'Comino beyond the Blue Lagoon: the quiet half of the island almost nobody

The crowds at Comino’s Blue Lagoon are real, but they fill a few hundred metres of one bright bay. The rest of the island — a second lagoon, a 17th-century watchtower, a free clifftop battery and the long quiet sweep of Santa Marija Bay — stays almost empty, even on the busiest cruise-ship days. And here is the single most useful thing to know before you go: the compulsory booking system covers only the Blue Lagoon’s own beach, not the rest of Comino.

Key facts

• Booking: Malta’s compulsory Blue Lagoon booking applies only to the Blue Lagoon beach. Land at Santa Marija Bay, or walk the island, and you need no booking at all (confirmed by Malta’s tourism authority, 2025).
• St Mary’s Tower (built 1618): open roughly April to October, usually Wednesday and Friday–Sunday, 10:30–15:00, entry by donation. The Maltese flag flies when it is open.
• St Mary’s Battery: free, open all year, at any hour — no gate, no donation box.
• The walk: a loop of about 5 to 8 km (1.5–2.5 hours) takes in both lagoons, the tower, the battery and Santa Marija Bay. There is almost no shade.
• Facilities: none to rely on. No working hotel, no shop and no café on the island in 2026 — bring water, food and sun cover.
• Camping: legal only at the official Tal-Ful site near the Blue Lagoon; tents only, no facilities.

Why the rest of Comino stays empty

Almost everything written about Comino is about the Blue Lagoon and its crowds. That is where the scheduled boats land, and where most guided trips stop, so that is where everyone clusters. Walk ten minutes away from it and the island thins out fast.

The confusion that keeps people penned in is the booking rule. Since the Blue Lagoon introduced a compulsory (and free) booking to cap numbers, many visitors assume the whole island now needs a reservation. It does not. Malta’s tourism authority chief, Carlo Micallef, said on record in 2025 that the booking requirement applies to people landing on the Blue Lagoon’s own beach, and that anyone landing elsewhere, “such as Santa Marija Bay or elsewhere,” needs no booking. In other words, the busiest part of Comino is the one small piece that is now controlled; the quiet parts are as open as they ever were. (Our companion piece on the Blue Lagoon visitor cap covers the booking itself in detail.)

Blue Lagoon to Crystal Lagoon: the walk almost everyone skips

The easiest escape is the shortest. Crystal Lagoon is only a few minutes’ walk from the Blue Lagoon, around the headland to the south — no boat required, though many day-trippers never realise it is there. It is a narrower channel of the same astonishing clear water, hemmed in by low cliffs, and it holds a fraction of the crowd. There is no beach as such: people slip in off the rocks. Bring something for your feet.

St Mary’s Tower and Battery: what you pay for, what’s free

Comino’s landmark is St Mary’s Tower, a great square watchtower built in 1618 and the tallest of the coastal towers raised under Grand Master Wignacourt, standing about 80 metres above the sea. Since 2002 it has been looked after by the heritage charity Din l-Art Ħelwa, and it opens seasonally: roughly April to October, usually on Wednesdays and Friday to Sunday, from 10:30 to 15:00, with entry by donation. The simplest sign that it is open is the Maltese flag flying from the roof. Because it is run by volunteers, treat those days as the usual pattern rather than a guarantee, and check before you build a day around it.

About ten minutes’ walk away is St Mary’s Battery, a low semicircular gun platform built in 1715–16 to cover the channel. It is free, unfenced and open at any hour of any day. So there is a neat trick here: if you come on a day the tower is shut, the battery — arguably the better view — is still yours to wander.

Santa Marija Bay: the other beach, and no booking

On the north side of the island, Santa Marija Bay is a genuine sandy beach backed by a stand of tamarisk and pine — the only real shade on Comino, and a small chapel behind it. Reaching it on foot from the Blue Lagoon takes about 20 minutes; some operators, seasonally, offer a direct drop-off here instead, which is worth asking about when you book. Crucially, none of this needs a booking: you can swim, picnic and doze under the trees with no reservation at all.

Two practical notes. Legal camping on Comino is allowed only at the official Tal-Ful site near the Blue Lagoon (tents only, no facilities, no booking); camping anywhere else needs special permission. And do not count on buying anything here — any kiosk near the bay is seasonal at best.

Short loop or the full circuit?

There are two honest versions of this walk. A short loop of roughly 5 km (about 1.5 hours) links the Blue Lagoon, Crystal Lagoon, the tower and the battery. A fuller circuit of up to about 8.4 km (2.5 hours) adds Santa Marija Bay and the wilder, emptier north and east of the island. Neither is difficult — Comino is low and small — but there is almost no shade on either, and the ground is rough and stony. Choose by the heat and by your boat times, not by fitness.

If the idea of a protected Maltese headland with far more to it than its famous view appeals, the Dwejra salt pans on Gozo are the same kind of trip. And the clear water here is some of the best in Malta for getting in; if you would rather be under it than beside it, that is a different day out — see beginner wreck diving in Malta, which happens elsewhere on the islands.

What to bring (there is nothing to buy here)

Plan as if the island has nothing, because in 2026 it effectively does. The old Comino Hotel and its Santa Marija Bay bungalows have been shut for years; a €170 million “Six Senses” rebuild has been through the planning system but was sent back to a tribunal by a court ruling in May 2026, so there is still no working hotel, restaurant or shuttle on Comino. That means: bring more water than you think you need, food, a sun hat and cover, sturdy shoes, your swimming things, and a bag to carry your rubbish back off the island. Most boats land you at the Blue Lagoon, so unless your operator collects from Santa Marija Bay, plan to walk back there for the return. The boats themselves run from the same Ċirkewwa and Mġarr harbours as the Malta–Gozo ferry.