The natural arch
Thirty metres of rock over the water.
Ninaeva Нина Силаева — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bengt Nyman — CC BY 2.0 · Bengt Nyman — CC BY 2.0 · Rhododendrites — CC BY-SA 4.0
The free platform gives you the whole outside view, and Ħaġar Qim is ten minutes away — so the trip is not wasted. But do not build a whole winter day around it.
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Blue light burning under a rock arch: the Blue Grotto is a system of six sea caves beneath the southern cliffs, the largest a natural arch thirty metres high — and the name comes from what the morning sun does: its rays reflect off the white sandy seabed until the water inside the cave glows a phosphorescent blue, the rock above it picking up coral and phosphorus colours. Boats leave from the Wied iż-Żurrieq quay on a twenty-minute round entering the caves one by one — and timing is everything: between nine and eleven in the morning the colour is at its peak, and by afternoon it fades entirely. Wind stops the boats often in winter, so check before making the trip. From the road above the quay a free viewing platform looks onto the great arch with the islet of Filfla on the horizon — worth stopping for even if you never sail. It lies twenty minutes by bus from Valletta and pairs naturally with the nearby Ħaġar Qim temples.
Thirty metres of rock over the water.
A rock on the horizon once used for gunnery practice.
Wied iż-Żurrieq, Qrendi