With so much for families to do on Malta, it’s easy to overlook sister islands Gozo and Comino – but it could hardly be easier to visit them, with a wide choice of trips if you’re planning a Malta boat trip with kids.
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You could also easily spend longer than one day on Gozo – although little Comino’s one big attraction is the Blue Lagoon and there’s a limit to how much more you could do on the small island – but it’s also easy to join a boat tour to Gozo and Comino to get a taste of them both.
And while some of the big name companies like City Sightseeing also run boat tours to Gozo and Comino from Malta, we decided to book with Luzzu Tours, departing from the harbour at Sliema, just a few minutes’ walk from where we were staying.
Malta boat trip with kids: visiting Gozo and Comino
We’d been umming and aahing about which day would have the best weather for a boat trip to Gozo, but in the end, the sun shone all day – warm enough to explore, although not quite warm enough in early April to want to swim in the Blue Lagoon.
Settled in at one of the comfy indoor tables on the boat, we had a quick commentary as we cruised up the east coast of Malta, sailing boats on the horizon and jetskis zipping past.
Along the way, you can see a string of 16th century watchtowers, dotted along the coast to guard against invasion – originally they would have had huge bonfires to light if an attacking force was spotted.
You can also see Valletta’s golden buildings, Malta’s tallest building (all of 32 storeys high), Malta’s aquarium, a desalination plant and tuna farm, and Malta’s longest sandy beach at Mellieha Bay (or Ghadira Bay) which stretches for slightly less than a kilometre.
All repeated in several languages, there’s enough to keep your attention but if you’d rather chat, look at the views, play a game or do something else entirely, you won’t be missing too much detail.
It takes around an hour to reach the channel south of Comino, before cruising past the little island and heading to the main port at Gozo. We’d booked the additional bus transfer to the island ‘capital’ Victoria (or Ir-Rabat) which was definitely a good move.
Technically it’s a bus tour, and it does also take you to one of the lovely viewpoints at Xlendi Bay, but realistically it’s easy transport to get you from the port to main town and back – saves waiting in the huge line for a bus or sorting out alternative transport (though you can) as we were whisked onto a minibus and on the outskirts not much later.
You get almost 2 hours to explore, and the Citadel itself is only a 10-minute walk (uphill) from the bus station where we were dropped off. If you’ve got kids who don’t fancy the hill, there’s also a little tourist train which departs nearby.
As we were visiting on a Sunday (since that seemed best weather-wise), a few places were shut, including the cathedral and some of the little shops, but the main highlight of the Citadel is wandering through the narrow old alleys and enjoying the views out across the island and to the coast.
The first fortifications were built here in around 1500, although the present golden stone fortress dates from the early 1600s, and you can climb high up onto various parts of the old battlements, with Malta’s flag flapping in the breeze above the cathedral.
On a Sunday it seemed very quiet, but that made it all the lovelier to wander around – elsewhere, it’s easy to imagine this being too busy to move.
You can also head into the Visitor Centre which gives some background information on the history – closed on Mondays, allow around 30 minutes to visit.
The joint ticket also gives access to the Gozo Archaeology Museum, the Old Prisons, Gran Castello Historic House and the Nature Museum, although you’d struggle to fit all of those in to your time.
At the base of the citadel, the old town is home to all the souvenir shops you could want as well as several places selling ice cream, somewhere selling pizza by the slice and various cafes. Look out for the pretty theatres as you walk around too.
It’s surprising how fast the time goes just strolling around and before we knew it, it was time to head back down to grab a quick lunch in the park near the bus station, then hop back on the minibus.
From here, it was another short drive to Xlendi Bay for a quick stop to look out over the sea to the dramatic cliffs (and spot a few little green Maltese lizards basking in the sun and scuttling under the flowers). We spotted a few people kayaking and snorkelling in the incredibly clear water too.
The bay itself is just down the coast from Dwejra Bay, once home to Gozo’s famous Azure Window, a rock arch which collapsed back into the waves in 2017.
Then it’s just a short cruise to Comino. From my earliest visits to Malta, I remember it being quiet and unspoiled, with a few people swimming in the dramatically turquoise water – there’s a cave and a little beach on a small island just opposite the Blue Lagoon itself, which I swam over to.
So I was in for a bit of a shock this time. Admittedly it’s almost two decades since I was last there, but there’s no way you’d call it unspoiled any more.
The water is still the same sparkling aquamarine, the island is still dotted with wildlflowers and pretty rock formations – but there are also a string of kiosks selling food and cocktails, mostly served in a pineapple.
I’d mind it less if people actually threw their pineapples away in the bins provided rather than posing for photos and dumping them at the cliff edge. Yes, I know, I’m old and grumpy, but this is such a beautiful place, littering seems twice as bad.
We had debated swimming but the little beach was packed and as it was early April, combined with a strong breeze, we decided to take a walk around the island instead.
On a previous trip, I walked around the entire coast but you need around two hours to do that, so we headed up the hillside and walked around to the other side of the harbour where most of the boats docked, and where there are some pretty rock arches, gorgeous clear blue-green water and a fraction of the people (plus more entertaining Maltese lizards).
There’s only one set of steps to the area where the bigger boats dock, so we decided to head back a little early and relax with a non-pineapple drink back on the boat.
From a practical point of view, it mean we also avoided the scrum getting back down and on board – if you’re unlucky, as we were on arrival, we moored up at the same time as another boat, so there was a queue to climb up. It’s worth being aware that you could easily find a similar situation going back.
Our route back took us past Comino’s caves – they’re only accessible by boat but realistically if you want a close-up view, you’ll need a smaller boat tour, as we cruised past rather than going inside or close by.
Then you retrace your steps along the coastline back to Sliema – or, in the case of quite a few people on board, have a nap! I’m not sure if it’s the pineapples, the sea air or the thoroughly relaxed feeling, but for a chilled-out day exploring, this definitely did the trick…
Which just left our lovely crew to teach us the Maltese word for bye – ‘sahha’, which also translates as wishing someone good health – as we disembarked back into the bustle of Sliema again.
Luzzu Cruises Malta boat trip with kids: need to know
Booking tickets
You can book tickets with free cancellation, as well as ‘reserve now pay later’ options, on Get Your Guide – this came in very handy for us as the weather forecast was a bit unpredictable for our holiday in early April. That meant we could make a choice when we had a better idea of whether it really might rain – the tour sticks to the schedule regardless (unless it’s so bad it needs to be cancelled)
As we were trying to get the best weather, we ended up booking on Sunday, so it’s worth being aware that quite a few places on Gozo itself were closed, including the cathedral and a lot of the little shops within the Citadel.
I suspect Comino was also a bit busier than it might have been on a weekday, although as Comino was a LOT busier than the last time I visited (and will be even busier in the summer months), maybe that didn’t make a lot of difference.
If you’re staying in the north of Malta, you’re much closer to the ferry port at Cirkewwa to Gozo with ferries (including car ferries) crossing the narrow stretch of sea, so it would be easy to visit Gozo independently. There’s also a fast ferry from Valetta to Gozo and boat tours from Bugibba to Gozo and Comino
You can get buses which run from the ferry port to Victoria or you can pick up a cab with Bolt (or similar) for about 10 Euros to Victoria or Ramla Bay.
Meeting Point
The meeting point for the cruise is on Sliema Harbour, and we were given quite precise directions where to go and which boat to look out for. There were staff around to ensure we were queueing for the right one too.
You’re asked to arrive 30 minutes early at 9.30 for the 10am trip – we turned up around 9.20 and around half the people seemed to have boarded already.
Outside seats on the top deck were most popular, and as we wanted a table inside, we didn’t struggle to get one. The boat also left slightly early (presumably everyone who had booked had been counted on board!) so do be on time.
Where to sit
There are seats up top but be prepared for strong sun if you’re travelling in the summer, and for it to get pretty breezy (as I discovered when I went up to take photos). The inside has windows you can open and comfy seats by tables, so for a Malta boat trip with kids, I’d vote for that myself.
For the best views, it pays to sit on the left hand side of the boat on the way to Gozo and on the right hand side on the way back. At Comino, the best views are from the land anyway.
Facilities
There are toilets on board (one male, one female) which were nicer than your average boat toilets – unsurprisingly they were in demand at times.
There’s also a bar on board which sold some hot food, soft drinks, alcohol and cold drinks – a generous glass of wine was 2,50 Euros. Bring cash though to pay for it.
What the day includes
Departing from Sliema, it takes just over an hour to get to Gozo, with some commentary in several languages along the way, pointing out a few landmarks and key attractions, before arriving around 11am at the busy ferry port.
There’s an option to buy tickets including a bus ‘tour’ when you book, plus it was also being offered for 5 Euros on the day (although there may be a limit to numbers) – you’ll get a different coloured wristband depending if you’ve booked the bus or not.
While it’s not a tour as such, it made getting to the capital Victoria (also known by its older name of Ir-Rabat) very easy, plus there’s a stop to take a few photos at Xlendi Bay as well. We had almost two hours to explore before we had to be back at the minibus, then time to visit Xlendi Bay and return to the boat before 2pm.
If you want to explore the Citadel and Ir-Rabat, this is definitely the easiest option and there’s time to wander around, grab a few souvenirs and stop for lunch.
If you particularly want to visit the beach at Ramla Bay or the temples at Ggantija (or aren’t bothered about exploring Gozo at all, although that would be a shame), you’re dropped off later but still have several hours to explore under your own steam – just make sure you’re back to board again in time.
They do count numbers on and off, but we left slightly early again, so I wouldn’t expect them to hang around.
It’s then just a short cruise to Comino where you have around 90 minutes to swim, wander round the island or relax – or you can stay on board if you prefer. The boat stays moored, so you can come back if you need to as well during the 90-minute period.
To finish, you cruise past some of the caves along the coast of Comino, then reverse your route down Malta’s east coast back to Sliema. In all, the tour takes around 7 ½ hours and – unsurprisingly! – we were back slightly early.
For more of the best things to do in Malta with kids, check out my top picks
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission. I paid for my Malta boat trip with kids myself, and all opinions are my own
Images copyright MummyTravels
