Spyros beach, but also visited the biggest of Larnaca’s salt lakes on the way back home.
Aliki lake provides for variety of attractions for tourists and locals (see below). It is also quite dog-friendly – we have not seen any dog banning signs and on the contrary, just “remains” of the bins for dog waste (hopefully, those will be revived). There is a beautiful and long path around the lake with enough benches for you to both enjoy lengthy walks with your dog and to have some rest while admiring the view – and there is a lot to admire.
Situated next to the lake is a beautiful mosque (holy site of Hala Sultan Tekke), which is one of the holiest Islamic places and a Muslim pilgrimage site (you can find the opening hours online). Beware that there are a lot of cats around the mosque, so make sure your dog is not bothered by them if you are planning to bring him along with you (not to the mosque of course!).
The lake is also a home to nearly 85 species of migratory water birds like flamingos, who usually come at December and stay until March. Flamingos don’t seem to be “consistent” though as some winters the whole lake is colored in pink and in some winters there are hardly any flamingos to spot. A tip – go to small lake next to Dhekelia road to Oroklini – you should find some flamingos there.
During summer months, the lake completely dries up leaving a thick crust of salt measuring up to 10cm deep, so you can actually walk all over it, which is a pretty exciting experience.
And if you were to extend your day around the lake, there is also a beautiful picnic site next to it, where you can take your dog with you as well.
It may be wise to have your dog on leash all the time as the area is quite popular amongst tourists as well as local cyclists and joggers.