Key takeaways
- The harbours nearest Comino are furthest from where people stay, and the ones nearest the hotels are furthest from Comino.
- The northern tip of Malta faces Comino across a short channel. Getting to Cirkewwa is the part that takes the time.
- No transfer at all if you are staying there, at the cost of a longer sea leg in each direction.
- Further north than the Sliema strip and still a resort town, which makes it the compromise option.
The geography of the problem
Malta is small, but it is not so small that it does not matter where you start. Comino sits off the north-western tip, in the channel between Malta and Gozo. The tourist accommodation is concentrated along the eastern side, around Sliema, St Julian's and the bays further north.
So every visitor faces the same trade. Leave from close to Comino and you spend the time on land getting to the harbour. Leave from close to your hotel and you spend it on the water. There is no route that is short at both ends, and choosing well is mostly about deciding which kind of travelling you would rather do.
It is worth saying that none of these harbours is a bad choice. Malta is not large enough for any of them to ruin a day, and the difference between the best and the worst option here is perhaps an hour. It is simply an hour that could have been spent in the water.
Cirkewwa
The northern tip of Malta, and the point closest to Comino. It is also the terminal for the Gozo ferry, so it is a busy piece of coast with proper infrastructure and regular small boats crossing to the lagoon.
The crossing is short enough to be incidental. The drive is not: from the Sliema area it is a genuine journey, and in August the roads north carry everyone heading for the Gozo ferry as well as everyone heading for Comino. If you are staying anywhere in the north, or you have a car and an early start, this is the efficient choice.
Mgarr, on Gozo
Gozo's harbour on its eastern corner, facing Comino across the channel. For anyone based on Gozo this is simply the way you go, and the crossing is comparable to the one from Cirkewwa.
It has one advantage the Malta-side harbours do not: a boat leaving from here can work Gozo's own coast on the way, and that coastline is spectacular. A trip that takes in both is a better day than a straight crossing to the lagoon and back.
A harbour on the Malta side, where most Blue Lagoon days begin
Sliema and St Julian’s
The two densest concentrations of visitor accommodation on the island, and both send boats north through the season. If you are staying in either, the appeal is obvious: you walk to the quay and the day begins.
The cost is sea time. The run up the coast and back is a substantial part of the trip, and while the coastal scenery is real, it is not why you came. Boats leaving from here also tend to reach Comino in the middle of the day, which is precisely the hour the bay is worst.
For a charter this matters far less than it does for a scheduled boat, because a charter leaving early from a southern harbour still arrives ahead of the crowd. The sea leg becomes part of the morning rather than the reason you missed the quiet hour.
Bugibba and the northern bays
Bugibba, Qawra and the bays around St Paul's sit between the two extremes: further north than Sliema, still full of hotels, and with boats running to Comino. For a lot of visitors this is the sweet spot, particularly if the accommodation is already up there.
The sea leg is shorter than from Sliema and the land journey is shorter than to Cirkewwa. Nothing about it is optimal and everything about it is reasonable, which is a fair description of a compromise that works.
Getting to a harbour without a car
Malta's bus network is extensive, cheap and slow, and it reaches all of these places. The route north to Cirkewwa is well served because of the Gozo ferry, and the resort towns are all on multiple lines.
The thing to plan is the outbound leg rather than the return. Missing a boat because a bus took forty minutes longer than the app suggested is a common way to lose a morning, and buses in August are full. If the departure is early, allow considerably more time than the timetable claims.
Taxis and ride-hailing both operate on Malta and are the reliable option for an early start, particularly if there are several of you sharing one. For a departure before the buses are properly running, it is the only sensible way to reach a northern harbour.
Which to choose
If the hour matters to you more than anything else, choose whatever gets you on the water earliest, and accept a longer land journey to achieve it. On this bay that single decision outweighs everything else.
If you are travelling with young children, choose the shortest total journey rather than the shortest crossing, because the tiring part is the whole day rather than any one leg of it.
And if you are staying somewhere with boats leaving from its own harbour, the convenience of walking to the quay is worth a good deal, particularly on a charter that can leave early anyway.
