Published · 5 min read · Facts checked 20 October 2026 against the sources below
The Avakas Gorge is a narrow limestone gorge on the west coast of the Akamas, a short drive from our villa in Peyia; the card at the top of this page gives the measured drive. A stream wore it out of the soft limestone, and still runs through it, which is why it closes.
Is the Avakas Gorge open?
No, not as of 20 October 2026. On that day the official Visit Cyprus page for the trail marked it "temporarily closed".
The Department of Forests closed the gorge on 6 December 2025, because of extreme weather, a higher flow of water, slippery ground, falling rocks and landslides. Its most recent statement that we know of, in May 2026, said the gorge stays closed until it announces that it is safe. There are warning signs and a chain at the entrance, and the department says anyone who goes past them does so at their own risk.
This is not a one-off. The department also closed the gorge in December 2021 and in December 2024, both times because of the water in it. In late March 2026, 31 hikers had to be rescued after rising water trapped them inside: 26 were brought out with ropes and life jackets, and five more later that afternoon.
If your holiday is planned around the gorge, plan a second walk for the same morning. The present closure has lasted more than ten months, and all three closures we know of began in December, after the winter rain arrived. A closed gorge need not waste the drive: the coast road from Agios Georgios towards Toxeftra stays open, and the section below on a closed gorge lists what to see nearby instead.
The walk through the gorge
When it is open, the walk is short. The Department of Forests' trail is 1.2 km one way, takes about 45 minutes and is graded 1 to 2, the easier end of its scale. It is a linear walk, so you come back the way you went in.
It starts with a dirt road through an open valley, closed to private cars, and then enters the gorge. The last stretch runs in the stream itself, where water usually flows all year round. Expect wet feet and slippery rock.
Inside it is shady and damp, with thick vegetation, a change from the open hillsides of the Akamas.
How the gorge was made
The Avakas is soft rock worn away by water. The official description of the trail puts it down to the erosion of sloping limestone made up of loams, chalk, reef and grain limestone and bentonitic clays. The stream that cut it still runs, and after heavy rain it fills the narrow floor of the gorge, which is why the gorge closes.
The trail itself hardly climbs at all. It starts at 47 m above sea level and ends at 45 m, so the effort is in the footing rather than the height: loose stones along the valley track, then wet, smooth rock once the walls close in.
Plants and wildlife
The whole gorge lies in a Natura 2000 area, part of Europe's network of protected sites, and it rewards walking slowly.
The open valley at the start is Mediterranean scrub: lentisk, Phoenician juniper, terebinth and thorny broom, with common smilax climbing through them. Oleander and storax grow nearer the water. The plant that makes the gorge special is the Akamas centaury, Centaurea akamantis, which the trail's official page lists as endemic and endangered: it grows wild nowhere outside Cyprus.
You are more likely to hear the animals than see them. The Cyprus wheatear and the Cyprus warbler, both endemic birds, live here, and the scops owl calls at dusk. Three kinds of frog live in and around the water: the marsh frog, the iridescent frog and the tree frog. Foxes, hares and hedgehogs keep out of sight, while the stellion, a large lizard, suns itself on the rocks.
Leave every plant where it grows. Picking or digging up a protected plant in a Natura 2000 area harms the very thing the gorge is protected for.
Toxeftra and the turtle beaches
Below the gorge, the coast at Toxeftra is part of the Lara-Toxeftra turtle reserve, about 650 hectares, 550 of them at sea, along roughly 10 km of coast. Nests on these beaches are protected where the turtles lay them.
From 1 June to 30 September the rules on the reserve's beaches are strict: nobody on the sand at night, and no camping, vehicles or umbrellas. Our guide to Lara Beach and its turtles has the full rules, the nesting season and the state of the tracks further north.
What to wear and take
The government's trail leaflet asks walkers to wear non-slip shoes, and in this gorge that matters more than anywhere: walking shoes or trail sandals with a firm grip that you do not mind getting wet. Flip-flops are not enough on the wet rock.
Before you set off:
- check the weather, and stay out of the gorge after rain or when rain is forecast, which is when the water rises
- tell someone your route and when you expect to be back
- take water and a hat for the open valley at the start
- stay on the trail, take your litter home and light no fires; report a fire on 1407
Getting there and parking
The gorge is on the coast beyond Agios Georgios. Follow the road from Agios Georgios towards Toxeftra for 2.5 km, then head east, inland, where Toxeftra Bay begins. Our guide to Agios Georgios covers that end of the coast, with its harbour for a drink afterwards.
The dirt road into the valley is closed to private cars, so you leave the car before it and walk in. Our driving in Cyprus guide explains the rules of the road and hire-car insurance.
If the gorge is closed
There is plenty to do nearby while it is shut. On the way, Agios Georgios on Cape Drepano is worth stopping at for its own sake: the remains of 6th-century basilicas with their mosaics, a fishing harbour, a chapel that pilgrims still visit, and the little island of Yeronisos just offshore.
For walking, our walks near Paphos guide covers the waymarked Aphrodite, Adonis and Smigies trails in the Akamas, and the cliff top at the sea caves. Our Kathikas and Akamas villages guide has a drive across the Laona plateau above the gorge instead.
Where to stay
Villa Prasino is a private villa in Peyia for up to 6 guests, between the sea caves and the Akamas. After a morning on the trails, come back to a 6 × 12 m pool and a hot tub. See our villa by the Akamas, check availability and rates, or book your stay.
