St Paul's Bay, Malta's biggest and least understood resort

St Paul’s Bay turns up in half the package holiday brochures for Malta, yet few people could point to it on a map or tell you what it actually is. It isn’t a village. It’s a whole local council wrapped round the northern bay, known locally as San Pawl il-Baħar, and it takes in Buġibba, Qawra, Xemxija and Burmarrad. I find it interesting for two quite different reasons. It’s where you’ll sleep most cheaply by the sea, and it’s where, by tradition, Malta’s Christian story begins.

Bigger than you’d think

The NSO figures surprise most people. At the end of 2025, 43,095 people lived here, more than in Birkirkara and over eight times Valletta’s population, up from 40,204 a year earlier. It grew faster than anywhere else, by 7.2%, and it’s the only place of its size where foreign residents outnumber the Maltese, 28,045 to 15,050. If you’d assumed the capital was the biggest town, my page on Malta’s population sets the record straight.

You’ll feel it on the street, with apartment blocks, building sites, supermarkets, restaurants at every price and a long promenade. Malta Public Transport sells the area on its nightlife, water sports and boat trips. What you won’t find is honey-coloured stone and wooden balconies at every turn; for that, you want Mdina or Birgu.

Four places in one council

Each part has its own character. Buġibba is the centre, with the square, the seafront and the bus terminus. Qawra takes the headland, with the largest hotels and the Malta National Aquarium. Xemxija climbs a hill at the head of the bay and feels smaller and quieter. Burmarrad is the farmland behind, a valley of fields running down to the sea, home to San Pawl Milqi.

Where the name comes from

The name belongs to the Apostle. Maltese tradition holds that the ship taking him to Rome as a prisoner ran aground somewhere along this coast around AD 60, which is why the bay, the islets offshore and even a public holiday carry his name. That holiday falls on 10 February and marks the shipwreck itself. Out in the open sea lie St Paul’s Islands, low islets topped by a statue of the saint, visible from much of the shoreline.

San Pawl Milqi, the farm of Publius

At Burmarrad, Heritage Malta looks after San Pawl Milqi, a name that recalls the saint’s welcome. Tradition says this is where Publius, whom the sources call the Protos of the island, gave Paul hospitality. The Italian archaeological mission that dug here from 1963 to 1968 found burials from the Żebbuġ phase, in the 4th millennium BC, and a farm with Punic influences from the 3rd century BC, complete with olive presses and later fortified in Roman times, possibly against pirates landing on the nearby coast. On top sit three or four successive chapels, the present one from the early 17th century.

I like that Heritage Malta openly says the origins of the tradition are unclear. It’s a place for people who enjoy archaeology rather than a headline monument, and visits are by appointment only.

Salina and Simar, two free reserves

Where the Burmarrad valley meets the sea, BirdLife Malta runs the Salina reserve, with the Knights’ salt pans, the Ximenes Redoubt of 1715 and a salt museum opened in July 2024. You can walk round it any day at no charge. Across the bay at Xemxija, the Simar reserve was a tip until the 1980s and has been restored into a proper wetland, the one spot in the islands where BirdLife records coots and little grebes nesting. It opens from September to May.

If you’re into birds, the pair make a very good afternoon. If you’re not, Salina still works as a stroll, with the salt pans and the sea beyond.

Getting about from here

For Valletta you have the 31, 45, 48 and the TD13, a limited-stop service via St Julian’s; the TD1 arrives from the airport every hour for €3.50. For Gozo, the 221 runs down to Ċirkewwa. If you’re staying, there’s an enormous choice, which I’ve broken down by area in my guide to hotels in Buġibba and Qawra. Factor in Malta’s eco-contribution too, in force since summer 2026, which adds €21 to a week for two adults.

My verdict

St Paul’s Bay isn’t pretty in the classic sense, and I won’t pretend otherwise. But for a beach week with day trips it’s one of the most practical bases in Malta, for price, for buses and for easy reach of the north, Gozo and the interior. Give a couple of afternoons to Salina and the shipwreck islands and you’ll find a bay with a lot more history than it lets on.