Paphos Marina: What's There and How It Fits a Seafront Walk

What people mean by Paphos marina

There is no working marina at Kissonerga today. The harbour at Kato Paphos is the only quay in the city centre where boats tie up and visitors walk the waterfront. A harbour directory counts 15 marinas and harbours across the wider Paphos district, including Paphos Harbour Marina, Latchi Marina and Pomos Marina.

That distinction matters if you turn up expecting yacht berths, a chandlery and marina facilities. The harbour gives you a quay, a castle, a promenade and boat sellers, not a marina complex. The Things to Do in Paphos guide sets the harbour among the wider sights of the seafront.

The harbour at Kato Paphos: what you see along the quay

The quay runs along the edge of Kato Paphos, with Paphos Medieval Fort at its western end and a line of cafés and kiosks behind. Small fishing and pleasure boats moor along the wall, and the paved walk continues east towards the resort strip. It is a place to walk, look at the water and take photographs rather than to swim or sunbathe.

Saint Nicholas Church sits close to the harbour area, and the fort and church together make a natural pair of stops. The Paphos harbour guide covers the quay itself, while the Paphos promenade page maps the longer walk along the seafront.

Boat operators sell trips from the harbour area, and the Paphos boat trips guide explains what is on offer and when sailings run. Check the operator's own board at the quay on the day, since schedules shift with weather and season.

How long the harbour and seafront need

Allow 60 to 90 minutes for the harbour and its immediate surroundings, including the fort exterior and a look along the quay. Stretch that to half a day if you walk the full promenade, stop for a drink and add a museum. The trade-off is heat and crowds: mid-summer afternoons are the busiest and hottest window, while early morning and late afternoon are calmer.

The harbour sits at the heart of the resort, and the old town of Paphos, known as Ktima, is a short drive or bus ride inland. Pairing the harbour with Paphos old town gives you two different halves of the city in one day.

Getting to Kato Paphos harbour

Buses run between Ktima and Kato Paphos, and local services link the harbour area with the resort strip and the archaeological sites. Driving is straightforward but parking near the harbour fills quickly in summer. Cyprus drives on the left, so give yourself time to settle in if you have hired a car.

On foot, the harbour is the natural end point of a walk west along the seafront from the resort hotels. That route takes you past the promenade and into the quay without needing a car at all. The Paphos promenade guide describes the walk in detail.

Where the planned Paphos marina would go

The planned marina is sited at Potima Bay, between Peyia and Kissonerga, not in the city centre. As reported in early 2025, the approved scheme covered about 155,000 square metres with berths for 1,000 yachts, and the same reporting put the commercial and residential area at 42,000 square metres with a three-year construction period.

The Department of Antiquities raised no objection to the Kissonerga location on archaeological grounds, according to that reporting. That is why the cruise berthing element was folded into the Kissonerga proposal rather than kept at Kato Paphos. Nothing has been built on the site, so there is no marina to visit at Potima Bay.

The current tender offers bidders two development options, both with capacity for up to 1,000 leisure vessels. One keeps 70 to 80 per cent of facilities at sea with 20 to 30 per cent on land plus residential and commercial development; the other adds a dedicated cruise ship berthing area. The concession is a 55-year lease over roughly 166,000 square metres.

The tender timeline

Bids for the Kissonerga marina closed on 23 January 2026, following an extension to let interested parties submit questions. Evaluation was scheduled for March, with shortlisted bidders invited to the next phase, negotiations in May and the concession award planned for late 2026. Construction was projected to begin in April 2027.

Treat those dates as a plan, not a promise. The project has been stalled for more than three decades by legal and bureaucratic setbacks, including a frozen 2008 award and a 2021 process that was halted by a complaint. Construction has not started, so no completion date can be given.

Other marinas and harbours in the Paphos region

Away from the city, Latchi Marina serves the north-west coast near Polis, and Pomos Marina sits further along that shore; Agios Georgios harbor near Peyia is another small base. Each suits a different day: Latchi for the Akamas coast, Pomos for a quieter run out, Agios Georgios for a short stop.

For boat trips, Kato Paphos harbour is the most convenient starting point if you are staying in the resort, while Latchi suits travellers based in the north-west. The harbourmaps directory ranks the district's harbours by the traffic its AIS signals record, so it can point you to the busier bases.

Should you build your day around the harbour or the planned marina?

Build it around the harbour. The Kissonerga marina is a tender-stage project with construction projected for 2027 and no completed facility to visit, so the working quay at Kato Paphos is where you should spend your time. Pair it with the fort, the promenade and the old town for a full day.

If you are staying elsewhere in the district, consider Latchi or Pomos for a harbour day with a different view. Either way, check the operator's board on the quay for boat times, since the harbour has no fixed published schedule visitors can rely on.