The Malta boat trips I'd actually take

Malta is an archipelago, and some things only make sense from the water. Valletta’s bastions, Comino’s caves and the tunnel of Gozo’s Inland Sea all look different from a boat. But not every trip is worth the money, and one of them you don’t even need.

The cheapest cruise isn’t a cruise

This is where people slip up. Before paying for a harbour cruise, look at the ferry. Valletta Ferry Services runs non-stop between Sliema and Valletta for €3 one way by day (€5 if you buy a return), rising to €3.50 at night from 19:30. For the whole crossing you have Valletta ahead of you, its walls rising above Marsamxett Harbour. The other line links Valletta with the Three Cities across the Grand Harbour. For me it’s the best value for what you see anywhere in the country. Timetables and details are in my guide to the Valletta ferries.

If you’d still like a cruise with commentary, Malta Public Transport sells the Harbour Cruise as an add-on to its Explore Flex card, at €36 or €42 depending on the card. It only adds up for me if the Explore Flex was already on your shopping list.

Comino and the Blue Lagoon by boat

This is the trip most people are after, and rightly so. But since 2025 there’s a rule that changes how it works. To set foot on the Blue Lagoon you need a free timed booking on the Malta Tourism Authority portal, and the portal says that if you’re on a boat trip and stay aboard, you don’t need a pass. The boat must also be registered with Transport Malta to operate at the lagoon.

That’s why I’d pick a trip that states clearly how it fits the slots and where it moors. If you want to get onto the sand, book the QR code yourself, it’s free. If you’re happy swimming off the boat, you don’t even need that. The Ministry for Gozo adds that in summer plenty of operators leave from Gozo and include Comino’s caves, and that private charters let you go at your own pace. The practical side is covered in my guides to the Blue Lagoon and the Comino ferry.

Malta Public Transport also sells the Golden Comino Escape, summer only, at €53 or €59 depending on the Explore Flex card, plus two bundles called “2 Islands”, with or without the harbour cruise.

Is the Blue Grotto boat worth it?

At Wied iż-Żurrieq, in the south of the island of Malta, a boatmen’s cooperative takes visitors into the Blue Grotto. Its website says the trips began in the 1950s with British servicemen, that the group was formed in 1968 and that no more than 25 boats run a day, in two shifts. The sentence that matters most for visitors is another one, that no trips run when there’s a southerly wind. No price appears on its website, so I won’t give one. More in my guide to the Blue Grotto in Malta.

Dwejra’s Inland Sea, on Gozo

At Dwejra there’s an inland lagoon joined to the sea by a tunnel of around 100 metres that only small boats can pass through. The Ministry for Gozo says it was once a fishermen’s cove and that these days the fishermen gladly take tourists out for a spin. For me it’s the most original boat ride in Malta, short and with the deep blue of the open sea waiting at the end of the tunnel. The rest of the area is in my guide to Dwejra.

And if you’re already on Gozo, the Ministry for Gozo says fishing trips, boat trips and yacht charters are easy to arrange, and that guided kayak tours cross to Comino for experienced paddlers. Xlendi and Ħondoq ir-Rummien also have pedalos and canoes for a gentler hour on the water. Land-based outings, from Mdina to a day in Sicily, are compared in Malta tours and day trips.

What to avoid

Two things. Paying for Blue Lagoon “access”, which is free, and booking a trip without checking the weather. The Comino booking system accepts no responsibility for weather cancellations, and Blue Grotto boats don’t sail in a southerly wind. If what you’re after is a party on deck rather than scenery, there’s a separate guide to Malta boat parties.