I first visited Malta and Gozo in April 2012, when I was looking for somewhere to take groups of young people kayaking. The previous 4 years we had visited Milos. As many of you are aware, the paddling in Milos is quite exceptional. In contrast though, the social experience for teenagers hanging around small Greek villages is not that great. Plus the finer points of Greek cuisine, however attractive to a Jersey sea kayaker, are generally lost on Jersey school students.
A quick Google search revealed paddling possibilities in Gozo, Malta’s smaller neighbour. My only previous visit to Malta was for a day during the school Easter holidays in 1971, when I was in the equivalent of year 10. School cruises were a thing of the time, in fact 2 cruise ships, The Nevada and The Uganda, were employed exclusively for taking school groups on cruises. I believe that their cruising days came to an abrupt end when they saw service during the Falklands War.
So one day in 1971 didn’t seem much to make an informed decision was to whether it was an appropriate place to take a group of teenagers, in the second decade of the 21st century. An inspection visit was clearly in order, so the Easter holidays 2012 saw Nicky and myself arrive in Gozo. There was just one small problem. I had bought some stand up paddleboards, for school, we were well ahead of the SUP revolution. Unfortunately the first time we used the boards I broke my elbow. Sadly it wasn’t the result of a spectacular wipeout, rather embarrassingly the roof rack strap slipped, when tying the boards down and my elbow slammed into the top of the door. Painful was an understatement, so the kayaking on my first visit to Gozo, involved sitting in the front of a double, taking photos, whilst Nicky paddled me around.
Even as a sea kayaker with one useful arm, I realised that Gozo had plenty to offer the visiting paddler. Since that visit in 2012 I have returned at least once every year, apart from 2024. We were house sitting at the start of Covid and it was the first overseas visit after the end of lockdown. Stepping down from the plane it’s like arriving at my second home.
There are so many options but I always enjoy circumnavigating Comino from Hondoq. Comino is often described as the jewel in Malta’s tourism crown, unfortunately if you arrive in high season on one of the many ferries, nothing is further from the truth. Avoid July and August, arrive by kayak and you realise that you are somewhere special.
This week we had a couple of days in Malta, it was the cheapest way to get to Rome to watch Lisa run in the Marathon. Actually that’s not quite true, Wizz Air via Tirana was slightly cheaper but Nicky expressed some misgivings, so British Airways and Malta won.
With an excellent forecast it only seemed appropriate to spend at least one day kayaking. A quick email to Chris at KayakGozo, confirmed that paddling was an option so Wednesday morning saw us standing at Hondoq. A visit to Hondoq allowed us to also check whether the friendly kiosk is still selling the best Banoffee Pie ice cream in the known world. This question was easy to answer, the cafe was shut, so sadly I won’t find the answer this year.
I much prefer to approach Gozo from the open deck of the Gozo Channel ferries as opposed to the closed cabin of the Gozo Fast Ferry. As we stood on the deck watching Comino slip past, we became aware of low cloud/fog starting to drift by. Fog is a weather phenomenon I hadn’t experienced in Gozo before. The taxi driver who took us to Hondoq blamed the Libyan’s for the fog, which seemed a bit harsh but it is the nearest country to the south so I suppose the Sahara Desert could have had a role to play.
We quickly packed our very limited equipment and were heading across the channel towards Comino. The crossing is always much shorter than I remember. This early in the season we were able to paddle through the Blue Lagoon, something which I have rarely been able to experience. We also spent some time exploring the caves and arches of the Crystal Lagoon, the complex geomorphology creating a fascinating playground for kayakers.
We also saw 2 Blue Rock Thrushes, the National Bird of Malta. I have always found it strange for a country to have a national bird, which implies a degree of pride, when nearly 50% of the population are involved in the illegal slaughter of birds. Back in 2021 I wrote about the disturbing death of a Marsh Harrier, off Gozo. This time we were fortunate enough to see a Peregrine, hopefully it will be able to avoid the trigger happy hunters.
The south coast of Comino is gently sloping but you wouldn’t want to land there, the limestone isn’t kind to the kayaks and even less so to the skin. St Mary’s Tower is initially the dominating landmark. The watchtower was built in 1618, to protect Comino, which was a lair of Barbary Corsairs. Further to the east a later fortification, Santa Marina Battery comes into view. It was built between 1715 and 1716 by the Order of St John. It was built to protect ships using the South Comino Channel.
Just before the south east point of Comino, there is a small and seemingly fragile arch. I was concerned for its future when I first visited in 2012. Every year I return I assume that it will have succumbed to the power of the easterly waves and every year it is still there. Proving to be far more resilient than the Azure Window on Gozo, which collapsed into the on the 8th March 2017.
In many ways the east coast of Comino is the most spectacular, vertical cliffs rising straight out the water. At a certain angle the nearest land to the east is the Lebanon, so with this sort of fetch it is hardly surprising that there is often an easterly swell crashing into the rocks. There is plenty of rock hopping to engage with along the east coast plus a very healthy population of Yellow Legged Gulls.
As is so often the case, we stopped for lunch in Santa Maria Bay. There were no boats at anchor but plenty of walkers enjoying the special atmosphere of Comino, once you move away from the Blue Lagoon. What was really positive to see were the steps being taken to protect and restore the fragile ecosystems around the bay. Clear signage, roped off areas, attempts to restore the wetlands etc. Hopefully the first of many such projects.
After lunch, all that remained was to cross the channel back to Hondoq. This channel is generally used by the Gozo FastFerry, so maintain a steady pace, keep an eye open for traffic and if possible avoid capsizing in the middle. The conclusion of a great paddle. It is only about 7 nautical miles, even if you to go around Cominotto, but what a memorable 7 miles.