14 Best Beaches in Malta: Access, Sand and Facilities

Malta’s best beaches are Golden Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa and Mellieħa Bay, three Blue Flag sandy bays on the north and northwest coast that are covered by the summer lifeguard service. Malta’s coast is mostly rock, so the sandy bays are few, well signed and busy from late June to early September.

Two things separate a good beach day here from a bad one, and neither shows up in a photograph. The first is access: some of the prettiest bays sit at the bottom of a long staircase or a steep unlit road, which rules them out for anyone with a pushchair, a wheelchair or dodgy knees. The second is the rules, which have tightened. The Blue Lagoon on Comino now needs a free timed pass, dogs are banned from every Blue Flag beach, and the lifeguard service runs to fixed dates rather than all summer. Each beach below states the sand, the swimming, the facilities, the access and the bus.

1. Golden Bay

Golden Bay is the easiest of Malta’s good sandy beaches to reach, and the one with the most facilities. It sits on the northwest coast beside the village of Manikata, immediately north of Għajn Tuffieħa and south of the Mellieħa peninsula. The sand is coarse and orange-gold, the bay is wide, and the slope into the water is gentle enough that the shallows run a long way out.

Golden Bay is a Blue Flag beach, so it carries the lifeguard, water quality and facilities standards that go with the award. Public showers, changing rooms and toilets sit behind the sand. It is also one of seven managed beaches fitted with a wooden ramp onto the sand, and a beach wheelchair is kept here. The Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Malta Golden Sands stands on the headland above the bay and runs a beach club below it. Water sports concessions rent kayaks, paddleboards, jet skis and parasailing rides through the summer.

Take bus 44 from Valletta straight to Golden Bay, or bus 101 from Mellieħa. Routes 223 and 225 stop at Riviera, the shared stop for Golden Bay and Għajn Tuffieħa. The car parks fill by mid-morning in July and August.

2. Għajn Tuffieħa Bay

Għajn Tuffieħa Bay is the quieter twin of Golden Bay, and the staircase is the reason. The bay lies one headland south, backed by soft clay slopes, and the only way down is a flight of roughly 200 concrete steps or a footpath along the clay. That descent keeps the crowds thinner than at Golden Bay all summer, and it also means the beach is not suitable for wheelchairs, pushchairs or anyone who cannot manage a long climb back up in the heat.

Għajn Tuffieħa holds a Blue Flag and is on the Malta Red Cross lifeguard roster, which runs from 1 June to 30 September. The sand is reddish-gold and coarser than Golden Bay’s. Swimming is good in settled weather, though the bay is open to the northwest and picks up swell and current on windy days, so read the beach flags before you go in. There is a beach kiosk and restaurant at the top of the steps, plus showers and toilets.

Above the bay stands Għajn Tuffieħa Tower, a square watchtower completed in 1637 as the second of the Lascaris towers and restored by Din l-Art Ħelwa in 2000. The coast path from the tower to Golden Bay is a 20-minute walk with the whole bay below you.

3. Mellieħa Bay

Mellieħa Bay is Malta’s largest sandy beach and the most family-friendly one on the island. Locals call it Għadira Bay. The water stays waist-deep for an unusually long way out, which is why parents of small children pick it over every other bay in this guide.

Mellieħa Bay has the fullest accessibility provision of any Maltese beach. It is one of the seven managed beaches with a wooden ramp onto the sand, and it also has accessible toilets, beach wheelchairs, an access hoist for getting into the water and blue badge parking. It is a Blue Flag beach with a lifeguard tower, showers, changing rooms and toilets. Beach clubs, kiosks and restaurants line the road behind, and there are playgrounds and water sports concessions.

The Għadira Nature Reserve sits directly behind the beach and is worth an hour in spring or autumn for the migrating birds. Bus 49 runs from Valletta to Armier via Għadira Bay, and routes from Mellieħa village come down the hill in minutes. Parking is along the Marfa Road and fills early.

4. Blue Lagoon, Comino

The Blue Lagoon on Comino is the one beach in Malta you now have to book, and the rule is enforced. Anyone who steps ashore at the lagoon needs a free timed access pass from Malta’s official booking system at blcomino.com. The Malta Tourism Authority runs three daily slots, 08:00 to 13:00, 13:30 to 17:30 and 18:00 to 22:00, and caps the site at 4,000 people at any one time. Arriving without a valid booking can bring a fine. Swimmers who stay on a boat and never land are exempt.

The lagoon itself is a shallow channel between Comino and the islet of Cominotto, floored with pale sand that turns the water an improbable turquoise. There are two small sandy patches and a lot of flat rock. Facilities are limited to kiosks, portable toilets and hired loungers, and the deckchair rows that once filled the landing area have been cut back under the same management plan.

Get there on a passenger ferry from Ċirkewwa on Malta or Mġarr on Gozo, or on an organised boat trip. Book the ferry crossings and day trips through ferries to Malta, Gozo and Comino once your access slot is confirmed, because the pass and the boat are separate bookings.

5. Paradise Bay

Paradise Bay is a small sand cove at Malta’s northern tip, and it is reached by about 100 steep steps down from the clifftop car park. Treat that staircase as the deciding fact. The descent is quick, the climb back in August heat is not, and the bay is unsuitable for wheelchairs, pushchairs and anyone with mobility limits, despite what several older listings claim.

The cove sits just past the Ċirkewwa ferry terminal and looks across the channel to Comino and Gozo. The sand is fine and golden, the cove is sheltered from most directions, and the rock at either end gives the clearest snorkelling of any sandy beach on the main island. Paradise Bay Lido rents loungers and umbrellas, and there is a restaurant and bar on the terrace above the sand, so you do not have to climb back up to eat. The Paradise Bay Resort hotel overlooks the cove.

Buses towards Ċirkewwa stop on the main road a short walk from the car park, which makes this the easiest of the northern coves to reach without a car.

6. Armier Bay and Little Armier

Armier Bay and Little Armier are two small sand beaches side by side on the Marfa Ridge, and they stay quiet because getting to them is awkward. They face Comino and Gozo across the channel, the water is shallow and unusually clear, and the shoreline is lined with the boathouses and summer chalets that Maltese families have used for generations.

Neither bay is on the lifeguard roster, so there is no supervision at any time of year. Facilities are basic: public toilets, outdoor showers and a handful of beach bars and kiosks. Armier Bay has a water sports concession renting kayaks, paddleboards and jet skis in season; Little Armier does not. Parking is free at the entrance to both and limited.

Bus 49 runs from Valletta to Armier via Għadira Bay. Outside that service, the nearest stops are up on the Marfa Ridge road and the walk down takes about 30 minutes with no shade, so plan the return leg before you set off.

7. Ramla Bay, Gozo

Ramla Bay is the largest and least developed beach in the Maltese islands, and the reason many visitors cross to Gozo for the day. Its Maltese name, Ir-Ramla l-Ħamra, means the red sand, and the colour is real: iron in the local clay gives the beach a rust-orange tone you will not see on Malta.

Ramla lies in a wide farmed valley between Nadur and Xagħra, with no hotels and almost no building behind it, which is what makes it look the way it does. It is a Blue Flag beach with summer lifeguards, toilets, showers, loungers for hire and a few kiosks and cafes at the back of the sand. A timber walkway runs out over the beach, so wheelchair users can get past the soft sand. Swimming is good and the rocky edges snorkel well, though the bay is open to the north and picks up surf in a northerly.

The path up the western side leads to the viewpoint at Calypso’s Cave, tied by local tradition to the nymph who kept Odysseus for seven years. The cave itself has been closed on safety grounds because of erosion; the viewpoint above it is open and gives the clearest view down the bay. Ramla is also where French troops landed on Gozo on 10 June 1798, the same morning they came ashore at St Paul’s Bay, St Julian’s and Marsaxlokk on Malta.

Bus 302 runs from Victoria to within a five-minute walk of the sand in about 30 minutes, but the service is not frequent, so check the timetable both ways. The Ċirkewwa to Mġarr ferry crossing takes about 25 minutes.

8. Buġibba Perched Beach

Buġibba Perched Beach is man-made, and that is the point of it. The coast around Buġibba and Qawra is flat rock with no natural sand at all, so sand was laid over a rock platform to create a beach in the middle of the resort. It is raised above the water, which is where the name comes from, and you enter the sea by ladder or ramp rather than by wading in.

The beach is small, roughly 2,000 square metres, and it is busy. It holds a Blue Flag, has a lifeguard tower in season, and has showers, changing rooms and accessible toilets. It is one of the seven managed beaches with a wooden ramp onto the sand, though getting from the sand into the water is harder here than at Mellieħa. Cafes, bars, dive schools and boat trip operators line the promenade a few steps away, and water sports gear is rented on the sand.

Frequent buses reach Buġibba from Valletta, Sliema and the airport, and the terminus is at the edge of town. Promenade parking is free and gone by mid-morning in summer.

9. St Paul’s Bay

St Paul’s Bay is northern Malta’s largest resort town rather than a single beach, and the distinction matters when you are booking. The shoreline inside the bay is mostly flat rock with ladders and small sandy pockets; the big sandy beaches people picture are Golden Bay and Mellieħa Bay, both a short drive away.

What the town gives you is a base. The promenade runs for kilometres past cafes, restaurants and dive centres, there is a weekly open-air market, and the bus network makes almost every beach in this guide a direct or one-change journey. Hotels range from budget guesthouses to four-star seafront resorts, and the concentration of them is the highest on the island outside St Julian’s.

The bay carries the tradition of St Paul’s shipwreck, from which the town takes its name, and it was one of the four points where French forces landed on 10 June 1798. Nearby are the Malta National Aquarium in Qawra, the Wignacourt Tower and St Paul’s Shipwreck Church. If you want a beach base with a car park and a bus stop rather than sand outside the door, hotels in St Paul’s Bay and across Malta start here.

10. Ġnejna Bay

Ġnejna Bay is the most rural of Malta’s sandy beaches and the one most people reach by car. It sits below Mġarr on the west coast, in a bowl of pale clay cliffs with boathouses cut into the slopes. The sand is coarse, the water is sheltered and clear, and the whole bay feels a long way from the resorts even though it is 20 minutes from them.

Getting there is the catch. The access road drops steeply and narrowly from Mġarr village, and bus 101 only runs down to the bay in summer. Outside that season the bus terminates in Mġarr and you face a steep walk of a kilometre and a half or more each way. Parking beside the sand is free and fills by late morning.

Facilities are basic: showers, toilets, a lounger and water sports concession, and a couple of bars and restaurants up the hill. The Ta’ Ħaġrat temples in Mġarr village are a five-minute drive away, part of the megalithic group inscribed by UNESCO in 1992, and open Tuesday to Sunday.

11. Pretty Bay

Pretty Bay is a town beach in Birżebbuġa on the southeast coast, and it exists because of the port next door. The rocky shoreline was covered with sand dredged from the seabed during work at the Malta Freeport from the late 1980s, which is why a long sandy beach sits on a coast that has almost none.

The beach is wide and flat, the water is shallow and calm, and the promenade behind it has a park, a playground, cafes and restaurants. It is one of the seven managed beaches fitted with a wooden ramp onto the sand. It is also a local beach rather than a tourist one, so it is busiest at weekends and in the evenings and quiet on weekday mornings.

The view is the thing people either like or do not: the container cranes of the Freeport stand directly across the water. Marsaxlokk, Malta’s fishing harbour with its Sunday market and painted luzzu boats, is a 10-minute drive around the headland. Regular buses run from Valletta.

12. White Tower Bay

White Tower Bay closes the string of Marfa Ridge beaches north of Armier, at the foot of the white watchtower built in 1658 that gives it its name. It is sandy, shallow and exposed, which makes it one of the island’s recognised kitesurfing spots when the wind is up.

There is no lifeguard here at any time of year, and that is the single most important thing to know about it. The bay is open to the north and the same wind that draws the kitesurfers builds chop and current, so it is a poor choice for weak swimmers and small children on a breezy day. Facilities are minimal: toilets, an outdoor shower, a beach kiosk in season and a small free car park that fills fast.

The compensation is space. White Tower Bay stays far emptier than Golden Bay or Mellieħa on the same August afternoon, and the view across to Comino is the same one you pay for at Paradise Bay. Reach it on the Armier bus or by car along the Marfa Ridge road.

13. St George’s Bay

St George’s Bay is the sandy beach in St Julian’s, a few minutes’ walk from the Paceville nightlife district and surrounded by hotels. The sand was imported, the bay is small, and in July and August it is the busiest square metre of coast on the island.

It earns its place on convenience. It is a Blue Flag beach with summer lifeguards, showers, changing rooms and toilets, and it is one of the seven managed beaches with a wooden ramp onto the sand. The water is calm and clear, and dozens of restaurants and bars sit within two minutes of the beach. If you are staying in Sliema or St Julian’s without a car, this is the beach you can walk to.

Spinola Bay, Balluta Bay, the Sliema promenade and the Malta National Aquarium are all reachable on foot or on one bus. Parking is difficult and metered garages in St Julian’s are the realistic option.

14. Qawra Point Beach

Qawra Point Beach, also called Ta’ Fra Ben, is a flat rock shore rather than a sand beach, and it swims better than most of the sandy ones. The rock platform at the point drops straight into deep, clear water, which makes it the strongest snorkelling spot in the Buġibba and Qawra area.

Despite having no sand, Qawra Point holds a Blue Flag and is on the lifeguard roster, and it has a lifeguard tower, showers, accessible toilets, a walkway and an access hoist for entering the water. That combination makes it one of the more usable beaches on the island for visitors with limited mobility. Bring water shoes and a towel to lie on, because rock is rock.

Cafes and restaurants line the Qawra promenade behind the point, the Malta National Aquarium is a short walk away, and buses run frequently from Valletta and Sliema. Promenade parking is free and limited.

What are the best beaches in Malta near Valletta?

The best beaches near Valletta are the rocky and semi-sandy bays of Sliema and St Julian’s, all within 20 minutes of the capital by bus. They are listed below.

1. St George’s Bay. St George’s Bay is the only real sandy beach in the Sliema and St Julian’s strip, and it holds a Blue Flag with summer lifeguards.
2. Fond Għadir, Sliema. Fond Għadir is a Blue Flag rock shore with pools cut into the stone, shallow enough for children and lined with cafes on the promenade above.
3. Balluta Bay. Balluta Bay is a small bay in St Julian’s below the Carmelite church and the Balluta Buildings, quieter than St George’s and better for an evening swim than a full beach day.
4. Exiles, Sliema. Exiles is a flat rock plateau on the Sliema front, used year-round by local swimmers and named after the sailing club beside it.
5. Qawra Point. Qawra Point is 25 minutes further out but has the clearest water of the group and an access hoist into the sea.

What are the best sandy beaches in Malta?

The best sandy beaches in Malta are Mellieħa Bay, Golden Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa and Ramla Bay on Gozo. Malta’s coast is predominantly limestone, so genuine sand is confined to a handful of bays in the north and northwest plus two man-made beaches.

The sandy beaches worth planning a day around are listed below.

1. Mellieħa Bay. Mellieħa Bay is the largest, the shallowest and the most accessible, with a ramp, beach wheelchairs and a hoist.
2. Golden Bay. Golden Bay is the most convenient, with a bus from Valletta to the sand and a full set of facilities.
3. Għajn Tuffieħa Bay. Għajn Tuffieħa is the most attractive, at the price of roughly 200 steps in each direction.
4. Ramla Bay. Ramla Bay on Gozo is the largest and least built-up, with red sand and a timber walkway across it.
5. Paradise Bay. Paradise Bay is the clearest snorkelling of the sandy bays, reached by about 100 steps.
6. Ġnejna Bay. Ġnejna Bay is the most rural, with a summer-only bus and a steep access road.

Which beaches in Malta are wheelchair accessible?

Seven managed beaches in Malta have wooden ramps laid onto the sand, and they are the realistic choices for wheelchair users. They are Għadira Bay in Mellieħa, Golden Bay, Fajtata Bay in Marsaskala, Pretty Bay, Qawra Point, St George’s Bay and Buġibba Perched Beach.

Mellieħa Bay is the most fully equipped of the seven, with accessible toilets, beach wheelchairs, an access hoist for getting into the water and blue badge parking. Qawra Point also has a hoist. The Malta Tourism Authority has been adding walkways, sand buggies and hoist chairs across the managed beaches, so provision changes from season to season and is worth checking on arrival.

Għajn Tuffieħa, Paradise Bay, Ġnejna Bay, Armier and White Tower Bay have none of this. Each is reached by a long staircase, a steep track or an unsurfaced walk, and none is a sensible destination for a wheelchair or a pushchair.

What are the best beaches in Malta for kids and toddlers?

The best beaches in Malta for kids and toddlers are Mellieħa Bay and Pretty Bay, because both combine soft sand, water that stays shallow a long way out and a flat walk from the car to the sea. Access matters more than scenery when you are carrying a toddler and a bag.

The family beaches are listed below.

1. Mellieħa Bay. Mellieħa Bay has the longest shallow shelf in Malta, lifeguards through the summer, playgrounds behind the sand and a ramp from the road.
2. Pretty Bay. Pretty Bay has calm shallow water, a ramp, a park and a playground on the promenade, and cafes within a minute of the sand.
3. Golden Bay. Golden Bay slopes gently, has lifeguards and a ramp, and has food and toilets on site, though the sand is coarse and the bay picks up swell in a westerly.
4. Buġibba Perched Beach. Buġibba Perched Beach is small and supervised with everything on the promenade behind it, but the sea is entered by ladder or ramp rather than by wading, which does not suit toddlers.
5. Ramla Bay. Ramla Bay on Gozo has soft sand, a gentle slope and a timber walkway, and it is the pick of the group if you are already on Gozo.

Paradise Bay and Għajn Tuffieħa are often recommended for families and should not be. Both are reached only by long, steep staircases, roughly 100 steps at Paradise Bay and around 200 at Għajn Tuffieħa, with no alternative route and no shade on the climb back up.

Can you take a dog to a beach in Malta?

You can take a dog only to a designated dog beach in Malta, and there are 16 of them, 12 on Malta and 4 on Gozo. The list is published by the Commissioner for Animal Welfare, and none of the main tourist beaches is on it.

Dogs are banned from every Blue Flag beach, which rules out Golden Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa, Mellieħa Bay, Buġibba Perched Beach, Qawra Point, St George’s Bay, Fond Għadir and Gozo’s Ramla, Marsalforn and Ħondoq ir-Rummien. Almost all the designated dog beaches are small rocky coves, such as Daħlet ix-Xmajjar at Armier, Ramlet il-Qortin near Mellieħa, Ras il-Ħobż on Gozo and the shore at Xatt is-Sajjieda in Marsaxlokk. Imġiebaħ Bay in Selmun is the one sandy beach on the list. Dogs must be leashed and owners must clean up after them.

Are there any nudist beaches in Malta?

No, Malta has no official nudist beach, and public nudity is an offence under the Maltese Criminal Code. Topless and nude bathing are both illegal, and fines are issued in high season, particularly along the northwest coast where police patrol by boat.

Naturism is quietly tolerated at a few remote spots that take real effort to reach, but none of them is sanctioned and none has facilities. If you are used to designated naturist beaches in Spain or France, plan for a more conservative beach culture here.

Which beaches in Malta host parties and festivals?

Malta’s beach party scene runs out of St Julian’s and Mellieħa rather than out of any single beach, and the island’s largest music events are held inland. Isle of MTV, the free festival Malta has hosted since 2007, takes place at Il-Fosos Square in Floriana, and Earth Garden is held at Ta’ Qali. Neither is on a beach, and the rest of the year’s programme is covered in the guide to every festival in Malta.

The beaches with an evening scene are listed below.

1. St George’s Bay. St George’s Bay sits on the edge of Paceville, so the bars and clubs behind it run events most summer nights.
2. Mellieħa Bay. Mellieħa Bay has beach bars along the road behind the sand that host live music and barbecues on summer weekends.
3. Golden Bay. Golden Bay holds occasional summer parties around sunset, usually run by the beach club rather than by the beach itself.

What attractions in Malta are near the beaches?

The famous attractions in Malta closest to the beaches are Popeye Village, Mdina, the Red Tower, the Ġgantija temples and Dwejra on Gozo. They are listed below.

1. Popeye Village, Anchor Bay. Popeye Village is the original film set built for the 1980 musical, now a park at Anchor Bay near Mellieħa, with mid-season 2026 admission at €18 ($21, £15) for adults and €14 ($16, £12) for children aged 3 to 12.
2. Mdina. Mdina is the walled former capital, about 10 km (6.2 mi) from Golden Bay, with a cathedral, palaces and pedestrian-only streets inside the bastions.
3. The Red Tower. The Red Tower, properly Saint Agatha’s Tower, stands about 2 km (1.2 mi) from Mellieħa Bay on the Marfa Ridge and is open to visitors.
4. Ġgantija Temples. Ġgantija on Gozo is about 4 km (2.5 mi) from Ramla Bay and is part of the megalithic group inscribed by UNESCO in 1992, older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.
5. Dwejra Bay. Dwejra on Gozo’s west coast has the Inland Sea, Fungus Rock and some of the country’s most popular shore diving, with a pebble beach rather than sand.

Several of these run guided trips that include transport from the resort towns, which is worth having if you are not driving.

How do you get to the beaches in Malta?

You get to Malta’s beaches by public bus, by hire car, by taxi or by boat, and the choice mostly depends on which beaches you want. The options are listed below.

1. Public bus. Malta Public Transport reaches every beach in this guide except the Blue Lagoon, and a single day fare is €2.00 ($2.30, £1.70) in winter and €2.50 ($2.90, £2.15) in summer, valid for two hours with free transfers when you pay by cash or contactless card. A 7-day Explore Flex card costs €27 ($31, £23) and a 7-day child card €7 ($8, £6).
2. Hire car. A car is the only practical way to reach Ġnejna out of season, White Tower Bay and the Marfa Ridge coves. Malta drives on the left and the lanes are narrow, so read up on driving in Malta before you book, then compare rates through car hire in Malta.
3. Taxi and ride-hailing. Bolt and eCabs both operate across Malta with fixed in-app pricing, which is the simplest way back from a northern bay after the buses thin out.
4. Ferry. The Ċirkewwa to Mġarr crossing to Gozo takes about 25 minutes, and passenger ferries also run to Comino from both ports. Tickets are sold online or at the Mġarr booths on Gozo.

Which regions in Malta host the top beaches?

The cities or regions in Malta that host the top beaches are Mellieħa, St Paul’s Bay, Gozo and Comino. Each covers a different kind of beach day.

Mellieħa holds the largest share of Malta’s sand: Mellieħa Bay, Golden Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa, Paradise Bay, Armier and White Tower Bay all fall within the locality or on the Marfa Ridge above it. St Paul’s Bay covers the northeast resort strip, including Buġibba Perched Beach and Qawra Point, and it has the densest concentration of hotels and bus routes. Gozo has Ramla l-Ħamra, San Blas, Xlendi, Marsalforn and Ħondoq ir-Rummien, all quieter than their equivalents on Malta. Comino has one beach, the Blue Lagoon, and it now needs a booked pass.

Where to stay for a beach holiday in Malta

Stay in Mellieħa if the beach itself matters most, and in Buġibba, Qawra or St Paul’s Bay if you want the widest choice of hotels and the easiest bus links. Sliema and St Julian’s suit visitors who want restaurants, nightlife and Valletta on the doorstep and are willing to take a bus north to reach the sand.

Prices climb steeply between May and September, and the seafront properties in Mellieħa and Golden Bay are the first to sell out for August. Compare rates and cancellation terms across hotels and apartments in Malta before you commit, and check self-catering apartments in Malta if you want a kitchen and a washing machine for a long stay.

What does a beach day in Malta cost?

A beach day in Malta costs little beyond transport and shade. Every beach in this guide is free to enter, including the Blue Lagoon, whose access pass costs nothing. Two sunbeds and an umbrella from a concession commonly run €15 to €20 ($17 to $23, £13 to £17) a day at the managed sandy beaches in 2026, set by the operator rather than by the beach. Loungers are not compulsory anywhere and there is always free sand or rock.

Parking is free at Golden Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa, Ġnejna, Ramla, Armier and White Tower Bay, and limited everywhere. In St Julian’s and Sliema you will pay for a garage. The single largest saving is timing: arrive before 10:00 or after 16:00 and you get the car park, the cooler sand and the better light.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

The 5 tips below come from checking every beach on this page against the Malta Tourism Authority, the Red Cross lifeguard service, the dog beach list and the bus timetable, and each one is a rule that has changed since most Malta beach guides were written.

1. Book a free Blue Lagoon pass before you get on the boat. Anyone stepping ashore on Comino needs a timed access pass from blcomino.com, in one of three daily slots, with the site capped at 4,000 people and fines for turning up without one. The pass and the ferry ticket are separate bookings, so confirm the slot first.
2. Read the step count before you pick a bay. Għajn Tuffieħa is roughly 200 concrete steps down and Paradise Bay about 100, and there is no accessible route at either, whatever older listings say about wheelchair access. Mellieħa Bay is the one with a ramp onto the sand, a hoist into the water and beach wheelchairs.
3. Bus 101 only reaches Ġnejna in summer. Outside the summer timetable it terminates in Mġarr village and leaves you well short of the bay. Routes 109 and 225, which several guides list for Ġnejna, do not serve it at all.
4. Lifeguards work 1 June to 30 September and no longer. A May or October swim is unsupervised everywhere, and Armier, Little Armier and White Tower Bay have no lifeguard cover at any point in the year.
5. Leave the dog at home unless you are heading for a designated cove. Dogs are banned from every Blue Flag beach in Malta, which covers Golden Bay, Mellieħa, Ramla and the rest of the main sandy bays. Malta designates 16 dog beaches instead, and none of them is a headline tourist beach.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the team covers Malta for independent travellers, including the beaches, boat trips, hotels and car hire worth booking. We check this page against the Malta Tourism Authority’s beach management rules, the Blue Flag Malta list, the Commissioner for Animal Welfare’s dog beach list and Malta Public Transport’s routes and fares, and update it when access rules, lifeguard dates and prices change.