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 its building is now used by the locals as convenient housing.
For more information, visit the VisitMalta tourist information site for Comino and Gozo .
Get in
Comino is located in between Malta and Gozo and can be reached by a small ferry leaving from Ċirkewwa (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 northwest 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.
There is also the island of Cominoto, situated less than a hundred metres away from Comino itself. The island has a tiny beach that opens onto the Blue Lagoon. This beach is popular with tourists wanting to get away from the crowded rockfaces of Comino, but be prepared to either hire a boat to get you out there or, if you can swim, buy a waterproof bag for your beach towels and swim to the island. If the tide is low you can wade across most of the distance.
Comino offers some of the best opportunities for Scuba Diving in the Mediterranean, 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 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
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.
Comino (Maltese: Kemmuna) is an island of the Maltese archipelago between the islands of Malta and Gozo in the Mediterranean Sea, measuring 3.5 km² in area. Named after the cumin herb that once flourished on the Island, Comino is noted for its tranquility and isolation. It has a permanent population of only four residents. One priest and one policeman commute from the nearby island of Gozo, to render their services to the local population and summertime visitors. Today, Comino is a bird sanctuary and nature reserve.
History of Comino
Comino is known to have been inhabited by farmers during Roman times, however for long periods in its history it has been sparsely populated, or abandoned entirely.
Its rugged coastline is delineated by sheer limestone cliffs, and dotted with deep caves which were popular with pirates and marauders in the Middle Ages. The caves and coves of Comino were frequently used as staging posts for raids on hapless boats crossing between Malta and Gozo. In later years, the Knights of Malta used this island as hunting and recreational grounds. The Knights were fiercely protective of the local game, which consisted of wild boar and hares (Maltese: fenek tal-grixti): upon conviction, poachers were liable to a penalty of three years as a galley slave.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Comino served as a place of imprisonment or exile for errant knights. Knights who were convicted of minor crimes were occasionally sentenced to the lonely and dangerous task of manning St. Mary's Tower.
St. Mary's Tower
In 1416 the Maltese petitioned their king, Alphonse V of Aragon, to build a tower on Comino to serve as an early warning system in case of invasion, and to deter marauding Turks, pirates, smugglers and corsairs from using Comino as a hiding place and staging ground for devastating sorties onto the sister islands of Malta and Gozo. Two years later a special tax was levied on imported wine to raise funds for this project. However, the monies were diverted to the King's coffers, and the Island remained undefended for another two hundred years.
Finally, in 1618 St. Mary's Tower (Maltese: it-Torri ta' Santa Marija) was erected by the Knights of Malta on the orders of Grandmaster Wignacourt. It was designed by Maltese architect Vittorio Cassar. Funds for its construction were raised primarily by means of the sale of Comino brushwood. Located roughly in the centre of the southern coast of the Island, it formed part of a chain of defensive towers installed at vantage points along the coastline of the Maltese Islands, and greatly improved communications between the Islands of Malta and Gozo. The Tower is a large, square building with four corner turrets, located about 80 metres above sea level. The Tower itself is about 12 metres tall, with walls that are approximately 6 metres thick, and is raised on a platform and plinth that are approximately 8 metres high.
During times of crisis its garrison numbered up to 60 soldiers. By 1791 its armament included two 12-pound iron cannon, one 10-pound bronze cannon, one 4-pound bronze cannon, and two 3-pound bronze cannon.
During the French Blockade (1798-1800), St. Mary's Tower served as a concentration camp for suspected spies. In 1829 it was abandoned by the British Military. For several decades it was deemed to be property of the local civil authorities, and may have been used as an isolation hospital, or even as a wintering pen for farm animals. The Tower saw active service once again during both World War I and World War II. Since 1982, the Tower has been the property of the Armed Forces of Malta. It now serves as a lookout and staging post to guard against contraband and the illegal hunting of migratory birds at sea.
St. Mary's Tower underwent extensive restoration between 2002 and 2004. Today, it remains the most notable structure on Comino, and provides a destination for tourists taking walks around the Island.
Other buildings and structures
A tiny Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to the Sacred Family Upon its Return from Egypt is located above Santa Marija Bay. Built in 1618, and enlarged in 1667 and again in 1716, the Chapel was originally dedicated to the Annunciation. It has been desecrated and reconsecrated at least once in its history, when Comino was devoid of residents. The earliest record of a chapel on this site dates back to the 12th century, and can be seen in a navigational map of the period, located in the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.. Mass is celebrated in the chapel on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings for the residents, hotel staff and tourists.
St. Mary's Battery, built in 1716, at the same time as various other batteries around the coastline of mainland Malta, is situated facing the South Comino Channel. It is a semi-circular structure with a number of embrasures facing the sea. The Battery still houses two 24-pound iron cannons, and remains in a fair state of preservation mainly due to its remote location. Its armament originally included four 6-pound iron cannons. The Battery underwent restoration in 1996 by the Maltese heritage preservation society, Din l-Art Ħelwa. St. Mary's Redoubt, an additional defensive structure, was also constructed in 1716 on the northern coast of Comino, however it was subsequently demolished. The Knights also constructed army barracks on Comino. In the early 20th century the barracks were periodically used as an isolation hospital.
Comino Hotel, with its two private beaches, a 1960s development, is located above San Niklaw Bay. There are also holiday bungalows by Santa Marija Bay.
There is a police station located between the holiday bungalows and the chapel.
The only other commercial enterprise on Comino is a pig farm, which is located on the remote, south east corner of the Island.
Interesting facts and folklore
Tourism and film industry
Between Comino and adjacent islet of Cominotto (Maltese: Kemmunett) lie the transparent, cyan waters of the Blue Lagoon (Maltese: Bejn il-Kmiemen, literally "Between the Cominos"). Frequented by large numbers of tourists and tour boats daily, the Blue Lagoon is a much photographed, picturesque bay, with a brilliant white, sandy base, and a rich marine life that make it popular with divers, snorkelers and swimmers. Other beaches on Comino include St. Mary Bay (Maltese: Ramla ta' Santa Marija) and St. Nicholas Bay (Maltese: Bajja San Niklaw).
Comino is a popular location for filmmakers. It appears in the movies Troy, The Count Of Monte Cristo and Swept Away. Most notably, St. Mary's Tower on Comino was featured in the film The Count of Monte Cristo, where it doubled as the Château d'If.
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