Aside from many of the fantastic hotels in North Cyprus which have a wealth of sporting and leisure facilities and amenities for guests and non-residents, there are also many private businesses serving the requirements of those in search of something to keep them active and entertained.
In fact, North Cyprus is home to a surprisingly high number of gyms, spas, sporting facilities and ‘social’ keep fit groups for such a small nation, and if you’re thinking of moving to live on the island or you’re just an active person coming on holiday to North Cyprus and hoping to keep fit during your stay, then there is plenty to tell you about.
Some of the larger 5 star hotels such as The Rocks, The Colony, Malpas and Mercure all have their own in-house gyms and fitness suites. Non-residents can of course join the leisure clubs at such hotels, and prices are fairly reasonable when you consider you’re becoming a member of a gym at a five star establishment! You can also use these hotels’ pools and where available, their saunas and sunbeds too.
If you fancy something a little less high grade and high price where the emphasis is not so much on what you wear to work out and who you chat to in the bar afterwards, (the vitamin juice bar of course), then we would recommend either the Mega Sports Gym in Kyrenia which is just down the road from the main school and just up the narrow road opposite ReMax estate agency, or the Lifezone Fitness Centre which is located on the main road towards Lapta.
In Lefkoşa you have the new Excell Sport Salon, located on the third floor of the big Nike store on the Gönyeli roundabout. Here they can also offer you dietary and fitness advice with trained dieticians on hand to help you make the best of your workout and fitness programme.
All these facilities are run by friendly staff, there is always someone on hand to show you how the machines work or to help you devise a program most suited to your age, fitness ability and ultimate reason for joining a gym – and both men and women work out side by side – so girls, there’s no excuse!
If you are not that enthused by static exercising, then there are other ways to enjoy keeping fit. There are dance clubs such as the Salsa Dance Group (Ozdemir Tokel +90 (0)533 862 76 00), Line Dancing Blazing Boots, Ballroom Dancing (Grahame Ash +90 (0)533 8433554), as well as walking groups which are all great ways to make your life in North Cyprus a very active one!
And finally, another great way to keep fit is by taking up a hobby such as diving, then making the most of all the dive schools and centres in Northern Cyprus, hiring equipment and getting out and about and exploring the sea bed, the reefs and underwater relics around the coastline of North Cyprus.
Other obvious ways to keep trim are swimming, after all we are surrounded by sea (!), tennis, with council run court facilities available in cities and towns, squash courts at some of the larger hotels and council facilities, and there are groups which practice tai-kwondo and judo too if you fancy some martial arts type exercise, or a more relaxed yoga class might be better!
We hope that this article has given you some food for thought, but you can get a complete run down of land and water activities available to everyone in North Cyprus in our other related articles.