Stop 11 of 12
The Blue Grotto Viewpoint
An arch, a colour, and a borrowed name
Keep going
Stop one of Ħaġar Qim & Mnajdra plays straight away. The other 11 are one payment:
- Every stop from here to Wied iż-Żurrieq, narrated
- The map following you from stop to stop, hands free
- The whole tour saved to your phone — no signal, no roaming
Not sure yet? Start with The Visitor Centre & the Ridge.
The written guide below is open either way.
Guide to The Blue Grotto Viewpoint
From a viewpoint on the bend of the coast road, a natural limestone arch with the sea running through it and a run of caves in the cliff beyond: Il-Ħnejja, the arch, known since the last century as the Blue Grotto. Before about one o’clock, light off the pale sea floor turns the water inside the caves a colour that has to be seen; by afternoon it is gone.
The colour
In the morning, with the sun still low, light reflected off the white sandy floor lights the caves from below and the water turns an intense blue. As the sun moves round the effect fades, so the boats and the photographs are a morning matter.
The arch and the name
The sea cut the arch along a line of weakness in the same limestone that forms the caves and inlets along this whole coast. The name is not old: British servicemen in the twentieth century gave it, or borrowed it from Capri, and it has outlasted them. To the Maltese it is Il-Ħnejja.
What to look at
- The arch itself, with the sea passing through
- The cave mouths in the cliff to the east of it
- Boats going through in the morning, from the inlet below
Practical
- Timing
- The blue is a morning effect; by early afternoon the caves are in shadow.
- Terrain
- A roadside viewpoint; the road down to the inlet is steep.
Walk to stop 12 · Wied iż-Żurrieq
Follow the road downhill into the inlet. The slipway and the boats are at the bottom; the bus stop is at the top of the village.
About 10 min · 615 m