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Words and Photos: Carsten Coles

Coastal Swims, Night Wanders // Malta

Words and Photos: Carsten Coles
Words and Photos: Carsten Coles

Coastal Swims, Night Wanders // Malta

Words and Photos: Carsten Coles

Gazing into the depths through the murky seawater, gentle waves lapping over my head, shards of light penetrating down, just shy of the shipwreck that lay somewhere beneath. Swimming goggles were misting up in the brisk cold of early spring, limbs starting to feel slow and heavy as defeat was accepted and the retreat back to the rocky shore began, stopping at the reef on the way to gaze at colourful fish, flicking this way and that.

Small wooden boats were taking tourists to the nearby Blue Grotto, creating a mini-shipping lane as they bobbed gently in the waves. As one passed and the drone of the boat engines dimmed into the distance, I crossed the inlet and heaved myself up onto the rocks to dry out in the sun, basking like a seal as the rays infused some energy back into my muscles.

Divers waddled slowly down the steps leading to the inlet, frogmen ready to emerge into the waters where graceful movements would replace awkward stumbles. I looked at their bodies sheathed in wetsuits, protected from the chill, with some envy. The sunken oil tanker, one of Malta’s best wreck diving sites, is just around the bay from the capacious caverns of the Blue Grotto sea caves.

Up on the headland, the megalithic temple of Ħaġar Qim peers out to sea. Built more than 5,000 years before, its rituals were underway more than a thousand years before the huge megaliths of Stonehenge were hauled into place. A haunting site accessed across a stony field, hidden beneath a protective canvas dome, birds nesting among the steel girders high above. It’s hard to comprehend how this landscape had changed over the millennia, the awe it must have inspired from passing seafarers, the reverence the people must have held for these temples.

Gazing into the depths through the murky seawater, gentle waves lapping over my head, shards of light penetrating down, just shy of the shipwreck that lay somewhere beneath. Swimming goggles were misting up in the brisk cold of early spring, limbs starting to feel slow and heavy as defeat was accepted and the retreat back to the rocky shore began, stopping at the reef on the way to gaze at colourful fish, flicking this way and that.

Small wooden boats were taking tourists to the nearby Blue Grotto, creating a mini-shipping lane as they bobbed gently in the waves. As one passed and the drone of the boat engines dimmed into the distance, I crossed the inlet and heaved myself up onto the rocks to dry out in the sun, basking like a seal as the rays infused some energy back into my muscles.

Divers waddled slowly down the steps leading to the inlet, frogmen ready to emerge into the waters where graceful movements would replace awkward stumbles. I looked at their bodies sheathed in wetsuits, protected from the chill, with some envy. The sunken oil tanker, one of Malta’s best wreck diving sites, is just around the bay from the capacious caverns of the Blue Grotto sea caves.

Up on the headland, the megalithic temple of Ħaġar Qim peers out to sea. Built more than 5,000 years before, its rituals were underway more than a thousand years before the huge megaliths of Stonehenge were hauled into place. A haunting site accessed across a stony field, hidden beneath a protective canvas dome, birds nesting among the steel girders high above. It’s hard to comprehend how this landscape had changed over the millennia, the awe it must have inspired from passing seafarers, the reverence the people must have held for these temples.

Valletta streets landscape 1165px
Valletta streets 550px

Just 10km from Malta’s capital, Valletta, this area on the opposing coast holds a full day’s worth of adventures, accessible by local bus through stone walled fields over rolling hills. In the suburbs of Valletta, is the subterranean version of Ħaġar Qim, the Neolithic Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, hidden beneath the streets. Carved into the soft limestone bedrock, this necropolis once held around 7,000 human remains. Labyrinth tunnels lead between levels and rooms, spiral patterns in red ochre still visible on the walls and ceilings in the soft light. Wandering these tunnels, hunched over, brings childlike wonder and a strange feeling of coming from another world as eyes adjust to the daylight after emerging from the depths. Entrance needs to be booked ahead and you’ll join a small tour, a slightly expensive alternative to the usual wanders through Valletta’s narrow lanes.

Night is when the city seeps back into the past, stone houses gently leaning in towards each other along narrow streets, light infusing into gentle hues. The past was once glorious, cannon and battlements posing on the high city cliffs, overlooking St. Angelo Fort across the waters to the east. Its might dissipated long ago, a role as a strategic base in WWII the final battle cry. What’s left is a beautiful lived-in city, clothes hanging in the breeze from high windows, locals drinking coffees in corner cafes, time somehow slowed down.

The shallow dive site of the HMS Maori hugs the northern tip of the old town peninsula, further on from where the ferry that takes you over to Sliema, where the cheaper hotels face the beauty of the old town in a jumbled mess of cheap architecture, luckily far enough removed across the harbour. Valletta holds the usual tourist restaurants and shops and yet it feels more vibrant, more liveable than many Mediterranean spots. Maybe the friendly locals, the warm climate and the easy adventures all combine to form that thought that slowly slips into mind, ‘I could live here’.

Order Issue 6: Adventurous guide to Patagonia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica + Western USA.

Just 10km from Malta’s capital, Valletta, this area on the opposing coast holds a full day’s worth of adventures, accessible by local bus through stone walled fields over rolling hills. In the suburbs of Valletta, is the subterranean version of Ħaġar Qim, the Neolithic Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, hidden beneath the streets. Carved into the soft limestone bedrock, this necropolis once held around 7,000 human remains. Labyrinth tunnels lead between levels and rooms, spiral patterns in red ochre still visible on the walls and ceilings in the soft light. Wandering these tunnels, hunched over, brings childlike wonder and a strange feeling of coming from another world as eyes adjust to the daylight after emerging from the depths. Entrance needs to be booked ahead and you’ll join a small tour, a slightly expensive alternative to the usual wanders through Valletta’s narrow lanes.

Night is when the city seeps back into the past, stone houses gently leaning in towards each other along narrow streets, light infusing into gentle hues. The past was once glorious, cannon and battlements posing on the high city cliffs, overlooking St. Angelo Fort across the waters to the east. Its might dissipated long ago, a role as a strategic base in WWII the final battle cry. What’s left is a beautiful lived-in city, clothes hanging in the breeze from high windows, locals drinking coffees in corner cafes, time somehow slowed down.

The shallow dive site of the HMS Maori hugs the northern tip of the old town peninsula, further on from where the ferry that takes you over to Sliema, where the cheaper hotels face the beauty of the old town in a jumbled mess of cheap architecture, luckily far enough removed across the harbour. Valletta holds the usual tourist restaurants and shops and yet it feels more vibrant, more liveable than many Mediterranean spots. Maybe the friendly locals, the warm climate and the easy adventures all combine to form that thought that slowly slips into mind, ‘I could live here’.

Order Issue 6: Adventurous guide to Patagonia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica and Western USA.

Order Issue 5: Iran / Atlas Mountains, Morroco / Utah Hiking, US / Madeira Island / Italy / Scottish West Coast / Peak District.