The best beaches in Malta, Gozo and Comino

The first thing worth knowing about Malta’s beaches is something hardly any brochure tells you. Most of them are rock. The Spanish Foreign Ministry’s travel advice says so plainly, adding that you’ll find most of the sand in the north of the island of Malta and on Gozo. Keep that in mind and choosing gets much easier.

Sand in the north, rock elsewhere

If you want sand on the island of Malta, head north and west. That’s where you’ll find Golden Bay, with a direct bus from Valletta, Għajn Tuffieħa right next door, which Malta Public Transport describes as less crowded, Ġnejna, a little quieter still, and Għadira on Mellieħa Bay, with its shallow water. In the centre and south the coast is rocky, with swimming spots such as St Peter’s Pool near Marsaxlokk.

Gozo is a different story. There you have Ramla, with its reddish sand, San Blas Bay, a cove of around a hundred metres reached on foot from Nadur, and Ħondoq ir-Rummien, facing Comino. The detail is in my guide to Gozo beaches. And on Comino, the Blue Lagoon and Santa Marija Bay.

The best beaches in Malta, my way

My ranking is above, built on criteria I think are fair. It weighs the swimming and the setting, but also what I can check about each beach in official sources. That’s why Paradise Bay, lovely name and no readable official profile, doesn’t make the cut.

Top of the list is Ramla, on Gozo. The Ministry for Gozo calls it Gozo’s finest beach and arguably Malta’s, with reddish sand, dunes protected under Natura 2000 and no development, just a few cafés and a stall. That’s precisely what wins me over, it still has no buildings.

Next comes Comino’s Blue Lagoon, with a warning. It has the most spectacular water in the archipelago and also the worst crowds, so much so that the MTA ended up limiting numbers. Since 1 May 2025 you need a free timed booking to set foot there, with a maximum of 4,000 people at once. How the booking works is covered step by step in my page on the Blue Lagoon on Comino.

On the island of Malta, Għadira and Golden Bay share my vote. With small children, Mellieħa Bay (Għadira), for its shallow water. Without a car, Golden Bay, for the 44 bus.

Blue Flags and safety flags

The Blue Flag is awarded by the Foundation for Environmental Education, represented in Malta by Nature Trust Malta, and requires 32 criteria to be met. Malta won its first in 2009, for St George’s Bay, which has kept it ever since, and by 2019 there were twelve. The MTA hasn’t published the 2026 list, so I’d rather leave a gap than invent one. The 2026 Blue Flag season, on the other hand, is set from 29 May to 11 October.

More useful than the Blue Flag, to my mind, is the MTA’s safety flag code, set out in the table. Purple, which warns of jellyfish, is the one that surprises people who haven’t seen it before.

Behind the flags there’s a management system. The MTA says it manages nine beaches itself and supports eight more, including on Gozo and Comino, and that two further Blue Flag beaches belong to private resorts.

Rules worth knowing

The Spanish Foreign Ministry flags two things that save grief. Neither nudism nor topless sunbathing is allowed in Malta. Loose rock is a hazard at Kalanka, Għar Lapsi and St Peter’s Pool, so take care there, and don’t swim near Magħtab, where the waste plant is the problem. For wider safety advice, see my guide on whether Malta is safe.

The MTA, for its part, asks you to sort rubbish into the colour-coded beach bins (black organic, yellow metal, red glass, blue plastic) and is adding wooden walkways, beach carpets, sand buggies for wheelchair users and hoists to help more people into the water.

When to swim in Malta

The sea holds its warmth far longer than you’d think. The norms cited by the Met Office give 22°C in June, 26.1°C in September and 24°C in October. Visit Malta said in 2023 that the beach season can last until mid or late October. For me, September is Malta’s best beach month, with the warmest water of the year and the August crowds gone. For every month, check the Malta sea temperature.