Departure from Mgarr and the Maltese beaches
Leaving Mgarr in the early morning, after leaving Comino on the port side, the descent along the Maltese coast brings you to the most beautiful beaches, where you can anchor for your first swim. The first of these is Paradise Bay, where you can anchor very close to the rocks beside the beach. Further on, you'll find the beaches of Golden Bay (Ghajn Tuffieha), a very pretty setting for a stopover with often few boats at anchor. The sandy seabed means you can anchor outside the bathing zone in 10-metre water, and the clear water means you can inspect your anchorage through the water.
Filfla and Blue Grotto
Continuing our descent, we skirt the Maltese cliffs and pass in front of the small island of Filfla; a nature reserve where it is forbidden to anchor or even approach, to protect the species it shelters. Opposite Filfla, on the Maltese coast, lies Blue Grotto, a network of caves filled with the turquoise-blue water that gives it its name. If the caves are too small to enter by sailboat, it is possible to visit them by dghajsa, small local boats, for a few euros. If you're coming by sailboat, you can call the companies in charge of these outings and have your boat picked up from the dghajsa to visit Blue Grotto, then brought back, as long as someone stays on board to keep the boat around (there aren't really any good anchorages around).
The southern creeks, for a late-night swim
Continuing southwards, we reach the tip of the Maltese island, which offers a series of anchorages more popular with the Maltese, with Hofriet at the top of the list. Hofriet are two bays separated by a rock, which is itself pierced, allowing you to see across to the other side. These two wide coves, sheltered from the prevailing north-westerly and north-easterly winds, are a good place to spend the late afternoon and go for a swim. Alternatives to this anchorage are Kalanka Bay, upstream from Hofriet, a tiny bay with just enough room for two or three boats to anchor. It offers a more intimate setting, with small rocks above the water for diving. Finally, a less coveted but equally pretty anchorage is Saint Thomas Bay, but you'll have to be careful to get around a large submerged sandbank that separates Hofriet from Saint Thomas. For a stress-free passage, you can leave the east cardinal, a mile offshore, to port.
This 4-day cruise ends at one of these anchorages on Malta's southern flank. It brings to a close this tour of Gozo and Malta in the form of an 8, which in just a few days will have enabled you to see the archipelago's main anchorages and their wide variety of landscapes. In any case, you'll leave Malta, a mythical stopover on your Mediterranean tour, with plenty of memories of turquoise waters and monumental cliffs.
