One of our favorite memories from our visit 30 years ago was a day spent at Ghajn Tuffieha beach, also known as Riviera Beach. This is one of the few real sandy beaches in Malta and is very popular. Its setting makes for a spectacular bit of scenery.
There are 3 sandy beaches on the northwest shore of Malta, Golden Bay, Ghajn Tuffieha and Gnejna Bay. Golden Bay now has large hotels and is a tourist draw. It has easier access to the beach. Gnejna Beach is a favorite of the Maltese. It is very difficult to get to and it is avoided by most tourist. Ghan Tuffieha is in the middle. All 3 are crescents of golden sand in crystal clear, or mostly so, turquoise water, although the sea grasses do make for some messy areas. Between each of the bays are small peninsulas jutting out, headlands, that tower over the surrounding bays. On the headland between Golden Bay and Ghajn Tuffieha sits a watch tower, standing guard over the area. Between Ghajn Tuffieha and Gnejna Bay is a headland that looks like someone dropped a table up on the peninsula, as the top rocks are very flat.
Thanks to Malta Public Transport, we have door-to-door bus service to Ghajn Tuffieha from our flat. We made an early go of it, wanting to beat some of the rush. Our bus was nearly empty so we had seats the entire way and no sardine can “move back” needed. It was about a 50 minute drive. We had not been out in the countryside in the direction of Ghajn Tuffieha so it was interesting to drive through lots of farmland with rows and rows of rubble walls and green fields full of various crops.
Soon, we were at our stop at the top of the hill above Ghajn Tuffieha bay. We all knew what awaited us – 150 steps down to the beach. But what a wonderful view of the bay from the top.
As we were going down the stairs, I had to keep out of my head the thought of climbing up all those stairs in the hot sun later in the afternoon. But, even with all those stairs, its a great beach and we were all happy to be going there.
Christine and Eve rented sunbeds and umbrellas. I had my beach chair and umbrella, so I made do with those. A fellow carried the stuff for us over to our chosen spot.
And it wasn’t long before we had all gotten wet in the lovely water. It’s amazing how much the sea has warmed up since we’ve been here. It was delightful, and NO jellyfish. Eve and Christine swam all across the bay and back a couple of times. I, on the other hand, enjoyed just bobbing along in the very calm sea water and enjoying the surroundings.
We had packed our lunch and had a nice little picnic on the beach. We read and dozed and swam and had a great day. After a while, I got a little restless and decided to go climb the path from the beach up to the headland. The hardest part was walking the 50 yards or so of rocky beach. It was pretty impossible to walk across those round fist-sized rocks in flip-flop-type sandals. But once past that, the climb up the hill wasn’t too difficult. And the views from up there were fabulous. I could see all 3 bays and Gozo was off in the distance. The craggy limestone of the headland rock was interesting to see. And the eroded slide of earth down to Gnejna Bay was quite something. It was a great little hike.
We enjoyed a little more sun and sea, and then packed up. We stopped at the lido bar for a beverage prior to our climb up all those stairs. And Eve was smart in suggesting that we save some of our beverages to enjoy at the top of the stairs. Good thinking, Eve! It was nice to be able to have a drink after all those steps.
Our bus wait wasn’t too long. We took in the scenery while we waited.
Our bus was empty and air conditioned! We believe Eve has been our lucky charm with transportation this week. We should keep her around. Once back in Sliema, we parted to go have naps and whatnot at our respective flats.
We reconvened and headed to Raffael’s for dinner. We hopped on the bus to go around the bays to Spinola. With the Euro 2016 football tournament going on, every place has TVs blaring the matches. At the end of Spinola Bay someone had erected a big projection TV and set up a bar outdoors. It’s interesting to hear cheering all around Spinola and Balluta bays when there is a score.
We had a very nice dinner at Raffael’s. We sat out on the terrace and enjoyed the views of Spinola as the sun set and the lights came on. We then strolled around the bays back towards our flat. We stopped at the gelato place nearby and enjoyed some yummy gelato sitting on a bench across the street on the promenade.
It was then time to say goodnight and Eve headed back to her flat. The day at Ghajn Tuffieha was great and it was so wonderful sharing it with Eve. We had waited for her arrival to go to that beach and it was fun talking about what we each remembered from our visit there 30 years ago.