Comino and the Blue Lagoon

 This post chronicles a most excellent (but tiring) day with S & M visiting Comino Island. 

We started off the day by walking from Kercem into the main town of Victoria where you can catch the bus to anywhere on the island of Gozo.

This photo is a reminder of how you need to keep your eyes open when you are walking down the sidewalk. For the record there were MANY sidewalks with this same problem!

I was quite content because Suzy had done all the research and figuring out, so I had a day where I didn't have to think, we just followed along!

We caught a bus in Victoria down to the harbour Mgarr. At the ferry dock where you catch the big ferry to the main island of Malta you can also catch a little boat over to Comino. They seem to go quite regularly (as soon as they fill up I assume) and I believe it was about 10 Euros a person for the return trip.

Here we are enjoying the ride out to Comino. It seemed pretty short, maybe 15 minutes?

Upon our arrival we were greeted by this...

The blue lagoon on Comino. Yes, it was as stunning as it looks in the photo! Comino is virtually an uninhabited island, which boasts a staggering population of four people. Yes, four! There is a hotel on the island and some vendors, but other than that it is a beautiful unspoiled island!

At the harbour where you arrive is where the most people congregate so they can go for a swim in the turquoise waters. There isn't much beach space, but vendors are renting sun loungers out on the rocks. I suspect you need to get there early to get one. Even when we arrived mid day there was barely a rock space to set yourself down on close to the water.

We decided to go for a walk first and do a bit of exploring. It wasn't really clear to us which way we should be going, but we headed off anyway. The island is small, how lost could we get? Theoretically if we just kept going we'd end up back where we started, right?

The landscape was pretty, and we enjoyed our walk in the sunshine.

Eventually we made our way to the Comino Hotel. It seemed like an excellent spot to stop for a cool drink in the shade.

We all agreed that it was much quieter, and seemed like it would be a good spot to stop for lunch and then use the beach by the hotel on another day trip.

Doesn't that look inviting?

After a refreshment break we continued on our walk which took us up fairly high. I just couldn't believe how beautiful it was!

Here is Steve just a little too close to the edge for my comfort! Those of you that know him won't be surprised 😀 

As we were walking, we came across the Santa Marija Watch Tower. It didn't appear to be open, so we just looked from the outside. All I can tell you is that it was built in 1618 😀

 

I'm just going to share with you a few photos from the rest of our walk.

Here is the view back towards Gozo.

There were lots of boats in the area... I think carrying snorkelers and divers. The water looked amazing. Maybe we snorkel next time?!

One more shot showing the view.

Side note: Take water and snacks. It is hot, and you can't get much once you go away from the harbour.

After our walk we decided to have a swim. Suzy and Mike weren't prepared to brave the cold waters, but we felt like we should do it. After all, they are lucky enough to live here and can go anytime... we only had a few short days left to squeeze it all in!

The water was not as warm as it looked! It was not easy getting in, but we did it. Apparently, it is warm right through to the end of October... but not so warm yet in May!

After our swim we headed back on the boat to Gozo. We planned to try out a restaurant that I can't currently remember the name of... or which town it was in :) (I think it had something to do with bouquets... Maltese is a tricky language!) We took a taxi up, and discovered when we arrived that they weren't serving dinner yet. We just had a little rest out on the patio for a drink while we waited for dinner to start.

Dinner was lovely, and then we walked back down the hill towards Mgarr Harbour to catch the bus home. Here is a view looking up the hill in Mgarr from the harbour.

The bus ride from Mgarr to Victoria was uneventful and we caught the transfer bus that stops right outside our house in Kercem. The bus from Victoria to Kercem was a wild ride in the dark on winding roads going VERY fast... but as you can see we all made it home in one piece.

It was an amazing day and I highly recommend a visit to Comino if you are visiting Gozo!