Comino island, Malta

In Gozo, on leave. Decided to take the ferry to Comino, a 10-minute boat ride; to spend the day there. Comino is the 3rd island of Malta, after Gozo and Malta itself. Uninhabited; a barren rock. The only longstanding structure there, visible from almost everywhere on the island – and certainly outstanding when you cross the channel on the boat that links Gozo to Malta – is the St-Mary's Tower, I’d say 10 meter square at the base and about 15 meter high, built by the Knights in the early 17th century as part of a chain of signal towers between Gozo and the former Malta capital, Mdina (you can actually see a similar signal tower not too far away, on the island of Malta, which must have been part of that chain toward Mdina, located at the center of Malta). It was restored 5 or 6 years ago. Worth walking to and climbing the stairs, for you have an unobstructed view of Gozo on one side, and Malta on the other (you can see in between the 2 islands the fish farm enclosures). You can actually visit the tower…when it is open on certain days and the flag is flying – not today!

The island nowadays is better known for Blue Lagoon, a sheltered part of its littoral on the west side, where tourists flock in drove, from everywhere around Malta and Gozo, to swim and sun themselves: it has a white-sand seabed and the water is the turquoise blue that you see on postcards! The trouble is that the rock ledge where they perch themselves is rough, unequal and totally uncomfortable. There are many deckchairs and umbrellas people can hire for the day (10 Euros for 2 chairs and one umbrella). This does not prevent hundreds of people to crowd that rocky bank – just like a bunch of seals sunning themselves on a rock by the ocean! I did not particularly enjoy the experience – too many people! We went on a Monday, thinking that the weekend crowd would not be there; little we knew, perhaps forgetting that this is the holiday season, and that people sometimes extend their weekend to include the Monday…

Once you leave Blue Lagoon though, it’s quiet – few actually venture away from the “seal rock”! We crossed the island, walking first to the Tower, then to the South-East end of the island. Very little shade on this barren place, and the sun is scorching!

There is a hotel there, the Comino Hotel, split in two; bungalows that give on a small cove where we bathed (Santa Marija Bay), and then, a walking distance away, the main campus, that also gives on a cove (San Niklaw Bay). This 4-star (!) hotel operates, we are told, only from April to October (would not be a target destination for us…) Had a fruit juice there, before walking back to Blue Lagoon, and a last swim before taking the ferry back to Gozo (7 Euros each the return ticket).

There was a young Italian family along, 2 daughters. When the oldest – I’d say about 12 years old – found out we were from Canada, she asked Cynthia, all too happy to try her English, if she knew Justin Bieber!!!

Gozo, June 20, 2011