Comino
A channel of shallow water between two uninhabited islands, with a bottom of white sand and rock that turns it an improbable colour. It is the most photographed place in Malta and the only way to reach it is on a boat — which is both the appeal and, in August, the problem.
Quick answer
The Blue Lagoon is the channel between Comino and the uninhabited islet of Cominotto, and it has no land route. Comino has no cars and no surfaced roads. Every Malta boat tour on this page except the harbour cruise goes there, and the differences between them are the port, the boat and how long you get in the water.
What the day actually contains
This is the standard shape from any port.
Twenty minutes from Ġirkewwa, close to an hour from Sliema. The coastline on the way is genuinely worth being on deck for.
The water goes from deep blue to pale turquoise almost in one boat-length as the bottom comes up. Everybody notices it.
An hour or more anchored in the channel. Swim, snorkel, and on the bigger boats slide off the back of the deck.
Around the headland: deeper, darker, framed by cliffs, and usually far quieter than the Blue Lagoon.
Cut into the cliffs, and only enterable by boats small enough to fit inside. The large catamarans pass the entrance.
The seven- and eight-hour trips add a stop at Mġarr or a cruise along the Gozo cliffs.
The honest part about August
Same water, a fraction of the boats: May, June, September, October.
The Blue Lagoon is about two hundred metres across. In July and August it holds dozens of tour boats, a ferry service running continuously, and several thousand people between the water and the rocks on either side.
It is still beautiful. The water does not change colour because there are people in it. But a Blue Lagoon Malta boat trip in August is a busy day out rather than the empty turquoise channel in every photograph, and it is better to know that in advance than to discover it.
Two things genuinely help. Book the earliest departure you can find, because the first boats have the lagoon to themselves for a while. And come in May, June, September or October if you can — the water is the same temperature and there is a fraction of the traffic.
Six things every Malta boat tour to Comino has in common
The listings look different and mostly are not.
Every Malta boat tour to Comino stops there, and it is the long stop of the day.
Around the headland, on almost every itinerary.
Passed by every trip; entered only by the small ones.
Included on every Comino listing here.
On almost every Malta boat tour compared on this site.
And no shade on most of them, whatever the price.
Nobody lives on Comino and nothing is built on it. That is why the lagoon looks the way it does, and it is also why there is no shade, no shop and nowhere to sit down.
What to bring→Book direct
Our top pick, the best rated, a small group and a family-run boat.
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A Malta boat tour is the only way into the Blue Lagoon, and the earliest one of the day is the only way to have it briefly to yourself.
The best time to sail→Six things a Malta boat tour to the Blue Lagoon always includes
The lagoon does not vary; the boat does.
Every Malta boat tour to Comino starts with open water.
It happens in one boat-length and it is the same from every boat.
The anchor goes down and stays down for an hour or more.
On almost every Malta boat tour itinerary here.
Small boats go in; large ones slow down at the entrance.
No Malta boat tour has a private lagoon. You are all in the same channel.
Common questions
No. Comino has no roads and no cars, and the lagoon is the channel between it and Cominotto. Every person there arrived by sea.
The channel is shallow with a bottom of white sand and pale rock, which reflects light back up through the water.
An hour or more on the full-day trips; less on the shorter ones, which is why the port you leave from matters.
In July and August, very. It is a channel about two hundred metres wide that can hold dozens of boats. May, June, September and October are a different place.
Almost nothing: a couple of kiosks, no shops, no shade and no real facilities. That is part of the appeal and part of the planning.
Yes, most trips let you get off if you want to. There is a path up to the tower and very little else.
Go deeper
From $23 for the harbour, and what the full days add.
The verdictFourteen listings, and the four that are worth your morning.
From SliemaThree departures, and how long the crossing really takes.
From BugibbaFive departures, and the shortest route to the lagoon.
Sea cavesSanta Maria Caves and the arch, and why only small boats enter.
PrivateFrom $184 for the boat, and when it is worth it.
Comino: Blue Lagoon, Crystal Lagoon, and Sea Caves Tour
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