While visiting the beautiful country of Malta on the Mediterranean Sea, I knew I couldn’t leave without visiting the famous Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is true to its name, with its bright crystal-clear waters just off the shore of Malta’s smallest inhabited island, Comino. Unsurprisingly, the Blue Lagoon draws massive crowds (as most popular tourist attractions do) so I was looking for a unique way to visit the gorgeous lagoon while beating the crowds. What I found was so much more.
Kayak Gozo – Kayaking from Gozo to Comino
After we arrived in Malta, I did some research online and came across Kayak Gozo, the best kayaking tours of Malta.
Tour Options & Cost Breakdown
Kayak Gozo offers morning “Rise & Shine”, afternoon “Siesta Paddle” and full day “Day Trippin'” tours. They also offer up the option for personalized tours for groups.
Half day tours: €38 Euros (~$44 USD) for 3+ hours, including transportation, equipment & snacks
Full day tours: €58 Euros (~$67 USD) for 6+ hours, including transportation, equipment, lunch & snacks
I wanted to see the Blue Lagoon early in the morning (before the crowds) and spend as much time out on the water as possible. I ended up taking the full day “Day Trippin” tour from Gozo over to the Blue Lagoon and Comino.
Kayak Gozo does their best accommodate recommended destinations, but all tours, launch points, and tour routes are weather dependent and are confirmed at least one day before the tour begins.
Here’s a play-by-play of our exceptional experience!
Reservations
Making a reservation with Kayak Gozo was very easy! If you have an international phone plan, you can call +356 9900 4696 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. local time. You can email info@kayakgozo.com or fill out the contact form and you will get a response within 24 hours!
I sent an email and heard back almost immediately from Kristie, who runs Kayak Gozo along with her significant other, Chris. I had told her the dates my sister and I were in Gozo and what we were hoping to do. She found a tour and date that worked with our requests and travel plans! Because we didn’t have our own vehicle, she arranged pick-up and drop-off for us (which is included in the tour).
Since we would head back on the ferry to the main island after our tour, we would have all our luggage with us. Kayak Gozo provides a locked storage area for personal belongings in the bay where the kayaks launch, but I was a little apprehensive about leaving my electronics all day in the hot summer temperatures. Kristie was very accommodating and arranged for the driver to take our belongings from us and leave them locked in the Kayak Gozo office during the day, and then deliver them back to us when we returned, before taking us to the ferry terminal. We greatly appreciated the little bit of extra effort and coordination!
Pick up
On the day of our tour, we were picked up 10 minutes before 9 a.m. in the town square where we were staying. We were greeted by our driver Julian and a bright yellow Land Rover 4×4. Julian is originally from the UK and shared some of his own personal experiences about living in Gozo with his family as well as a bit of history of the island. He was very kind and outgoing, and we were entertained by his stories on our drive.
Hondoq Bay
We were driven to Hondoq Bay to start our kayaking trip. If you have your own vehicle, there is also the option to drive to the meetup point yourself. You are instructed to bring sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, clothes and shoes that can get wet, and your own water supply (although more will be given to you at mealtime).
We met the other Kayak Gozo founder, Chris and then our paddle guide, Laurie, who had a talent for quickly remembering everyone’s names and occupations. She was very personable, friendly, and fun, while also keeping everyone in the group safe. We were given basic instructions, our life vests, dry bags, and paddles. Every detail was provided for us, from all the necessary equipment to snorkels to sunglass straps.
Before we knew it, my sister and I were on the Mediterranean Sea in a bright yellow kayak built for two!
Crossing the Gozo Channel
Our guide led us around the corner to caves just outside of Hondoq Bay to get the hang of our kayaks before we paddled across the channel to Comino, Gozo’s smallest inhabited island.
Our driver told us earlier only three permanent residents live on Comino (Sicilian farmers) and that once they die, no one will be allowed to live on the island. The island also houses one hotel and short-term apartments to rent. We stuck together with our group and paddled the 1.5 km (a little under a mile) stretch to our first stop on Comino, the Blue Lagoon.
The Blue Lagoon
One of Malta’s most popular attractions is the Blue Lagoon, located on Comino. The lagoon is a brilliant light icy blue thanks to its shallow sandy bottom. This tourist attraction gets extremely packed with visitors coming in on boat tours and water taxis throughout the day and it was nice to beat the crowds on our kayaks. We paddled through a small arch in the Blue Lagoon before making our way around the edge of Comino.
At first, I was almost disappointed at how little of time we spent in the Blue Lagoon, but by the end of the day, I realized there were so many other beautiful and unique spots that I understood why we moved on quickly from the Blue Lagoon. So, if you’re looking to spend more time in the Blue Lagoon and get one of the big cocktails in a pineapple, I suggest taking the ferry from Gozo over or a boat cruise that allows more time there. But I promise there are many more hidden gems to discover on Comino and you won’t be let down by this kayak tour!
Paddling, Snorkeling, and Cliff Jumping around Comino
We kayaked through many caves and under arches before stopping to snorkel at a little bay around the bend from the Blue Lagoon. There we jumped off the rocks into a natural pool and ate a snack of homemade peanut butter granola bars. The bars (made by Kristie) were so delicious that we ended up getting the recipe afterward! We continued our journey through a narrow inlet that just barely allowed our kayak to squeeze through that opened into Sea Urchin alleyway.
An underwater archway was visible through the crystal-clear water. We used our GoPro and GoPro dome to capture the beauty above and below the water, handing it over to our guide Laurie, who got perfect shot for us! Laurie was also taking photos of us and the group with her own camera, which were sent to us after our trip.
Santa Maria Bay & Caves
Our next stop was Santa Maria Bay, where we got out of our kayaks and took a short walk to visit another cave on land. Inside the cave, we ventured over an underwater archway into a stunning cove dubbed Smuggler’s Cove. Laurie told us about a time when Malta aimed to produce all of their own goods so importing outside items was illegal. Apparently, this cave was used by pirates to store foreign exports (rumor has it some of these items were wine and chocolate, unfortunately, we didn’t find any when we visited ;)). We watched as scuba divers swam through the archway into the cave with their flashlights below the surface. Malta is a diving hot spot with all of its underwater caves, reefs, and wrecks.
Just outside of the caves, we sat on the rocks overlooking the deep blue Mediterranean Sea and enjoyed a delicious homemade lunch of a chicken potato wrap, watermelon, and banana chocolate chip muffins. Then we took a quick dip at the beach before getting back into our kayaks.
Comino to Gozo
We paddled through more beautiful archways around Comino before crossing the channel back to Gozo to enter one more cave. This one was so narrow that our double kayak couldn’t even fit all the way in without getting stuck.
Then we kayaked back to Hondoq Bay to disembark. Our bags were waiting for us and were driven to the ferry terminal to head back to Malta for the final days of our trip.
Day Trippin’ Route Summary from Gozo to Comino
We started our journey at Hondoq Bay and paddled west along the coast until we crossed the channel, heading south to Comino. We kayaked in the Blue Lagoon and then paddled east along the coast of Comino. We stopped around the bend from the Blue Lagoon for a snorkel break until paddling onward around the coast, through caves and alleyways to Santa Maria Bay. We disembarked at Santa Maria Bay and walked to the Santa Maria Caves on land to explore and have lunch. We continued to paddle east around Comino before heading north across the channel back to Gozo. From Gozo we paddled back west to Hondoq Bay. The total trip took a little over six hours.
Overall Kayak Gozo Experience
If you’re looking for an adventurous and unique experience in Malta, I highly recommend booking a tour with Kayak Gozo! There’s a reason they have a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor with hundreds of positive reviews (and not a single negative one!).
Have you ever been kayaking in the sea? Share your experience in the comment box below!
*In full transparency to my readers, I partnered with Kayak Gozo for this blog post. I do not make commission off the Kayak Gozo links included in this post. I did, however, receive a complimentary tour. I only collaborate with companies I love and hope you’ll love too!
**Note: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. If you click an affiliate link and purchase a product, I will be paid a small commission but your cost will still remain the same or less. I will always disclose this at the bottom of the post.
