Category: Tramuntana

We had moved into a small apartment in Buġibba by Saint Paul’s Bay in the north of Malta, and were looking forward to swimming a lot. But it turned out not to be simple. In winter, the wind blows from the west, day in and day out. Bathing from rocky cliffs was not very tempting, and we checked alternatives instead. Farthest out on the south side of the fjord there is a district and a headland called Qawra (pronounced with a silent Q and means Crow). Maybe there could be an opportunity there?

‘Business before pleasure‘ is what we often think at Tobatheornottobathe. First exploration of the place! The mysterious pool turned out to be a training target for pilots during World War II. Easily recognizable from the air. Malta, with its strategic location in the middle of the Mediterranean, was heavily bombed in the first part of the war. More than 30,000 buildings were destroyed in an island community of 250,000 inhabitants at the time.

At the far end of the Qawra headland, we found a collapsed cave. Could we swim in there? The answer was an unconditional NO. There is a direct entrance from the sea to the cave, but it is so low that the waves hit the ceiling, so you would be crushed there. The alternative could be to scuba dive in – if it’s deep enough, but we don’t know how deep it is.

After the exploration of the Qawra headland, a bath was just right, and the bay east of the headland is actually a bathing paradise! It’s warm and nice here in both summer and winter, you just have to jump in. The bottom is varied with alternating rocks and sand, and many nice fish to see.

A few days later, when we were searching to find information about Saint Paul’s Island on the other side of the bay, we read that Pope John Paul II had visited the island in 1990, and in memory of this visit a statue of Jesus was lowered later that year in the sea off Saint Paul’s Island. As a diving target!

Diving destinations in Malta can be:
– Caves and arches, above or below water
– Coral reefs
– Shipwrecks, often moved to suitable depths and good diving spots – Plane wrecks
– Statues

Due to detoriating visibility and declining interest in diving, the Jesus statue was moved to Qawra headland 10 years later. This suited us very well, we would like to dive down to a statue! After some pondering, we realized that Jesus was too complicated for us, 500 meters out from the Qawra headland (in which direction?), and at a depth of 35 meters (would it be visible during freediving?). To find Jesus we needed diving equipment (which we could have rented), diving certificates (Idun doesn’t have it) and good backs (nobody in Tobatheornottobathe had that during this holiday).

But now that the idea was born – could there be other diving statues in Malta? This country is said to be the most Catholic of all Catholic countries in Europe, maybe they have made other religious diving destinations? The answer turned out to be YES. There is an abyss Madonna too!

A few days later we took the bus to Ċirkewwa in the far north of the island of Malta, where the ferries go to Gozo and Comino. The name Ċirkewwa comes from the word circle, and refers to the rounded bay.

It was another non-bath. Again, we just had to accept that the winter wind was not on our side.

Fresh breeze from the west and seas far too rough for freedivers without a wetsuit.

Ċirkewwa did not appear at its most attractive in February 2024, but very few ferry terminals are. However, a little more maintenance could nice, for us to be able to enter the view point.

Anyway, we actually had a nice break from bathing, to the beautiful sight of splashing waves. Next time!

At the north of the Malta island, one can find the municipality of Saint Paul’s Bay, including several connected villages, one after the other: Xemcija in the innermost part of the bay, and further out on the south side: St. Paul’s Bay, Buġibba and at the far end; Cape Qawra. This is the most densely populated area in Malta after the capital Valletta. Around 30,000 souls live here in winter, and the double during summer.

The area is described as follows in our guidebook:
‘This large and beautiful bay, which was a quiet fishing area until the 20^th century, is sadly now surrounded by ugly modern apartments and mass-tourism hotels. Buġibba and Qawra on the southern side are particularly unattractive‘.
Here, from the 60s, one large ugly concrete block hotel after another popped up, hotels that are now being demolished to be replaced by new, better ones. Where do you bathe in such a place?

The beach in the innermost part of the bay, by Xemcija, is not allowed for swimming, and the town of St. Paul’s Bay has no swimming facilities, so there the choice was basically easy.

Much of the coast in Malta consists of pointed cliffs that are not easy to swim from, but occasionally there are beaches, and we found a small one in Buġibba, not far from the apartment.

Tobatheornottobathe had for a long time accumulated points through a house exchange website, and decided to use some of them to travel south in the winter of 2024. When you get an offer of free accommodation for 3 weeks, you can’t fuss about such details as bad reviews in the guidebook, can you? We wanted to escape from an icy Trondheim to a warmer climate, in the hope of getting our backs in order. The both of us struggled with back pain this winter, and what can possibly be better for your back than swimming?

Saint Paul’s Bay has been inhabited since the Stone Age, and traces of people have been found 6,000 years back.

Here you find remains of temples several thousand years old, baths from Roman times and forts built by the Order of Saint John. Between the new houses, that is.

Living in South Trøndelag, Norway, we know Dolmsundet by the Hitra island well, and we are big fans of ‘Knutsen and Ludvigsen‘, so we have to admit that we were very surprised when we saw ‘Dolmen‘ as a place name, and also Dolmen Hotel on the map. What on earth could that be?

There was no connection. ‘Dolmen‘ in ‘Trønder dialect‘ means ‘less wind‘, i.e. shallow waters, and it fits well with the place Dolmsundet, which is a rather narrow channel. A dolmen from prehistoric times, however, is a tomb consisting of a horizontal, flat stone lying on top of two vertical, flat stones. A bit like a small (stone) henge, but a burial place and not a temple.

So where was this dolmen in Saint Paul’s Bay situated? We wanted to see it! It turned out that the Dolmen that Dolmen Hotel is named after is located in the hotel’s garden. And the hotel was closed due to renovations, so we couldn’t get in to see. Big disappointment! The closest we got was this new dolmen – made by concrete – in a roundabout two blocks from the apartment. The Buġibba dolmen is from the Tarxian period, a prehistoric phase in Malta (3000-2500 BC), where a lot of temple building took place. However, the term ‘dolmen‘ comes from Gaelic and means ‘stone with a hole‘.

The house book in Buġibba suggested the rocky cliffs below the promenade as a bathing place, only a few minutes away from the apartment. It was not a good recommendation – in winter time! During 18 days there were no days with flat seas. And Saint Paul’s Bay is so wide that it is too harsch when the wind is blowing from the west. But a short distance into the fjord we found a small bay with calm water, and we got to bathe from the rocks in Buġibba at least once. And at the same time could follow the doctor’s advice of walking in uneven terrain.

It was quite OK to swim in Buġibba, but generally speaking, this is probably not the best bathing spot during wintertime.

Ref:
Rix, Juliet: ‘Malta and Gozo‘, Bradt Travel Guides Ltd, 2019,
ISBN 978 1 78477 070 9

The Maltese Islands lie as an archipelago of limestone on the African tectonic plate. The limestone was deposited in the sea between 8 and 20 million years ago, so this is a very young landscape.

At the end of the last ice age, Malta was landlocked with Sicily due to the low sea level, and they are considered one unit geologically (even though Malta doesn’t have any vulcanos). When the waves break against the limestone, the most beautiful formations are formed, so here you just have to grab your snorkel and start exploring!

We had read about 2 great snorkeling attractions in the far north of the island of Malta, and they had to be checked out: The Blue Hole and Coral Lagoon.

We dare not think about the reactions these stone towers would have caused in Iceland, where cairn building is strictly prohibited. But we agree with the Icelanders: It should be possible to go for a walk without leaving a trace!

It was only a few hundred meters to walk from the car park before we reached the blue hole, no problem with that. But the opening? Knut had read somewhere that you could swim into it. We went back and forth a few times, and also did some googling, before we looked down into the hole from the other side. There was an arch!

This was the start of a climbing hell. It turned out that the Blue Hole and the Coral Lagoon are the same spot (or actually, the “Blue Hole” tag in Google Maps is probably wrong, placed by someone who has mixed this up with the “Blue Hole” on Gozo). Both names are comprehensive, and when you climb on corals… Well, it’s ok with your shoes on, but we didn’t have wet socks or wet shoes. Warning: Do not walk barefoot on rocks that look like coral!

The next problem was the waves. A fresh breeze from the west was somewhat worrying, but we got into the sea, to the east of the opening, without any major problem. This is a great snorkeling spot!

Lagoon or hole? It doesn’t matter, we loved snorkeling there. We spotted fewer fish (and people) than expected, but the light was beautiful both above and below water. But of course, ‘lagoon‘ seams to be more extraordinary than ‘hole‘.

Well inside, as expected, the water was calm.

There where also caves to explore inside. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring any lights.

The return trip? Apart from the fact that we had forgotten to take notice of where our stuff was placed, it went almost completely well. We swam a hundred meters too far before going up, the dwellings were quite big, with bleeding hands and feet as a result.

But we didn’t regret it! We have never regretted a bath. Not yet!

The apostle Paul, born in 10 AD, was an eager persecutor of Christians as a young man. But on his way to Damascus to persecute there, he was blinded by a bright light, he heard the voice of Jesus and was converted. From the age of 35 he himself traveled around as a missionary for Christianity, and his letters form the basis of modern Christianity. After twelve years of evangelizing, he came to Jerusalem, where he caused so much trouble that he was imprisoned by the Romans. On his way to the trial in Rome AD 60, he survived a shipwreck off Malta, and this is something the Maltese people will never forget.

The shipwrecking is detailed in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 27: ‘… And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship.‘

There are countless churches, streets and memorials in Malta dedicated to Saint Paul, including the church of San Pawl in Buġibba, where parts of the text have been cited in at least 10 different languages. The Maltese focus mostly on the description of the time after the shipwrecking; that they were well received in Malta (Acts 28). When they came ashore, the Maltese lit a fire for the castaways so they could warm themselves. A snake came out of the wood and bit Paul. When he was not harmed by the snakebite, he was considered a God, and the Maltese converted to Christianity. After this, there have never been snakes in Malta.

According to tradition, the shipwrecking occurred on the north-east coast of Malta island, at two more or less connected islands that are today called Saint Paul’s Islands. The entire area within is also named after the event: Saint Paul’s Bay.

‘And we were all in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.‘ Acts 27.

On the largest of the two islands, a statue of Paul was erected in 1844, signed Segismondo Dimech and Salvatore Dimech. The statue has been restored several times and blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1990. We wanted to swim there!

A swim across a strait a couple of hundred meters wide would be an easy match for Tobatheornottobathe, we thought in our exquisite optimism. And we prepared really well this time: mask, snorkel, flippers, diving buoy and even a small inflatable boat to carry our clothes (the plan was to climb up to the statue once we got there). But then there was this thing called season. We traveled to Malta in February to get some sun and heat, but we were not quite aware that during the winter season, Malta is a windy place. There is a lot of boat traffic in the strait, and we didn’t want to take the risk of not being seen in rough water. So we had to wait a couple of weeks before the breeze eased and we could set off. But finally we were on the way, in flat and fine sea.

The decision to swim on the outside of the islands was not a good idea! (We wanted to avoid the fish farming ‘cages’ on the inside) Comment from Knut before we came out of the wind shelter from Comino and Gozo: ‘Oh so wonderful, it feels like flying!‘ Answer from Idun after the sea got rougher: ‘It feels like swimming in a washing machine! I might be sick!‘

The landing after they hit land is described as follows in Acts 27: ‘And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.‘

Tobatheornottobathe did not land on Saint Paul’s Island. We would probably have made it, but it would have been a bloody affair. And the conclusion? The shipwrecking probably never happened in Saint Paul’s Bay. But we have read that there is a place further south on Malta called Munxar, by Saint Thomas’ Bay. This beach has a reef outside, where ships can easily sink. To be continued – maybe…

Malta’s old capital is located on a hill in the middle of the island overlooking almost the entire Malta. The name comes from Arabic and means ‘The Fortified City‘. It’s a name that fits very well, and now we’re talking about a medieval town with walls that are amazingly well preserved.

The settlement on the hill goes all the way back to the Bronze Age, and traces of the Phoenicians have been found from 700 BC, including two engraved stones. The stones are a thank you for being heard by God after a substitute sacrifice (sacrificial lamb instead of the sacrifice of a child). The Phoenician name for Mdina was Maleth (refuge). There are remains from Roman times in the suburb of Rabat, including catacombs. The apostle Paul lived for a few months in Mdina (in Roman times called Melite), after he was shipwrecked at Malta around AD 60, invited by the governor, Publius. While living in Melite, Paulus cured the governor’s father, and several miracles also occurred, with the result that the whole population of Malta was converted to Christianity, and Publius became the first Maltese bishop.

The current name Mdina (inside the walls), and Rabat (the suburbs), came with the Byzantine occupation in AD 870. During the conquest, the population was massacred, and marble from the church was shipped to Susse in Tunisia, where it was used to build a castle. After a short siege in 1091, Malta came under Sicilian rule. Mdina withstood a Turkish siege in 1429, earning the name ‘Città Notabile‘ (the glorious city). Today, some 250 people live in Mdina, and 11,000 in Rabat.

Mdina is not suitable for driving, the streets are too narrow for that. Thus the traffic signs here do not specify the maximum height the cars can have, but the width…

When the Order of Saint John settled in Malta in 1530, Mdina was the capital. However, the knights wanted a base closer to the sea, and moved the capital to Birgu in 1532. After this, Mdina, with its palaces, has been a retreat place for the Maltese upper class, and is nicknamed ‘The Quiet City‘.

What does a fortified city in the middle of a dry island have to do with swimming, you might think. And yes, this seemed to become a long day without any bathing at all. But then we found a beautiful, small hotel with only 6 rooms – and a roof terrace, claiming to have a “Spa”.

Could there be an opportunity here? But where exactly was the pool located?

Yes, the pool was just a click away. The staff at Bifora where friendly and service minded, and arranged a bathing facility for us. And we imagine what a luxury this must be in the middle of the summer heat!

Swimming in Mdina is actually just perfect!