Malta · South-west Malta
Għar Lapsi
A sheltered rock pool under the Siġġiewi cliffs, with Filfla offshore and cave systems that divers come a long way for.
Għar Lapsi is a natural inlet cut into the rock below the cliffs at Siġġiewi, on the south-west coast. There is no beach — you get in off the rocks, and there is a natural pool sheltered by an outcrop that makes it swimmable when the coast outside is not.
It is a local place rather than a tourist one, with a couple of restaurants and a slipway. Divers use it heavily: there are cave systems along this stretch and the entry is straightforward.
Offshore is Filfla, the uninhabited islet that was used as a bombing range until 1971 and is now a nature reserve. Landing on Filfla is not permitted and the surrounding waters are protected — it is something you look at from the boat, not somewhere you go.
What the rules say
Filfla and its surrounding waters are a nature reserve. Landing on the islet is not permitted.
Getting it right
- Getting there
- Road down from Siġġiewi, with parking.
- When
- The south-west coast is best in a northerly.
- How busy
- Local and moderate. Rarely overwhelmed.
- Shape of the day
- A south-coast run out of Grand Harbour.
Where it is
- Departure marina
- Destination
Sailing here
Boats we list that are berthed within reach of Għar Lapsi:
Also on Malta
- St Paul's BayOne of the largest anchorages in the country, with good holding in sand and two uninhabited islands across the mouth of it.
- Coral LagoonA collapsed sea cave off the north coast — a circular pool of turquoise inside the rock, open to the sky, entered through an arch.
- Slugs BayA tiny pocket of sand between two rock arms below Selmun — too small to be busy and too awkward to reach on foot.
- Fomm ir-RiħThe wildest bay on the island — blue clay cliffs, a pebble shore, no development at all, and a land route that has been closed off.