Marsaskala, the fishing village that became a summer resort

Marsaskala is the southern seaside town where the Maltese go on holiday, and that tells you more than any monument could. It has 19,211 residents according to the NSO, more than four times Marsaxlokk’s, and a long harbour promenade where everything happens. If you’re after another postcard of painted boats, you’re in the wrong town. If you want an afternoon by the sea away from the north, you’re not.

From fishing village to resort

Visit Malta sums it up well. Marsaskala, also known as Wied il-Għajn, has grown in recent years from a small fishing village into the popular southern resort it is today. A few fishermen still use the harbour, their colourful boats sharing moorings with pleasure craft, but life has moved to the promenade, with its open-air cafés and restaurants. Malta Public Transport describes it with the same ingredients, a picturesque harbour and a waterfront full of seafood restaurants.

The numbers back that up. The MTA register lists 37 licensed restaurants, 30 snack bars, 9 bars, 4 hotels and 286 holiday lets, far more than Marsaxlokk or Birżebbuġa. The local council describes a 5.38 km² area whose coastline is made up of small bays of sand and rock.

A bay that was always a way in

Today’s calm is fairly new. Visit Malta notes that the bay made an easy landing for Barbary corsairs and Ottoman Turks raiding the islands from the Middle Ages to the late 17th century. In 1614 a large Ottoman fleet came ashore here, after which the Knights strengthened the defences with Fort St Thomas, in the bay of the same name. The locals did the same on their own scale. Mamo Tower, on the road to Żejtun, is a fortified farmhouse built in the shape of a St Andrew’s cross, now restored. The only opening hours I found date from 2015, so I won’t pass them on.

If the Order’s defences across the island interest you, they’re gathered in my guide to Malta’s forts.

Where to swim in Marsaskala

The answer is St Thomas Bay, about ten minutes’ walk round the headland from town, according to Visit Malta. It describes a large natural inlet with shallow water and small sandy banks, a beach that’s only partly sandy, popular with Maltese holidaymakers and never developed into a resort. It also rates it for windsurfing, and Malta Public Transport recommends it for swimming and sunbathing.

At the head of Marsaskala’s own bay there’s a small protected area, Il-Magħluq, of 4.42 hectares, listed by the EU’s Natura 2000 network among Malta’s sites. I’ve no source on what you can do inside, so I’ll leave it as a fact.

For experienced divers, Heritage Malta lists HMS Southwold, lying in two pieces about 1.5 miles off Marsaskala, with the bow at 70 m and the stern at 72 m. That’s technical diving with an approved centre, and I cover it with the rest in Malta wreck diving.

For a picture of how the town lives, look at the numbers. The NSO counts 6,818 foreign residents out of 19,211, around a third by my reckoning, and 497 more people than a year earlier. It’s a growing, lived-in town rather than a resort that empties in winter.

Getting to Marsaskala

From Valletta, take the 91, 92 or 93. According to Malta Public Transport, the 91 runs via Floriana, Marsa, Paola, Fgura and Żabbar. From the airport there’s the 119, listed on the official route list as Ajruport-Marsaskala, and Malta Public Transport also suggests taking the 91 to 93 as far as Paola and changing to the TD4 there. Ticket prices and passes are covered in Malta’s buses.

Should you stay in Marsaskala?

It’s one of the few towns in the south east with hotels. The MTA register lists four, the Cerviola, the Portside Lodge and El Doris Boutique Living at three stars and the Sensi at two, plus five guesthouses. I’d consider it for a few quiet days by the sea away from the north, as long as you don’t mind longer bus rides to see the rest. If your plan is to tour the island, Valletta keeps you closer to everything. In Xgħajra, the seaside village between Valletta and here, the register shows only 17 holiday lets and not one hotel.

For fish with more of a fishing-port feel, neighbouring Marsaxlokk and its row of restaurants are on the same south-eastern coast.