Panoramic view of the iconic Blue Lagoon in Comino, showing its intensely turquoise water and rocky coastline. — Blue Lagoon on a quiet weekday

Sometimes we just want to escape the buzzing main island for a little while and last week we decided to spend a day on Comino Island!

Comino is the smallest of the three Maltese islands and you can either snorkel with the crowds in Blue Lagoon or you discover the rest of the island (walking).

If you are a regular reader of explorinmalta you probably know we prefer the latter. So let us take a look at the stops we made on the island.

Ferry

When entering the ferry in Cirkewwa, you are given a bracelet to wear which works as a day pass for a return trip. Knowing that many tourists leave their garbage on the island we are wondering why you would hand out up to 12,000 plastic bracelets (3 daily slots at 4,000 visitors each) that can add to littering.

The ride takes about 25 minutes and most ferries have around 90 seats. In the morning ferries are still pretty empty, from 11am they can fill up though.

Once we reached Blue Lagoon we started walking along the top of the rocks heading towards the St. Mary’s Tower. We brought a square beach UPF 50+ umbrella with us and were planning to use it at our final stop (Santa Marija Bay). But the sun was already so intense that we used it as we walked across the island.

Il-Bejta tal-Fenek

Walking towards the watchtower, we are passing by the two beautiful bays Il-Bejta tal-Fenek (English: “The Rabbit’s Nest”) and Taħt il-Mazz (English: “Under the Stack”).

A secluded bay, Il-Bejta tal-Fenek ("The Rabbit's Nest"), viewed from the hillside with St. Mary's Tower in the distance. — Il-Bejta tal-Fenek and St. Mary’s Tower

You will see quite a lot of boats here depending on the season. In August most of them are tourist boats doing a Comino Island round-trip.

Taħt il-Mazz

We walked all the way up to the end and the watchtower is just behind us. The view across the bay and Gozo is just amazing. And the turqoise water of the Blue Lagoon contrasts with the dark blue water of the ocean. Wow!

St. Mary’s Tower

Built in 1618, St. Mary’s Tower is approx. 12 metres tall with walls that are 6 metres thick. The tower is located about 80 metres above sea level.

During the 17th and 18th century around 60 soldiers were based inside. In 1829 the British military abandoned the tower, but put it back into service during World War I and World War II.

A dry, rocky hiking path leading from the St. Mary's Tower inland toward the sandy Santa Marija Bay. — Path towards Santa Marija Bay

From the tower we now walk inland, passing by a building once known as “il-Palazz”. It was built in the 1600s as military barracks, later turned into a isolation hospital for sick soldiers during British rule and eventually used as a school for the few families living on the island.

Pond

We found this unexpected, little oasis a few metres off our path. A pond in the middle of dry land. The rocky ground probably doesn’t take in the (pouring) rain very well, so the water most likely runs down from the hills to this tiny valley. To the sides of the pond we see plants that we see nowhere else on this (very dry) island.

Santa Marija Bay

Next we reached Santa Marija Bay. It felt totally different from the busy Blue Lagoon. This beach is soft and sandy and there were just a few people relaxing in the shade under some bushes. We went for a swim and then took a nap.

Camping Site

On the way back to the Blue Lagoon we passed by a camping area with tents and some simple facilities. If you ever want to sleep on Comino, then this is the place to do it.

Once we got back to the Blue Lagoon it was 3:30pm and there were already long queues of tourists waiting for a ferry.

It was tiring to walk across the island in the heat, but we were happy we spent our day away from the crowds and discovered some hidden gems.

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Comino Island — more than a Snorkeling Paradise