This seawater pool sits in a crater where a sea cave's roof fell in: you can swim it, or come in from open water by kayak or boat.
Landmark, Mellieħa. Meridian Dispatch.
Coral Lagoon is also known as Coral Cave or Dragonara Cave. All three names refer to the same collapsed limestone crater and sea pool on the coast near Mellieħa.
Visitors report a drop of about 10 metres from the rim, with water usually deep enough because Malta has very little tide. Travel guides also warn against making the jump at all.
By kayak along the coast from Armier Beach. Kayaks and small inflatable boats are small enough to pass through the cave entrance into the lagoon itself, so paddlers reach the water without the drop from the rim.
Coral Lagoon is a collapsed doline: a karst hollow left where a cave ceiling fell in. The hollow is filled with seawater and open to the sky, and a sea entrance links it to open water.
The surrounding rock is coral limestone. It has a sharp-edged surface and forms steep cliffs all round this peninsula, so from the rim you look straight down the walls to the pool.
The site is also classed as a blowhole: strong waves force water up through openings in the rock that lies between the pool and the cliff.
The lagoon sits well off the beaten track, so expect far fewer swimmers than at Malta's Blue Lagoon.
Short and uphill, the walk in starts at the car park next to the campsite and climbs a small hill to the rim in about five minutes.
Swimmers who jump in cannot climb straight back up the wall. They have to swim out through the sea entrance and round the jagged headland to reach solid rock, so plan that route before you go in.
Coming by water avoids the drop altogether. Boat tours along this coast stop at the lagoon, and kayakers paddle over from Armier Beach.
Carry all the drinking water, high-factor sunscreen and snacks you will want for the outing, since the Maltese sun can be harsh.
Pack a snorkelling mask if you plan to swim. The water is clear enough to show the seabed and the coloured rock formations lying under the surface.
Mellieħa's ridge gives you a quiet night above the bay: the sand is about 3 km downhill, and the Parish Church terrace looks back over it in the evening.
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