Coastal care
Our method, our machinery and the limits we hold
Mechanical beach cleaning is a blunt tool used carelessly and a precise one used properly. This page sets out exactly how we work the Akamas shoreline, and where we stop.
Method
Five steps, applied to every contracted sector
The sequence does not change between a hotel frontage in Coral Bay and a public bay at Neo Chorio. Only the classification of each sector does.
- 01
Survey and classify the sector
Each contracted frontage is divided into sectors of 100–300 m. For every sector we record sand grain and moisture, compaction, slope, debris mix, dune toe position, vegetation line and any nest marker. The sector class — machine, rake or hand-only — comes out of that record and is reviewed after every significant storm.
- 02
Set depth, screen and speed
Sieving depth runs 30–150 mm. Dry fine sand is worked shallow and slow so the screen does not blind; coarse or shell-heavy sand takes more depth but a wider screen spacing. The aim is to lift anthropogenic debris while returning sand and the fine organic fraction the beach ecosystem depends on.
- 03
Work the pass
Passes run parallel to the water line, overlapping by around 200 mm, at 4–6 km/h. The operator holds the seaward machine line marked at the dune toe and does not cut inland to shorten a turn. Compacted sectors are raked rather than sieved; the tine action pulls debris to the surface without moving the sand profile.
- 04
Hand-finish exclusion zones
Nesting beaches, dune bases, rock pockets, wrack banks and vegetation lines are cleared by two-person hand teams with grabbers and sieve frames, working from the water line upward and never crossing a marked nest boundary. This is slower and costs more per metre. It is not optional.
- 05
Separate, weigh and record
The hopper is tipped at the depot and material separated into six streams. Each stream is weighed and logged against the beach and date. That record feeds the client quarterly report and our own year-on-year comparison of what the sea is bringing in.
Equipment
Three ways to clear a beach
Every unit is checked before the shift and serviced at the Polis workshop over winter. Nothing goes onto sand with a hydraulic leak.
Tractor-towed sieving cleaner
- Working width
- 2.0 m
- Sieving depth
- 30–150 mm, adjustable
- Screen
- 20 mm mesh
- Hopper
- 1.5 m³
- Output
- ≈ 20,000 m²/h on open dry sand
Quad-towed tine rake
- Working width
- 1.3 m
- Action
- Surface tine, no sieving
- Ground pressure
- Low — soft and narrow beaches
- Use case
- Compacted, damp or shell-heavy sectors
- Output
- ≈ 8,000 m²/h
Hand clearance kit
- Team size
- 2–6 operatives per sector
- Tools
- Grabbers, sieve frames, sack frames
- Safety
- Sharps tubes, cut-resistant gloves
- Use case
- Nesting zones, dunes, rock and wrack
- Output
- ≈ 700 m of shoreline per team per shift
Safeguards
The three limits we will not trade against a schedule
Clients occasionally ask for a machine pass on a nesting beach in July, or for the wrack line to be stripped bare. The answer is documented before the contract starts so it is never an argument in August.
Turtle nesting protocol
Akamas beaches host loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting. From 1 May to 30 September, no machinery enters a marked nesting beach. Hand teams work at first light so tracks laid overnight are still readable, keep above the marked line, and report every new track and disturbed marker the same morning.
Dune and backshore protection
The dune toe is the machine line and it is physically marked. Vegetated dune, embryo dune and backshore stay untouched, because they are the sediment store that rebuilds the beach after winter. Where visitor traffic is cutting new paths through dune, we install fencing and a defined crossing rather than cleaning the damage repeatedly.
Wrack and seagrass judgement
Posidonia banquettes look like mess and function as storm defence and habitat. We remove plastic, rope and glass from within them and leave the wrack itself in place. Complete removal is available where a client insists, but we will document what it does to the profile of that beach first.
Impact data by season
Recorded at the Polis depot after separation. Beaches counted are those under contract for the full season; call-out work is excluded so year-on-year figures stay comparable.
| Season | Beaches | Shoreline (km) | Waste (t) | Recycled (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | 31 | 44.2 | 58 |
| 2022 | 9 | 33 | 49.6 | 61 |
| 2023 | 10 | 35 | 53.1 | 62 |
| 2024 | 11 | 38 | 58.4 | 63 |
| 2025 | 11 | 38 | 61.0 | 64 |
Cumulative total since the 2019 season: 412 tonnes across seven seasons of operation.
- Weighed per beach, per stream, per collection
- Reported to clients quarterly, in writing
- Hazardous and sharps finds logged separately
- Storm events recorded against collected volume
Get in touch
Ask us what we would actually do with your beach
We would rather survey a frontage and tell you it needs three cleans a week than sell you seven. Book a survey and we will class the sectors with you on site.
- operations@liniaiapa.eu
- Operations desk: 06:00–19:00, seven days, 1 April – 31 October
- Depot 4, Leoforos Arsinois, Polis Chrysochous, Paphos 8830, Cyprus