Comino

Ooaj Travel Guide, tourism, hotel reservation, residence, plane, cheap pension for you holidays in comino

Free Travel guide Ooaj.com A free travel guide for holidays. Hotels in comino, Bed and Breakfast!

Comino is an island that forms part of the country of Malta. It is by far the smallest inhabited island of the Maltese islands with a grand total of 8 permanent inhabitants, as well as an hotel which caters mostly for overseas visitors on all-inclusive package tours. Comino is famed for it's Blue Lagoon which offers clear waters for swimming in.

	comino Travel Guide : 1 Understand 2 Get in 3 Get around 4 See 5 Do 6 Eat 7 Sleep 8 Get Out

Understand

Comino was for a long time uninhabited and was used by corsair pirates as a resting place until in the 17th century the Knights of St. John constructed the Santa Maria Tower to secure the island. This tower is in use by the Maltese military until this very day. It's set in a very impressive location on a clifftop and seems more like a midsize fortress until you approach it and realise it's rather small. Like many other locations in Malta it can be seen in the recent film The Count of Monte Christo. During the British reign a leprosy colony was established on Comino because of its remote location; it was abandoned and is now used by the locals as convenient housing.

For more information, visit the VisitMalta tourist information site for Comino and Gozo 1 (http://www.visitmalta.com/en/gozo_comino/goz_comino/goz_comino.html).

Get in

Comino is located in between Malta and Gozo and can be reached by a small ferry leaving from ?irkewwa (on the north-western tip of Malta - the same place that the much larger ferries to Gozo depart from) or from Mgarr in Gozo. Sailings are irregular - check with the Comino Hotel.

Many tourist boats from both Malta and Gozo head for the Blue Lagoon on a daily basis.

Get around

There are thankfully only 2 or 3 cars on Comino, belonging to the hotel and locals, if you're staying at the bungalows there is a minivan to shuttle you back and forth to the hotel itself. One can rent mountainbikes if one is staying at the hotel, this is a pleasant way to explore but not entirely cheap. Otherwise, Comino is only 2.5km by 1.5km in size, so you can hike around the whole island in an hour or two.

See

The island only has a few structures on it, the Santa Maria Tower, the former leprosy colony building which is now used by the locals to live in, the chapel, the police station, and a medium size hotel and a group of small bungalows belonging to it. The only sights are the Blue Lagoon and the Tower.

Do

The main reason for visiting the island for by far the most people is the so called Blue Lagoon, a stunning lagoon located on the north side of the island which has exceedingly clear azure-blue water. Unfortunately between 10 and 4 in the high season several hundred people swamp it each day, snackbars are set up on the pristine waterfront, deckchairs are rented out and all kinds of different craft go in and out of the lagoon ferrying visitors back and forth. The best time therefore to come is early in the morning as this is also when the water sparkles the most beautifully in the sun.

Less well known is the Crystal Lagoon (neither of these places have Maltese names) which has almost equally beautiful green waters but unfortunately very little opportunity to swim from the shore as it's surrounded by cliffs. From a boat however it can be a welcome break from the busy Blue Lagoon as it's a lot quieter.

Comino offers some of the best opportunities for Scuba Diving in the Merranean, including the Santa Maria Caves. Water visibility is usually excellent with an abundance of marine life to view, particularly in August / September. There is a dive center 2 (http://www.cominodivecentre.com/) attached to the Comino Hotel, and other operators from Malta and Gozo offer trips to Comino's waters.

Eat

Lunch can be had at the hotel also if one is not a guest.

Sleep

• Comino Hotel, Tel: (+356) 2152 9821 - Fax: (+356) 2152 9826. 3 (http://www.cominohotel.com/). The hotel is a decent place to stay and gives one the opportunity to visit the Blue Lagoon before or after the crowds claim it during the day. The bungalows, even though they are located in a very pleasant quiet cove, one of the quietest locations for visitors to stay in crowded Malta, are a bit basic for the price.

Get Out

If staying on Comino, a ferry over to Gozo followed by a taxi ride will take you to the main town of Victoria.