Blue Grotto and Marsaxlokk Half-Day Tour from Valletta

Malta

4 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

The magnificent Blue Grotto and the lively fishing village of Marsaxlokk are two of Malta’s most popular attractions and this morning tour from Valletta visits both. Set sail on a small boat cruise around the stunning sea caves, then head to Marsaxlokk to browse the market and admire the colorful ‘luzzu’ fishing boats.

Half-day Blue Grotto and Marsaxlokk Tour from Valletta
Cruise around the Blue Grotto, one of Malta’s most visited natural wonders
Browse the local market in Marsaxlokk and stroll around the atmospheric fishing port
Ideal tour for first-time visitors to Malta or those short on time

What's Included

Driver/guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Food and drinks
Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
Boat ride

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to your preferred meeting point, or request pickup.

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

8:30am is the first pickup. Please contact your local supplier to arrange a convenient pickup point and location. Hotel pick-up service starts prior to the booked start time.

Meeting points

Select a meeting point

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End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Start time
.8:15 am

Itinerary

Marsaxlokk Harbour

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Blue Grotto Il-Hnejja

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Blue Grotto Il-Hnejja

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Infants must sit on laps
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Children must be accompanied by an adult
May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 35 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Marilyn_C

This tour was amazing. Our guide Lisa was very friendly and even if we were a big group, everything went smoothly. We had enough time to visit everything we wanted.

Reviews

3.6

based on 56 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

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Great effort but didn't wow me or my friends.

Malgosia_B, May 2026

The tour guide was great. The weather didn't help. The boats didn't work but when she found out they did it was too late. So many coaches did the same tour so certain places overcrowded. The tour wasn't expensive but I would rather spend more and have a quality experience.

Response from Host, May 2026

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re very pleased to hear that you found the tour guide excellent and appreciated her efforts throughout the trip. We’re sorry that the weather and the confusion regarding the boat operations affected your overall experience. We also understand that overcrowding at certain locations can make the tour less enjoyable, especially during busy periods. We will certainly take your observations into consideration as we continue working to improve our tours and services. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with us.

Very cute Marsaxlokk

Marilyn_T, Jun 2025

Marsaxlokk is a small fishing village.. so not much except to see hundreds of these colorful fishing boats in the port.. so lovely. There’s the usual markets and thing to buy and worth the trip.

Response from Host, Jun 2025

Thank you for your positive feedback and we are glad to hear that you did enjoy the tour.

This tour was amazing....

Marilyn_C, Jun 2025

This tour was amazing. Our guide Lisa was very friendly and even if we were a big group, everything went smoothly. We had enough time to visit everything we wanted.

Response from Host, Jun 2025

Dear Marilyn, we're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the tour. We hope you had a wonderful holiday on our island!

Good tour with unexpected...

Michelle_S, Apr 2025

Good tour with unexpected added visit to Qrendi. Blue grotto excellent. Boat driver was really helpful and informative. However would have preferred more time in Marsaxlokk instead of going to Qrendi. So basically cost is the bus !

Response from Host, Apr 2025

Thank you for your feedback! We're happy to hear that you enjoyed the tour. We will make sure to pass your comments along. We always aim to improve our tours to better satisfy our clients.

Disappointing.

Genevieve_T, Oct 2024

We found this tour boring. We had to be at the pick up point at a certain time but then we had to transfer to another coach, after waiting for our guide to arrive and then join a larger group. I did not expect so many people in the group. Marsaxlokk was a disappointment. There was a market at the waterfront. Very busy and full of stalls that all sold the same things. The Blue Grotto was closed due to the weather and we ended up walking through a small town for 15 minutes.

Response from Host, Nov 2024

Good Afternoon, We are sorry to hear that you did not enjoy the tour. The boats at the blue grotto can only operate weather permitting. As for Marsaxlokk it is a fishing market and on Sunday also there will be a market selling all kind of stuff and it consider as the largest market in Malta

One poorly run tour at best

Jeff_B, Jul 2024

Very unorganized- no one was holding a sign to identify the tour- finally someone showed up 10 min late to check us in. Still took another 20 min to find all of the people. Once started- too many kids with parents not paying attention and over talking the guide. Should be a min age and or the guide should control the side bar noise. Once on the walking tour part- the guide had a speaker and mic which only projected forward and the string of people didn’t allow for about 90% of the information to be shared. The fishing market was a dump and nothing like what we expected in terms of local crafts to be sold. It was cute however while viewing the waterfront but the hand me down garage sale junk was mostly for sale. Not worth it. The blue grotto was most interesting with the boat ride not included- should be. Having time there to swim as an option would have been fun. We have some very good Viatour experiences and on our trip we have had two awful tours- product is way to variable in terms of client service and content quality. This particular trip was one of the worst. Still waiting on a resolution for our Rome Coliseum tour that was a total screw up and no real Viatour support on that.

Response from Host, Oct 2024

Dear Jeff_b Please send us more details so we can investigate further.

Very disappointed

Mark_M, Sep 2022

We were very disappointed with the Stuart. The Blue Grotto boat was not running so that was disappointing. Essentially, it is a relatively high fee just for transport for the day. I would not recommend this tour. You would be better accessing the areas visited on this tour by using the hop on hop off bus.

Response from Host, Sep 2022

Dear Mark_M We are sorry to hear that you did not enjoy the tour. Yes unfortunately if the sea will be rough the boats to the Blue grotto will not be running. Hop that if you visit our island again you would have the time to visit the Blue Grotto.

Very bad

vincent_b, Oct 2021

I am upset be ause we were not picked up. No reaction afterwards despite many emails and phone calls They simply took our money

Response from Host, Nov 2021

Good Morning Sir, Kindly note that we did advise you about the pick up time and the pick up point. We left a message on the Viator site with all the information. We cannot refunded you the money back. The guide and transport were all booked for you and the guide even went to the hotel to see if you were there. Apologies for any inconvenience cause.

Go your way! Or go by yourself!

DeVos_V, Aug 2018

What a desappointment! Actually, I paid 26€ for a trip that I could have done easily by normal bus for 2€ ! On the way out, the pick up in the different hotels took more than an hour (for a half day trip)! The explanations of the guide are of no interest! I just lost 26€! My advice: go by yourself with your guide book. It's easier, faster and cheaper!

Do Not waste your money on this!

Peggy_M, Jul 2018

TOO rushed and TOO hot. They were 45 min late picking us up. Rushed. We ended up paying for a taxi to take us back to our hotel. My suggestion... Take a taxi to the Blue Grotto (you have to buy your own boat tickets anyway) then go on over to Marsaxlokk. Casually enjoy your time there and then go out to St Peters Bay and swim. This trip is a total waste of time and money.

We had an amazing day for the tour...

KrisandDan_C, Mar 2018

We had an amazing day for the tour. Dane, our guide was very friendly, professional and informative. Taking to boat ride to be up close to the grotto is a must see. Marksaloxx fish market was crowded but fun to visit. We didnt have enough time there however. Luckily my husband and I had been in Marksaloxx the day before which was beneficial for us. We were picked up on time and it was a good way to see sights in Malta.

I love the Marsaxlokk and Blue...

Tony B, Jan 2018

I love the Marsaxlokk and Blue Grotto areas, but I was disappointed with this trip. The schedule was not as advertised and the tour was little more than bus transportation for free time at Marsaxlokk and the Blue Grotto, so it wasn't really a tour as such. Also, they gave us time at another village which wasn't in the schedule but wasn't of interest to me anyway.

We had a wonderful guide who did an...

Shaji K, Dec 2017

We had a wonderful guide who did an excellent job explaining everything. We enjoyed the trip.

This is a must do tour. Such...

Sean D, Aug 2017

This is a must do tour. Such beautiful sights of the caves and coastline. And the Market in Marsaxlokk is impressive. It's was 42 degrees very hot unusual heat wave but plenty places to grab ice creams and drinks to escape the heat. Thanks viator for lovely tour.

Four of us took this tour. We were...

Teresa D, Aug 2017

Four of us took this tour. We were picked up on time and proceeded to fill the bus around the island. Linda, our English guide, was very welcoming and accommodating. She lost no time in getting us to the important sites. We had plenty of time to look around, shop for souvenirs, take pictures or grab a snack. At the end of the tour, we asked to be dropped off near the Hypogeum instead of our hotel. This was no problem and we made it to our next tour with time to spare. A great experience! The only thing that needs attention is the volume of the microphone on the bus. It may have been Linda's voice or the equipment, but it was difficult to hear the English descriptions over the air conditioning and the non-English passengers who chose to talk when the tour was not in their language.

Ahhhh, NO THANK YOU! First of all...

Kate L, May 2017

Ahhhh, NO THANK YOU! First of all, we were made to wait for 30 minutes to be picked up by a Hop On/Hop Off bus. So there isn't a boat that takes you to the Grotto initially or to the market. The cost of this trip does NOT include the Grotto boat tour!! Wasn't told that either! As far as the Market goes, I've absolutely seen way better markets. It's just not impressive at all. Lastly, while on the top of the bus, while driving to the grotto, you couldn't hear a thing that was coming from the tour guide. So that was pointless. Overall, I would not do this excursion. But the hop on/ hop off ticket for a day and get off where you want. It's not worth the or your time!! So bummed.

The blue grotto was nice, although...

Anna O, May 2017

The blue grotto was nice, although brief. Unfortunately we were taken to Rabat rather than Valletta - they announced it on the bus that the Valletta market wasn't on but that we should have all been told, although we hadn't had any communication to say that the plan had been changed. Rabat was ok but there wasn't much there - we spent far too much time there for how little it was. The market at Rabat was also massively disappointing - considering we'd been taken there on the basis that the Valletta market wasn't on we were expecting it to be an interesting place for shopping. The market was actually like what you'd have in the UK maybe on Albert Square? - selling things like huge bottles of laundry detergent and trashy clothes. We looked around for a bit but very quickly realised this wasn't the sort of market we'd been expecting, it was more just for locals to get cheap deals on the essentials. If Valletta is unavailable in future I'd suggest this tour could go elsewhere for an alternative.

I enjoyed this tour as I did get to...

Ashwin_A, Mar 2017

I enjoyed this tour as I did get to see the famous Blue Grotto of Malta along with the fishing village of Marsaxlokk. What disappointed me a bit was this was advertised as a half day tour, but some of that time was actually spent waiting around for a transfer from a minibus to a larger coach. But otherwise I did enjoy this trip and would certainly recommend the boat ride to the grotto even though there is a minor extra charge for it

Une formidable excursion

Cristelle_F, Aug 2023

Très bonne excursion, prise en charge au lieu donné respecté, le bus très confortable, chauffeur et guide sympathique tout en anglais, visite du village de pêcheurs, on nous amène ensuite au petit port acheter les billets à 10 euros par personne pour aller aux grottes et voir l eau bleue, puis retour en bus avec commentaire sur ce qu on voit pendant le voyage, vraiment très sympathique à faire

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Dear Cristell, Thank you for your positive comments and very glad to hear that you did enjoy the tour.

Très bon rapport qualité...

AMELIE_G, Feb 2022

Très bon rapport qualité prix. Prise en charge à l'hôtel. Direction marsaxlokk le dimanche, jour animé de marché. Nous avons eu de la chance car malgré une mer agitée nous avons pu faire le tour de la grotte bleue en bateau. Notre guide était en français. Très bons souvenirs, je recommande sans problème.

Response from Host, Feb 2022

Good Afternoon Ameli, Thanks for your positive comments. It was our pleasure to have you on this tour and hope that if you every visit Malta again you would be able to join another tour of ours.

Superbe

Lysia_Z, Aug 2020

La guide que nous avons eu et superbe elle nous a bien expliquée bcps de choses! Je recommande et puis les grottes nous avons pas pu y accéder à cause de la météo mais on pouvait les prendre en photo.

Response from Host, Sep 2020

Dear Lysia-Z, Thanks for your poositive comments. We are glad to hear that you have enjoyed the tour. Unfortunately if the sea would be rough the boats will not be able to operate but maybe for next time.... Many thanks Nathalie