Cruise The Islands By Boat

Trips on boats come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, costs and speeds but the one that can be afforded and enjoyed by all people of all ages is the sightseeing cruise.

Even a nervous granny, who starts quivering at the merest hint of a pitch or roll on a boat, should be able to cope with a gentle sail around Malta, where the sea is flatter than a Dutch ironing board.

Trips from Malta provide you with dazzling view after dazzling view and with the deep blue Med’ in the foreground, you’ll have to be utterly incompetent with a camera not to walk away with an album full of excellent pictures. The perfect light is guaranteed after all, so point and shoot away!

Among the things to see are the magnificent bastions of Valletta and its vast Grand Harbour, the history-laden Three Cities, and the chic, commercial centres of Sliema and St Julian's.

The full-day cruise options will also take you along the scenic Maltese and Gozitan coastlines viewing fishing villages and salt pans as well as the imposing, sheer Dingli cliffs. You’ll glide past the quirky Popeye Village, built several decades ago now for a Hollywood blockbuster, and several bays and inlets before it’s on to the crystal clear waters of sister-island Comino and its magnificent Blue Lagoon. Here you might well pause for walking, swimming, paddling, food and sunbathing.

Buffet lunches, cold drinks and typical Maltese snacks are usually included with the package, and there are optional more exciting speedboat rides to a selection of fascinating caves and other sights and attractions.

With just a little research or simply wandering around harbour areas you can soon discover an exciting range of different cruises. They’re operated by new and established holiday companies, who recruit experienced crews to sail you around on an amazing variety of boats.

Shorter trips on offer include spins around the Grand Harbour, in Valletta, or a jaunt across to the islands of Gozo and Comino. There are also specialist cruise options connected with specific activities, like diving and snorkelling, fishing and waterskiing. If ever there were islands made for boat trips then these are they!

Your biggest headache about a boat trip on Malta is working out which one to pick from the massive range of options. So think about what sort of boat you want to travel on – modern cruiser of traditional luzzu, for example – how long you want to be on it and what you want to see. That should give you a good starting point.

If you can’t be bothered with research and much prefer to ‘go with the flow’ then head for the seafront at Sliema where you’ll find a number of operators selling various trips. Or, if it’s views of the Grand Harbour and Valletta you’re after, then you’ll find boats leaving from the very plush Waterfront area.