Booking
Booking a boat trip in Malta is easy and getting the right one is not, because a dozen listings have nearly identical titles and go to nearly the same places. Four lines on the listing decide your day, and none of them is the price.
Quick answer
Book a few days ahead in May, June, September and October, and about a week ahead for July and August. Take the earliest departure of the day: you reach the Blue Lagoon before the rest of the fleet. Check the port, the boat size and whether it enters the caves before you check the price.
Six things to check before you pay
All of them are on the listing if you look for them.
The difference between Ġirkewwa and Sliema is roughly forty minutes each way. Use the port switch on the homepage to filter.
Two hundred with a waterslide, or twelve with a cool box. The price does not tell you, and the photographs usually do.
Only small boats fit. If the listing does not say it goes inside, assume it passes the entrance.
One listing here carries 21,086 ratings and another carries three. Both may be excellent; only one has been tested.
On every Comino trip here, yes. The harbour cruise has none by design.
Free to 24 hours on most listings. Wind cancels trips and the call comes in the morning, so that line matters more than a small discount.
What happens on the day
Arrive early, claim a seat, stay on deck for the crossing, watch the time.
Arrive fifteen to twenty minutes early. Boarding is by the quay and boats leave on time, because the whole schedule downstream depends on it.
Claim your spot immediately. On the large catamarans the shaded seats and the upper deck go in the first two minutes. On small boats it does not matter.
The crossing is part of it. Depending on the port, twenty minutes to an hour of coastline. Stay on deck for it — the cliffs between Mellieħa and Comino are the best part of the journey and most people are looking at their phones.
Watch the time at each stop. Boats leave the lagoon on schedule and they do not count heads twice. Set a phone alarm if you are swimming.
Six lines on a Malta boat tour listing worth reading twice
None of them is the headline price.
It decides how much of your Malta boat tour is spent moving.
Four hours from the north is not four hours from the south.
A two-hundred-person catamaran and a twelve-person boat can cost the same.
If a Malta boat tour listing does not say so, assume it passes them.
Twenty-one thousand ratings and three ratings are not comparable evidence.
Wind decides on the morning, so free cancellation is the real insurance.
Wind is what cancels a Malta boat trip, not rain, and the call is made on the morning. Book early in your trip rather than on the last day.
The best time to sail→Book direct
Top pick, best rated, cheapest and the small-group option.
★ 4.7 · 8,493 reviews
★ 4.9 · 1,419 reviews
★ 4.6 · 2,964 reviews
★ 4.8 · 2,631 reviews
Book your Malta boat tour early in the trip rather than on the last morning. Wind decides on the day, and a refund is not a boat trip.
The best time to sail→Six moments on a Malta boat tour day that decide how it goes
None of them are on the listing.
A missed Malta boat tour is not refunded.
On a large boat the shade goes in the first two minutes.
The cliffs are the part people miss looking at phones.
Every Malta boat tour anchors on a schedule.
Boats leave on time and do not recount heads.
Six hours of reflected light is not like a beach.
Common questions
A few days in the shoulder months and about a week for July and August weekends. The first departures go first.
The port it leaves from, how many people the boat takes, and whether it enters the sea caves. None of those are the price.
Often, outside peak weekends. Availability is shown live on each listing.
You are refunded in full or moved. Wind is the usual cause and the call is made on the morning.
No. Every listing here uses a mobile voucher.
Fifteen to twenty minutes. Boats leave on time because the rest of the day depends on it.
Go deeper
From $23 for the harbour, and what the full days add.
Blue LagoonNo road reaches it. What the trip is actually like.
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.
Comino: Blue Lagoon, Crystal Lagoon, and Sea Caves Tour
★ 4.9 · 646 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h