What to see on Comino beyond the Blue Lagoon
Comino is barely four square kilometres between Malta and Gozo, with no cars, hardly any shade and one reason almost everyone goes: the Blue Lagoon. But the lagoon is also the most crowded spot in Malta in summer, and ten minutes’ walk away there are other things. This is what fits depending on how many hours the boat gives you.
The Blue Lagoon (with a pass)
A shallow cove with a white-sand bottom between Comino and the islet of Cominotto: hence the colour. It has a food-and-drink kiosk, and sunbeds in summer. To set foot on it you need the free QR; to swim from the boat, you don’t. With the €40 cruise you get the whole day; with the schooner, 90 minutes, and “not guaranteed”.
The Crystal Lagoon and the caves
Round the headland is the Crystal Lagoon, deeper and beachless: it is the one the €40 cruise adds “from June to October, weather permitting, an extra hour”, and where you are free of crowds. Along the coast, the Santa Marija pirate caves and the Elephant’s Head rock, which the Gozo and Comino cruises show from the boat. And a few metres from the lagoon, the reef for snorkelling (kit €5).
St Mary’s Tower and the film sets
A walk along dirt tracks climbs to St Mary’s Tower, the square fortress visible from the sea, passing the sets of Troy and The Count of Monte Cristo the listings mention. There is no shade anywhere on the island: water, a cap and closed shoes. With two hours on Comino it is doable; with one, stay at the lagoon.
With one hour, two, or five
One hour (Gozo and Comino cruise): the lagoon and that’s it. Two hours (hop-on ferry): lagoon plus a walk to the tower, or snorkelling on the reef. Five or six hours (€40 cruise): all of the above, the Crystal Lagoon and time for the lagoon to empty out late in the day, which is when it is at its best.