UPDATED MARINA

PIX IN

By Ian Shepherd

A 543-berth marina is to be built 30 kilometres east of Girne as part of a £12 million scheme to boost yacht tourism in North Cyprus.

Work on the new marina and its linked Port Cyprium Village development of 47 luxury villas is scheduled to begin next month in and around a cove at Kuchuk Erenkoy, near Essentepe.

Covering 25 donums, the complex is designed to maximise the yacht tourism potential of the country’s coastal waters, most of which were officially opened to the public last year for the first time since 1974. Only small areas of sea around Snake Island, Teknecik Power Station, Varosha (south Faqmagusta), and between Erenkoy and Limniti on the TRNC’s western border are still “off-limits” to non-military vessels.

The Port Cyprium Village and Marina complex, which is expected to be completed in two years, will be a 25 minute drive from Girne and just 20 minute from Ercan Airport via the Gecitkale pass on the new north coast road.

The marina will be equipped with full boat-lifting, repair and servicing facilities. It will also feature a clubhouse with 20 guest rooms, a taverna, three restaurants offering fine dining to fast food, a bowling green, spa, gym and two tennis courts. A range of watersports, including diving and sailing, will also be available.

Man behind the ambitious scheme is Altan Houssein, a 51 year-old contracts engineer and keen yachtsman who holds joint Turkish Cypriot and British nationality. “I started planning for this project while working in Saudi Arabia in 1999 and have lived and breathed it seven days a week for the last two-and-a-half years,” he told Cyprus Today on Monday. “We will have the first professional marina in North Cyprus offering first-class facilities and berths which are desperately needed in this part of the Mediterranean.

“I am also very proud of what we are going to achieve with the linked Port Cyprium Village. It has been designed to resemble the layout of a typical North Cyprus village such as Karaman. Traditional materials will be used and the object is to make it fit into the local landscape as if it had been there for centuries.”

Mr Houssein said seven of the 47 villas would be sited just 150 metres from the marina and would cost around £265,000.  The remainder, ranging in size from two to three bedrooms, will be offered for sale at between £127,000 - £176,000.  Buyers will also be entitled to 10 year’s free boat berthing for yachts up to 12 metres in length.

The marina will be overlooked by the nearby Moulos archaeological site and benefit from a nearby ancient breakwater to provide additional protection for yachts. “I searched long and hard for the right strategic location for my marina and this is it,” said Mr Houssein as he viewed the bay at Kucuk Erenkoy. “I employed a specialist firm of marine engineers to carry out a full survey and they concluded that it was perfect, with little need for deep sea excavations. I am investing £8million in the marina itself but with the Port Cyprium Village development, the total cost is £12 million to ensure the high specifications and quality levels which I always envisaged. .

“In terms of location, it has the great assets of being close to Girne and the airport and to the newly-opened 21-hole Korinium Esentepe Golf and Country Club, which is just ten minutes along the main coastal road.

“All the ingredients are here to bring high quality tourism and lifestyle to North Cyprus.”

Mr Houssein said his mission to create the marina was sparked by a passion for sailing and the fact that, like many others, he was frustrated by a lack of yachting facilities in North Cyprus. “Yacht tourism is very big business and with enormous potential,” he said. “Marinas throughout the Eastern Mediterranean are full and there is a constant need for more berths and services.

“As we have now been successful in having most of the North Cyprus coastal waters opened up it is a perfect time to exploit this potential.”

Cyprus Today Newspaper - 20th May 2007