Comino (Part 2)

The rocky side of the swimming area

But with a name like the ‘Blue Lagoon’, we just had to go for a swim. I even remembered to take a camera this time! There is a large buoyed off swimming area and we quickly made our way into it to avoid any approaching boats: the anchorage was starting to fill up.

Swimming through the rocky side of the buoyed off area we found that it was quite shallow and there were also a few fish to keep us entertained. There were also quite a few jellyfish about.

Looking out of the cave   

We found a good cave to swim into although it is nothing like as deep as the one in the previous anchorage. It also seemed to collect small jellyfish and so we decided to head back out rather than swim in jellyfish soup.

The sandy side of the swimming area   

Our route back to BV took us through the sandy part of the swimming area. No wonder it is such a popular place to visit in the summer.

Back on board BV we could see that the shore had geared up for visitors. Open-sided trucks had positioned to sell mementos, snacks and beer, and the beach was now covered in sun-umbrellas. To populate these sunbathing spots, a stream of tripper boats were starting to arrive at the quay and disgorging their passengers. Powerful paraglider speedboats and water-ski craft were also vying for business. If it was like this in May it would certainly be manic during the summer months.

Santa Maria bay   

Content that we had enjoyed our visit to the Blue Lagoon, we set off at 3pm and worked our way clockwise around Comino. We took a quick look at the 2 bays on the northern side of the island, San Niklaw and Santa Maria. San Niklaw has the hotel on its shores and San Maria seems to have some visitor apartments; both would be nice anchorages in the right conditions. We found the whole of the northern and eastern coasts interesting with lots of caves and arches.

St Paul’s Islands, riddled with caves and blending into the coastline of the mainland shore   

Sunday continued the theme of no sailing. Our log records just 3 knots of wind for most of our trip back to Valletta. Fortunately, the military range was not active and so we could take the direct route along the coast which saved us a few miles. This coastal route gave us a good look into St Paul’s bay an anchorage we’d like to stop at later. In AD60, St Paul was shipwrecked here and took refuge in the caves until the weather subsided. St Paul then went on to convert the Roman governor, Publius, to Christianity as well as the majority of the island’s population.

We worked our way along the coast and were once again confronted with the amazing skyline of Valletta; it has to be one of the best harbours in the world to enter. A fast RiB came out to intercept us which turned out to be Barry and Catherine coming to say hello. With Catherine at the helm, and 4 times BV’s horsepower, they were certainly making faster progress through the water than us (Catherine had just passed her powerboat qualification and so this was her first drive of their RiB). In comparison, we were just pootling back into Valletta. They came and said hello again in the entrance to the harbour and then came on board, when we had tied up at 1735, for drinks. What a great weekend!

Comino, Malta