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Ninety seconds on Paradise Bay
Route 101 runs from Mġarr through Mellieħa to Ċirkewwa, and routes 221 and 222 also serve the terminus. From there the walk down the road to the cove takes about 10 to 15 minutes.
Yes. The water is ideal for swimming and snorkelling, and the shape of the bay usually keeps the sea calm, so the cove suits a gentle swim close to the sand.
Yes. From June to September, and above all at weekends, space on the beach runs out quickly. May is quieter, when the crowds thin out.
Its own published season runs from April to November, with November cut to Friday to Sunday afternoons. It publishes no hours for December to March.
Yes. The lido's website has a Book a Sunbed option and a Book a Table option, and the lido takes bookings and general enquiries by phone on +356 7957 5490.
Yes. The lido's own website lists kayak hire and stand-up paddle hire among its watersports at Paradise Bay, so a kayak or a board can be taken out from the cove without bringing one along.
At Malta's northern tip, you swim from fine sand into sheltered, clear turquoise water with Comino straight ahead across the channel.
Paradise Bay sits on the Marfa peninsula at Malta's northern tip, just above the Ċirkewwa terminal where ferries leave for Gozo and Comino. Cliffs frame the cove, and the beach is a short strip of fine sand.
You walk in straight off the sand, an easier entry than at most of the island's rocky swimming spots. The cove is enclosed and sheltered, so the swimming stays close to the beach.
Across the channel you look over to Gozo, with the hotel and the ferry port in view on the point. Beach guides often place the bay at the top of Malta's most beautiful beaches for its clear water and its cliff-framed setting.
Park at the top, in the car park signed for Paradise Bay off the main road to the Ċirkewwa ferry terminal; taxis drop you there too. Arriving by bus, you get off near the Paradise Bay Hotel, and the approach from the main road is a bit of a walk uphill.
From the car park a long flight of stairs leads down to the sand, and the same stairs bring you back up at the end of the day.
In season, a lido with sunbeds, umbrellas, a restaurant and a bar operates on the sand, and the beach has showers and toilets.
Bring a mask and fins for the clear water. Visitors report sea urchins on the rocks at both ends of the bay, so wear water shoes if you swim off the edges.
Choosing between beaches, this is the intimate, scenic option, with the long stairway as its catch. Golden Bay is livelier with easier access, and Mellieħa Bay is the very large, shallow family beach with flat access.
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