Malta, Part Two: Comino and Gozo

When you go to Malta, the excursion to Comino is absolutely obligatory. Whether you choose to go on a small or big boat is unimportant. Unless you are prone to seasickness; then it is VERY important. But I digress.

We chose a biggish boat, the Sea Odyssey. She is a fairly new boat equipped with a slide (!) and an extremely competent and friendly crew. We were picked up at the port of Bugibba in Saint Paul’s Bay, right on time! We headed out immediately; first stop: the Crystal Lagoon on the small island of Comino!

The Sea Odyssey: a modern boat and a competent and friendly crew!

Comino is a tiny island between the main island of Malta and the smaller one of Gozo. It is very sparsely populated, with only TWO permanent residents according to Wikipedia! Read more about Comino and its history of pirates and marauders if you like, here. The varied crystalline blues of the Crystal Lagoon’s warm waters are ideal for snorkeling and diving, and so that is what we did. Like most water-babies, I love to snorkel and share a bit in the exotic world just below the surface of the deep. The many small fish swim along with you when you snorkel calmly as a visitor in their world, and they delight the outsider with their nearness and behaviors. There were a lot of other boats but the lagoon is big and so it doesn’t seem crowded at all. If you are a good swimmer, there is plenty of the deep blue sea for all.

The Crystal Lagoon, Comino: so many shades of blue, and the water so clear!

Next stop: Gozo. We had only three hours to explore the capital city of Victoria. We chose to lazily wander the old streets and have lunch. It was stiflingly hot — August 2021 — so not great sightseeing weather, but we had lunch in front of a misting fan on a pretty little square.

Final stop on our eight hour excursion, the Blue Lagoon! We had been looking forward to this all day — my non-swimming friend would finally be able to get in the water because there is a sandy BEACH! Well, maybe not so much. This was the most crowded tiny stretch of beach we could have imagined, and in the age of Covid-19, in spite of both of us being fully vaccinated, it wasn’t quite as nice as we imagined. Yes, the waters are blue and inviting, but there were just too many people. We didn’t spend as much time in the water as we might have otherwise.

The Blue Lagoon: clear, inviting water but TOO MANY PEOPLE.

As we were leaving Comino to head home, we got to see some caves and rock formations. The most famous rock formation is probably the Elephant, pictured here.

I was impressed by our captain’s sailing skills. He got us up close and personal with the caves and rock formations!

Some of the pirate caves and grottos on Comino.

We booked our tour with Sea Adventures. Learn more about their offerings here. Highly recommended! But skip the Blue Lagoon in high season if you love to swim and snorkel. Have a great time in Malta! We did!