Allison Wallace 1/28/25 Allison Wallace 1/28/25

A day trip to Comino Island

Chances are, you have seen a picture or two of the Blue Lagoon.

This idyllic lagoon is found on Comino, a little gem of an island belonging to the Maltese archipelago, situated between Malta and Gozo.

It may be small, but it sure is mighty. Think stunning nature, crystal-clear turquoise water and hiking trails with breathtaking views.

We took a day trip there while staying on nearby Gozo. A ferry trip will take you about 15 to 20 minutes and then the day is yours.

My advice is to go early. We just walked down to the ferry terminal in Mgarr Harbour and bought a ticket for the next boat over. Don’t lose your card for the return trip – they are colour-coded based on who you booked through and some of the ferries go back to different parts of Malta.

As soon as you get off the boat, you can’t help but notice this incredibly vibrant blue stretch of water – that’s the Blue Lagoon and it can be tempting to stay here all day but that would be a mistake!

We had packed plenty of water and a sense of adventure and decided to spend our day walking around the island exploring – we could then spend as much time as wanted at the lagoon before heading back to Gozo.

There are no cars on Comino, but also not really any signposts, so we just followed the paths in the direction we wanted.

The one downside of walking on Comino is that in summer, it was pretty warm and there is no shade on this wild and wonderful island, so we definitely got pretty hot.

Our first stop was the Crystal Lagoon – just a 15 minute stroll around the cliff. Much less visited as most people only come by boat, this lagoon is surrounded by dramatic cliffs, hidden caves and tunnels.

You need to be wearing proper shoes and scramble down the rocks a bit. We did some light snorkelling and explored some caves and tunnels before taking to the cliffs for a couple of rock jumps. I was a bit scared to go from the higher points but Aiden did it in style.

From here we walked along the dramatic cliff edges towards the Santa Marja Tower. We could only admire this from a distance as it is currently closed.

This tower was built in 1618 to defend the island. It is visible from Gozo island and the ferry. Interestingly, in the 17th century, Comino served as a place of imprisonment or exile for errant knights.

From here we definitely wanted to explore some more and started to head along the coast towards Elephant Rock. About half way there, we realized it was too hot and we weren’t going to enjoy it so changed course and cut through the middle of island and made Santa Maria Bay our next stop.

Passing by a chapel, we emerged to a gorgeous, protected bay for a beer and a swim.

After a refreshing break here, it was time to go back to the start.

We followed the coastline back and I am pretty sure this isn’t a path and would have been more direct to go back inland but it is an adventure after all!. It would be hard to get lost here but there is an abandoned resort that is fenced off and we had to walk our way inland around that but we made it.

As we walked back down towards the Blue Lagoon, there are loads of food trucks lining the hill. We picked one for a kebab and a beer and had lunch overlooking the bay.

You can hire chairs and umbrellas on the rocks from the attendants on the beach but that really isn’t our style so we ate perched on a rock – there is no beach here.

The long narrow bay of bright blue water is surrounded by a rocky landscape, but the smooth sand at the bottom of the water make you almost feel like you’re swimming in a pool – albeit a crowded one.

We spied some rocky cave across the lagoon and went to swim for it. The current across the middle of the lagoon was actually kind of intense and then understood the need for the lifeguards.

The cave was cool – riding the swell in and out for a while and then we swam back. At this point, I was starting to feel a little crispy and it was nearly 4pm so we decided to grab the next boat back to Gozo.

This was not as simple as it sounds! The tiny jetty handles all the boats and ferries heading to and from various parts of Malta and there is no way of knowing which boat is yours until it arrives and someone yells out which colour is to board. Our boat only fit around 10 passengers but it was still so hectic and there were people shoving and pushing – mostly trying to escape the scorching sun. To make matters worse, there is a swimming area there with limited access so that adds another couple of dozen humans to the mix.

Once back on our boat, we had an added 10 minutes of driving around some caves on Comino before zooming across to Gozo. They call this a ‘caves tour’ but there is no commentary from the Capitan and you have no idea where you are, but it was pretty to see from the water what we had seen from the cliffs above.

Allison Wallace 1/28/25 Allison Wallace 1/28/25

Malta’s Gems: Exploring Gozo

Tucked away between Sicily and the North African coast, Malta is the ultimate Mediterranean escape and while small, the country is made up of more than one island.

The islands of Gozo and Comino to the north are hidden gems just waiting to be discovered.

We started our adventure with our bags on board a fast ferry taking us from Valetta to Gozo, docking in Mġarr – this is where we were basing ourselves for the next couple of days.

The port in Mġarr looks small but busy and charming and I was glad to see some restaurants around, meaning we wouldn’t have to travel for our evening meals.

Having spent a couple of days exploring the cities on the main island of Malta, we didn’t want to be landlocked and felt this was a good base and checked into the Grand Hotel Gozo with views across the harbour.

After arriving, we immediately wanted to get out and explore so we headed for a coastal walk from the port along the cliffs to Gorgun Beach.

I am not sure the word ‘beach’ really applies here but the walk was scenic and hot so there was no way we weren’t swimming.

Shoes are recommended as you make your way down some stairs and across some large and slippery rocks to make your way into the water. The day we were there, there was a bit of swell so had to be super careful getting back out.

The next day was the day to explore further afield. We had booked some a buggy through Gozo Quad Hire for the whole day. We self-drove but you can join a tour as well.

The guys came and picked us up from our hotel first thing in the morning and after a quick briefing, we were on our way.

The first stop was Grech’s bakery for a sweet donut and an espresso to fuel us for the day.

We had decided to do a lap of the island starting on the eastern side and heading north. This took us to Hondoq ir-Rummien where we stopped for a look around and enjoyed the view. We were there very early with not many people around and offering crystal clear water, but we were quite ready for a swim yet.

Next up, we headed down a winding road to Daħlet Qorrot Beach. I almost don’t want to share this spot because it was magical, and we could have spent all day here.

There were no other tourists, just locals out for their morning walk and swim and a few people learning how to dive.

The most inviting water at Daħlet Qorrot

The word hidden gem gets thrown around a lot, but this beach truly lived up to the phrase. The pebbly cove is surrounded by lush countryside and bordered by carved cliffs resulting in the perfect sheltered bay for swimming and snorkelling. The peace and the quiet here without shops or buildings is unmatched in the Mediterranean.

After dragging ourselves out of the sea and on our way, knowing that our buggy maxed out at 50km/h and while small, we wouldn’t make it around the whole island if we dallied too long, we headed for Ramla Beach.

Passing a vineyard on our left and stalls on our right, we headed down a straight, flat road – such a novelty for the island and ended on rich red sand.

This beach was much more developed and busier than where we had just left so we felt we didn’t need a swim (plus the sand was scorching hot) so walked down for a look and then headed back for a refreshing beer overlooking the calm ocean in front.

By now, I was getting a little hungry, so we pulled up in Marsalforn for some lunch. We opted to find a spot away from the restaurants lining the bay and tucked into some incredible Thai food a couple of streets back.

Long before visiting Malta, I had seen images of Xwejni Bay and the salt pans but nothing prepares you for seeing it in real life.

The Xwejni salt pans stretch three kilometres along the coast and have been used for more than 350 years. A salt pan is a shallow reservoir dug out of limestone rock to collect seawater. As the water evaporates, white salt crystals remain. The crystals are then dried and packed into salt pouches – collected about once a month in summer and it is incredible to see it in action.

After exploring here (from a distance as you cannot walk on the pans themselves), we headed to another spot I absolutely had to see for myself - Wied il-Għasri.

Driving down a dirt road and parking wherever we could find a spot out of the way, we headed in the direction of the sea. Before you make it, you can see a fissure in the land ahead.

Wied il-Għasri resembles a canyon and stretches 300 metres inland to a tiny pebble beach. To get down, you walk down about 100 steps carved into the porous walls of the sandstone.

Like most, we have to stop in awe as the winding bay appears before us on the way down. Towel down and slow stumble to the water’s edge across the soft pebbles (we had no water shoes) and into the clear bay we float.

Over the years, the swirling sea has carved out the sides of the gorge, creating caves and pockets beneath the water's surface. We swim almost to the mouth of the gorge but, feeling the pull of the current on our toes, stay safely away from the wide-open ocean.

After a relaxing swim (although it was quite busy when we visited in peak summer), it was on to what would be our last stop for the day.

If you google Gozo, you will probably see images of a rock arch over the sea. Unfortunately, the 28m tall Azure Window collapsed into the ocean in 2017 but this part of the coastline is still spectacular and worth a visit.

In addition to the Inland Sea – a natural sea pool connected to the sea by an 80-m long tunnel – this exposed part of the north-western coastline is dramatic and wild. It was also a filming location for season 1 of Game of Thrones!

We wanted to make a stop at Xlendi Beach and Victoria on the way back to our hotel but we had run out of time needed to return the buggy! We drove slowly through Victoria to get a sense of the city and got back just on closing time and the guys dropped us back to Mġarr so we could refresh and have a cocktail while we relived the day’s highlights.

It is crazy that you can fit so much to see on one tiny island and we didn’t even get to explore it all!