Malta – Marsaxlokk and Pretty Bay

If something has “pretty” in its name, let your warning light go on. Nice places don’t need nice names, they are just beautiful. We were tempted by the name, so we went to see the prettiest bay and the famous fishing village of Marsaxlokk.

What comes to your mind when someone asks what is Malta’s most distinctive symbol? Probably the famous Azure Window, which no longer exists. Well, that’s right, it’s gone now so it’s time to look for something new. And this is where guidebook publishers and travel agencies come to the rescue, tempting you with trips to Malta via colorful boats that wink at you. They are characteristic of the village of Marsaxlokk, about which today’s entry will be about.

The famous Mersaxlokk

During our stay in Malta, we decided to head to the famous fishing village – Marsaxlokk. From the name alone, it seems that the place is magical. Well, because how do you pronounce such a name? So we translate. Marsaxlokk reads like“Marsaszlok”.

The aforementioned fabulous, colorful boats bobbing peacefully on the water, and the background noise from the famous fish market. This is how we imagined the Marsaxlokk marina, so it was imperative that we get there. We traveled, of course, by public transportation, which runs from Malta’s capital about every 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Sunday, forces majeure meant that we had to go to the fishing village during the week, so we consciously already felt that the imaginary picture would be incomplete (the market is held on Sunday), but nevertheless we still wanted to enjoy the views and hoped for additional interesting attractions on the spot. We were only concerned about the tourists, because since this is one of the more fabulous places on the island, there is bound to be a problem with places, squeezing in somewhere, or eventually with nice photos.

I guess our expectations were too high :) Once we arrived at Marsaxlokk, we got off the bus and to our eyes appeared a deserted city! Seriously, after what we saw in the capital and nearby towns, here it was simply empty and quiet.

For a moment we were overwhelmed by the thought that maybe we got off at the wrong stop after all, but as soon as we looked at the marina we saw that we were in Marsaxlokk. There were boats bobbing about on the water, but there were not particularly many of them. Right on the shore there are numerous stalls, pubs, a square with a church and that’s about it….

Most of the stalls and stores were closed, as if it was low season (although we were in high season, not like in Sicily;-)).

Pretty Bay, a beach in Birzebbuga

After a short walk, we caught a bus to a nearby beach (noteworthy is the fact that we waited longer for the bus than we did exploring the city :) ).

So we set off in the direction of Pretty Bay. Prepared in advance, we had the image of a beautiful sandy beach in our eyes and were already looking forward to finally enjoying the sun and water under favorable conditions.

As you may have already guessed, the beach, or rather the entire bay, so highly recommended by the guidebook as the prettiest beach in the southern part of Malta did not win our hearts.

Why? After all, it’s not so bad, right?

Or is it?

Just widen the perspective and it turns out that what on the postcards is a beautiful paradise beach is in fact a beach right next to a large port where huge ships and container ships call.

It must be said that the beach itself is quite nice, soft sand, calm sea and few tourists. Nevertheless, the views and the nearby port effectively discourage lying down…. I don’t see the pleasure in lying on the beach while listening and watching the unloading of container ships. Anyway, there was also some trash in the water…. Whether they came from ships or beachgoers we no longer want to know.

For the desperate: yes, people bathe in water here.
For the rest of you: even Paweł didn’t get into the water :)

We lounged for just an hour and decided to return to Sliema. Also this time we had to wait our own for the bus, such are the charms of collective travel :)

Summary

Although we can’t call the day a lost day, we feel a great deal of insufficiency and disappointment. The village, which was supposed to be Malta’s bustling fishing center, turned out to be a quiet, peaceful and deserted place with mostly boats to look at. We didn’t even have a chance to eat fresh fish because most of the restaurants were closed (in high season!).

Pretty Bay also disappointed us. Walking to the beach and seeing these metal molasse, we understood how easy it is to manipulate and create beautiful catalog showcases of places through proper perspective and framing. Unfortunately, the result is that a person who specifically comes here will feel disappointed and disillusioned and will probably not recommend this place to anyone again.

Nevertheless, Malta is a beautiful island, and it also has beautiful beaches, which we will write about in our next post. It’s just that if you only have a few days to visit Malta, you can safely let these areas go :)

Zobacz galerię zdjęć z Marsaxlokk i Pretty Bay >>>

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