Comino's new visitor rules in 2025: what changed

Why Comino needed rules in the first place

In peak summer, Comino and its Blue Lagoon have been hosting anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 visitors per day. On an island with essentially no permanent year-round resident population and a naturally sensitive marine environment, that figure had been producing documented problems for several years.

Boat traffic density in the lagoon during peak hours was affecting water quality through propellant contamination and reduced oxygen levels. Anchor chains from the dozens of boats holding position in the lagoon were causing measurable damage to the Posidonia oceanica seagrass beds on the seabed — beds that take decades to regenerate and that are a protected habitat under EU environmental directives. Erosion of the coastal paths from concentrated foot traffic was visible and worsening. And the visitor experience itself — the experience of the people visiting the famous turquoise lagoon — had deteriorated to the point where the photographs on social media bore almost no resemblance to the reality of visiting in July or August, when 3,000 people and 200 boats are occupying a space designed for a few dozen.

Maltese environmental groups, the Tourism Authority, and local conservation bodies had been pushing for systematic visitor management measures for several years. Political will to implement them had been slow to materialise, partly because of the economic interests of the boat operators and tour companies that depend on high Comino throughput. 2025 is the year those measures arrived, in a form that represents a real policy shift even if it falls short of what some conservationists were advocating.

What the 2025 measures specifically include

The management framework introduced for the 2025 season involves several distinct components:

Daily visitor cap at Blue Lagoon beach

A daily maximum number of visitors in the main Blue Lagoon beach area is enforced through a combination of shuttle ferry ticket allocation from the main departure points (Mellieha, Sliema, Bugibba) and an on-site counting system. The cap applies to the managed beach zone itself — the area immediately surrounding the Blue Lagoon and the main entry points.

Once the beach zone is at capacity, arriving vessels are directed to anchor further offshore, and visitors who want to reach the beach must swim or use inflatable tenders. This is technically how boat visits to Comino have always worked for anchored vessels; what has changed is that it is now systematically enforced rather than self-organising.

The specific cap number has not been publicly published by the authority, but it appears to be in the range of 800-1,000 simultaneous beach visitors, substantially below the 3,000-5,000 daily totals of previous peak seasons.

Anchoring zone restrictions

Boats are now restricted to specific anchoring zones around Comino, with some previously congested areas in the inner lagoon and adjacent bays now prohibited for anchoring during peak hours (typically 9am to 5pm). The anchoring restrictions are aimed primarily at reducing prop wash damage to the seabed and seagrass, and at preventing the dense boat clustering that made the lagoon feel like a car park.

Commercial tour boats still dock at the main Blue Lagoon jetty, but the number permitted to dock simultaneously has been reduced. This affects loading and unloading flow and is also intended to reduce diesel fume concentration at the main access point during peak hours.

Enhanced environmental enforcement

Littering on Comino now carries formal fines rather than advisory signage. The enforcement capacity has been increased — there are now visible rangers on the island during peak hours, which was largely absent in previous years. Waste management infrastructure has been expanded, with additional collection points and improved frequency of waste removal from the island.

The periodic attempts by commercial food and drink operators to set up informal boat-based kiosks anchored directly in the swimming area have been more aggressively managed, with minimum distance requirements now enforced. In previous summers, the inner Blue Lagoon area had anchored boat bars serving food and drinks from vessels positioned within the swimming area — a practice that contributed to both safety and water quality concerns.

What this means for your visit in practice

The honest answer is that the 2025 measures meaningfully improve the worst-case summer scenario but do not transform the Blue Lagoon into a quiet paradise.

On a Tuesday in late May or early June, you will notice a genuine difference compared to 2023 and 2024 — fewer boats in the lagoon, slightly better water clarity, somewhat more manageable numbers on the beach. The early-season experience of the Blue Lagoon has improved markedly.

On a Saturday in mid-August, it is still going to be busy. The cap manages peak-hour crowding but does not prevent the gradual accumulation over the day, and the summer high season means that the capacity threshold is reached earlier than in previous years.

For planning your visit:

If you want the best Blue Lagoon experience: Early morning arrival remains the single most important decision you can make. Arrive before 9am — ideally by 7:30 or 8am — and you will see Comino in conditions that are genuinely extraordinary: clear water, minimal boats, the limestone cliffs in morning light. By 10am in July or August, the volume has already risen significantly. The cap manages midday crowding but does not prevent the early morning being beautiful.

If you are booking an afternoon boat tour: Check specifically whether the tour operator builds in an early stop at Blue Lagoon or whether they depart late morning and arrive at peak density. The difference between these two is enormous in summer. Ask explicitly about departure time and expected arrival at Comino.

Crystal Lagoon as an alternative: The Crystal Lagoon, adjacent to Blue Lagoon on the Gozo-facing side of Comino, remains less visited in 2025 despite being equally beautiful water. The 2025 management measures did not introduce caps at Crystal Lagoon specifically, partly because visitor concentrations there never reached the Blue Lagoon levels. Going to Crystal Lagoon rather than Blue Lagoon — or visiting Blue Lagoon and then walking over to Crystal Lagoon for swimming — is one of the best ways to experience Comino in peak season with reasonable crowd levels.

Santa Marija Bay on Comino’s northern side is quieter still and has a genuinely beautiful small beach. Most visitors to Comino never reach it because they stay near the Blue Lagoon ferry point. Bringing the island map and allocating 30 minutes of walking time opens up the island considerably.

From Sliema: Comino Island and Blue Lagoon Cruise

The evening catamaran option

One of the best developments in Comino tourism that the 2025 rules support is the growth of evening boat trips to the lagoon. The evening catamaran cruise — departing from Bugibba or Sliema in late afternoon and arriving at Comino as the day visitors are leaving — has become one of the most compelling ways to experience the Blue Lagoon in 2025.

The late afternoon and early evening light on the limestone cliffs and the lagoon water is extraordinary. The number of visitors in the water at 6pm is a fraction of the noon peak. The water clarity has improved as the day boats have reduced their prop wash. And the sunset experienced from the water near Comino, with the Gozo coast visible to the north and the Malta coast to the south, is genuinely spectacular.

The trade-off is that you are on a moving boat rather than on the beach, and the swimming access is from the vessel rather than from shore. For photography and the visual experience, this is actually better than the beach. For people who specifically want to swim at the Blue Lagoon, the midday beach visit remains necessary.

The bigger picture: what these rules represent

The 2025 measures represent a genuine policy shift — the first formal acknowledgment at government level that Comino’s visitor volumes had reached levels incompatible with both the island’s natural environment and the quality of the experience being sold to those visitors. Whether the specific measures are sufficient is a legitimate question.

Environmental groups have noted that the daily visitor cap, while a step forward, is set at a level that still allows significant density in the busiest months. The anchoring restrictions address seabed damage without substantially affecting the beach crowding experience. The enforcement capacity, while improved, is not yet at the level required for consistent compliance.

The long-term trajectory for Comino likely involves progressively tighter management: a reservation system for beach access (similar to what Croatia has introduced at Blagaj and what Greece has implemented at several Santorini sites), stronger commercial operator regulation, and continued pressure to distribute visitors across the full day and across multiple Comino sites rather than concentrating them at Blue Lagoon beach from 10am to 4pm.

For visitors coming in 2025 and 2026, the reasonable expectation is that the framework will continue to evolve. The rules described here reflect the situation as of the 2025 season launch; check for updates before you visit.

For an honest take on whether to visit Comino at all and what you should actually expect, see our earlier assessment. For planning your Comino day or half-day, the single most important decision is still what time you arrive — and the 2025 rules do not change that calculus.