traveldk.com

Cyprus has perfect golfing weather for much of the year, though some may find July and August uncomfortably hot. Courses on the island, all 18-hole, include the international standard Aphrodite Hills, as well as the Tsada, the Secret Valley and the Elias Country clubs.

Tennis fans will find all-weather, floodlit public courts all over Cyprus, and most 5-star hotels and apartment complexes also have floodlit courts.

Would-be Grand Prix winners can test their skills to the limit at karting circuits at Pafos, Polis, Limassol, Larnaka and Agia Napa. Quad-bikes can also be hired at Agia Napa for thrills on the nearby dunes.

There are equestrian centres and country clubs in Nicosia, Limassol and at Pegeia, near Pafos, all catering to experienced riders as well as offering lessons and equipment for beginners.

The tumbling of skittles can be heard at state-of-the-art air-conditioned bowling centres in Agia Napa (where there is a combined bowling alley and Internet café on the waterfront), Pafos, Larnaka and Limassol. Most are open from noon until 2am.

Angling is offered year-round from the banks of more than 20 freshwater reservoirs stocked with trout, largemouth bass, carp, pike-perch and roach. Licences are required from the Cyprus Fisheries Department.

You don’t have to be superfit to explore Cyprus by mountain bike. Around the resorts there is plenty of fairly flat farmland, and it doesn’t take long to find yourself among rolling fields and woodland. With its network of rugged tracks – suitable only for mountain bikes or 4WD vehicles – the Akamas Peninsula is ideal territory. Cyprus hosts two annual mountain bike races, the Afxentia International each spring and the Agia Napa International each November.

Walking through the cool forests and rugged valleys of the Troodos brings you closer to Cyprus’s natural beauty and wildlife than any other way of exploring the island. Spring and autumn are the best times to head for the hills.

There is skiing on 1,950-m (6,400-ft) Mount Olympus from early January to late March, with ski lifts on the north slope of the mountain and at Sun Valley on the south side.

You don’t have to be mad to ascend a shaky, 65-m (210-ft) high tower, then leap from the top attached to a length of elastic cord – but it helps. Agia Napa, that magnet for youthful thrill-seekers, is Cyprus’s bungee capital. Also available are the “skycoaster” and the “slingshot” – which instead of sending you plummeting towards the ground, fire you into the air.