Limassol (Cyprus)

Limassol is Cyprus' principal (largest) seaport, located on Akrotiri Bay, between Paphos and Larnaca. The port handles over 90% of all visiting Cyprus Island cruise ship tourists. Port's cruising season runs February through December. Greek is the official language, and English and Turkish are widely spoken.

The 1956-opened Limassol Old Port was used as the island's principal seaport until 1973. Currently, it is used by leisure boats, yachts, fishing boats and coast guard vessels. In 2010, the Old Port was officially closed and renamed "Limassol Marina".

In Limassol are registered many commercial marine vessels (both cargo carriers and passenger ships) as Cyprus is the preferable flag-state for many European passenger shipping companies (cruise lines and ferryboat operators). In 2023, RCG-Royal Caribbean Group opened an office in Limassol, to serve as the company's center for cruise activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The original Greek name of Limassol is Lemesos. The country's capital city is Nicosia (aka Lefkosia). The city is located less than 30 min drive from the archaeological sites Limassol Castle (near the city's old harbor), Kourion (Curium, ancient city-state) and Kolossi Castle (former Crusader fortress). From Limassol depart popular mountain tours.

The city is approx 50 km / 30 mi (1-hour drive) from the UNESCO site Paphos Archaeological Park - well-known worldwide for its ancient ruins. The most significant are the Roman villas, the houses of Dionysos, Orpheus, Aion and Theseus (all with perfectly preserved mosaic floors), the necropolis (Tombs of the Kings), the amphitheater.

Port Limassol

The Port's construction started in 1971-1973 with the turning basin which has radius 500 m (1640 ft) and draft 12 m (39 ft). The port has 2 quays (total length 880 m / 2887 ft) - north quay (430 m) and western quay (450 m) with max draft 11 m (36 ft). The port has a covered storage facility (Warehouse 2, sized 6080 m2) and a gantry rail crane (Luffing Crane, max lifting power 35 tons) on the western quay,

Lemesos Port/Limassol (locode CYLMS) started operations in 1974, following the Famagusta Port's occupation by Turkey. Famagusta used to handle around 83% of the island's total cargo. Port Lemesos provides vessel services, cargo loading / unloading and also serves Cyprus' passenger shipping traffic. Port's water area is sized 1 km2, and its land area is 1,3 km2.

Port's expansion (1980-1982) added the eastern quay (length 480 m, draft 11 m). In 1984 here were installed 2 Panamax gantry cranes serving container ships. Later was extended the western quay (to the south) to provide service to ferries (Ro-Pax ships). Then was built the southern quay (length 300 m) and all other marine areas were dredged to max draft 14 m (46 ft).

The port has 5 mooring posts and dolphins for vessels with max draft 10,5 m requiring mooring for repairs, decommissioning or impounding. Currently, the total length of quays is 2070 m (6790 ft):.

• Northern quay has length 430 m, max draft 11 m
• Western quay has length 770 m (450 + 320), max draft (13-16 m) has a 50 m ramp serving Ro-Pax ships
• Eastern quay has length 480 m, max draft 11 m
• Southern quay has length 300 m, max draft 16 m
• The port has all 5 covered warehouses (total area 39760 m2) - Warehouse 1 (7200 m2), Warehouse 2 (6080 m2), Warehouse 3 (10000 m2), Warehouse 4 (10080 m2) and Warehouse 5 (6400 m2).
• Part of Warehouse 2 is assigned to the UK Navy (serving their cargo traffic) while the remainder (Republic Bonded Warehouse) serves Customs and Excise Department.
• The port has open storage cargo spaces (157000 m2), stacking areas for TEUs / containers (344400 m2), 299 power supply points (for reefers / refrigerated containers), as well as Customs Office, Workshop (shiprepairs), Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Offices.
• A dedicated passenger terminal serves ferry and cruise passengers. It was opened in 2015 and covers a total area of 6800 m2.
• Port's Oil and Gas logistics zone has a 430 m (1410 ft) long berth and is currently supports ENI (Total)'s and Exxon Mobile's Cyprus offshore drilling projects.

In April 2016, DP World Limassol (part of the Dubai-based corporation DP World) was awarded a 25-year terminal concession (until 2041) to operate the container terminal exclusively. DP World's subsidiary P&O Maritime was additionally awarded a 15-year port concession (till 2031) to provide full-range marine services exclusively. The list of DP World-managed activities comprises 3 multi-purpose quays (serving break-bulk, general cargo and Ro-Pax ships (ferries and cruisers), also oil and gas tankers) plus the new passenger terminal.

The 2017-opened DP World Limassol cruise terminal (sized 6970 m2 / 75000 ft2) has a large dock (East Berth) with length 480 m (1575 ft) and depth 11 m (336 ft) which allows berthing for the world's biggest passenger ships.

In 2019, Port Limassol handled a total of 93 cruise ship calls (40% increase over 2018) and ~125,000 tourists. In 2018, the cruise port received nearly 57,000 travelers, in 2017 - around 74,000.

Following the Coronavirus crisis, in 2022 the cruise port had booked 163 ship calls with estimated ~170,000 passengers.

In November 2021, Cyprus' Shipping Ministry launched an attempt for a 3-year ferry contract valued at EUR 33 million (USD 35,6M) with annual state aid of EUR 5,5M. In December 2021, Israel expressed interest to join the proposed Greece-Cyprus ferry route by adding an Israeli port to the itinerary.

After a 22-year hiatus, on June 19, 2022, Limassol restarted the Cyprus-Greece ferry route linking directly to Piraeus-Athens. The seasonal/summer-only service (May thru October) is provided by MS Daleela (1991-built car and passenger ship/IMO 9001306, Cyprus-flagged, owned by Scandro Holding Ltd, max capacity 400 passengers) with crossing duration/travel time ~30 hours. The ferryboat departs out of Limassol to Piraeus on Wednesdays and Sundays, while departures from Piraeus to Limassol are on Tuesdays and Fridays. During the maiden season (2022), the Cyprus-Greece ferry service featured 22 roundtrips serving a total of 7162 passengers, ~2250 wheeled units (cars and motorcycles) and ~200 pets. In 2023, as departure port was added Larnaca (cruising time to Piraeus ~32 hours).

Limassol cruise terminal

Limassol tours, shore excursions, hotels

City Tours and Shore Excursions

• Amathus Archaeological Site: 11 km from Limmassol cruise port, direction East. Here, you can visit major attractions including the Tombs and the Temple of Aphrodite.
• Kolossi Castle: it dates from 14th century. The castle is located in Kolossi village. It is 14 km from Limmasol cruise port, direction West.
• Kourion: located in Episkopi, 18 km from Limassol cruise port, direction West. It is major ancient attraction because it was the major Kingdom of Cyprus ancient city.
• Limassol Zoo: the only Cyprus zoo. You can see panthers, monkeys, lions, zebras, peacocks, tigers, macaws, emu, ostriches, falcons, bears, vultures and more. There is a special area for kids.
• Limassol beaches: they are amazing. Limassol has the longest coat line with plenty of beaches for everyone. Visit some of the most popular including Lady’s Mile, Governor’s Beach, Kourion Beach (Chris Blue), Pissouri Beach and Flo Cafe Beach Cove.
• Castle of Limassol: it dates from 1228 and is an ancient Byzantine castle where King Richard married his Queen Berengaria. Curently it houses the Medieval Museum of Cyprus.