Key takeaways
- There is no galley, no bar and nowhere to buy anything. Whatever you want to eat and drink comes aboard in a bag with you.
- An ice box with ice and drinking water is provided, which solves hydration and nothing else.
- Snorkelling equipment, floats, life jackets and a fresh water shower are all on the boat already.
- The fuel contribution is settled with the skipper on the day, and a card is no use in the middle of a channel.
The one that catches everybody
Drinking water is aboard in an ice box. Food is not, and nor is anything else you might want to drink. It is written on the booking page and it is still the thing people arrive without, because most boat trips of this length feed you something and the assumption travels.
There is nothing on the boat to buy and nothing on Comino worth relying on. In season there is a kiosk or two by the lagoon, and standing in a queue in the sun to buy a sandwich is a poor use of a four-hour charter. Pack a cool bag properly and the day is transformed.
What works: things that survive heat and salt and can be eaten with fingers. Bread, cheese, cured meat, tomatoes, fruit, something sweet. What does not: anything that needs a plate, a knife or refrigeration you do not have.
What is already on the boat
An ice box with ice and drinking water, which is more useful than it sounds because it means your own drinks can go in it and stay cold for four hours. Snorkelling gear and floats, so nobody has to buy a mask. Life jackets. A fresh water shower for rinsing salt off before you sit down again.
There is also a sound system you can pair a phone with, which travellers mention constantly, and free parking at the departure point. None of that needs to come from your bag.
Knowing what is aboard matters as much as knowing what is not, because the commonest packing mistake after forgetting food is bringing four litres of bottled water that then has nowhere to go. The ice box handles that, and the space in your bag is better spent on lunch.
Sun, which is the real hazard
Malta in July and August runs to daily highs around thirty or thirty-one degrees with almost no cloud and no meaningful rain. On a boat there is a canopy over part of the deck and open sky over the rest, and the sea reflects everything back up at you from below.
That combination burns people who thought they were being careful. Sunscreen applied once in the morning is not enough for four hours on the water with swimming in between. Bring more than you think, reapply after every swim, and take a hat that will stay on when the boat moves.
A long-sleeved cover-up is the single most useful thing on this list after the food. It removes the problem entirely for whichever part of the day you have had enough sun for.
An open deck in Maltese summer sun, where the shade is limited and the sea reflects
In the water
Swimwear worn under your clothes saves the only genuinely awkward moment of the morning. A towel each, and a second one between you if there is room, because the first is damp by the second swim.
Water shoes are worth considering. Much of the swimming here is off the boat into deep water, where they are unnecessary, but if you go ashore anywhere the rock is sharp and hot in equal measure.
Goggles or a mask are aboard, but if you have your own and they fit properly, bring them. Borrowed masks leak, and a leaking mask at the best snorkelling stop of the day is a small tragedy.
Keeping things dry and safe
A dry bag or a sealed pouch for phones, wallets and documents. Spray on a small boat is inevitable and the difference between a wet phone and a dry one is a two-euro bag you already own.
Bring cash. The fuel contribution is handed to the skipper directly on the day, which is standard practice for charters in Malta and completely unexpected if nobody has mentioned it. Tips, if you want to leave one, are also cash.
Leave anything genuinely valuable at the accommodation. A boat is a small space with several people in it and a great deal of water, and there is no locker.
What is not allowed
The operator does not permit bikes, glass objects or anything explosive aboard. The glass one is the one that affects real packing decisions: wine and beer in bottles are a natural thing to bring on a boat day and they are exactly what is excluded.
Decant into plastic or cans before you leave. It is a sensible rule on a boat with bare feet and a hard deck, and it is easier to solve at home than at the quay.
It is worth reading the not-allowed list once before you shop rather than once at the quay. None of it is onerous, and all of it is easier to solve in a supermarket than standing on a pontoon with a bag you cannot bring aboard.
The short version
A cool bag with food and drink in cans or plastic, more sunscreen than seems reasonable, a hat that stays on, a cover-up, swimwear already on, two towels, a dry bag, and cash. That is the entire list.
Everything else you might think of is either already on the boat or better left behind, and a boat with less on it is a more comfortable boat for everyone standing on it.
