During the long winter months, I always fantasise about the sun coming back full time. I even seem to be able to completely forget about just how hot it is here in southern Spain particularly. Anyway, regardless of our place of living, we all are craving some winter sun. In this article, I wanted to write a little about one of my absolute favourite winter-sun destinations - Malta.
Sitting in the middle of the Mediterranean, it is very easy to forget about Malta, and it is a place that not that many people think about. However, three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, never-ending amounts of incredible history and an annual average temperature of 20°C make Malta easy to love!
Beaches
Every winter, a sun destination needs some great, uncrowded beaches where visitors can soak up the much-missed sun! Malta has some stunning beaches and seaside locations, and two of the most popular are the Blue Lagoon spot and Golden Bay beach. Unlike winter sun in the Canary Islands, the beaches here are golden white sand, and the water is fantastically clear. In particular, Golden Bay beach is known for the breath-taking sunset that you can catch on a clear evening.
Diving
On top of great weather and beaches, Malta is also one of the best diving spots in all of Europe, with warm (ish) clear water and some great wreck dives. It is a fairly cheap place to dive, and although there is not the same amount of marine life compared to Bali or Mexico, diving here is still exciting and fun. One of the very best wreck dives is on the P-29 wreck that was sunk in 2007.
History
Because of the strategic position that Malta occupies in the centre of the Mediterranean, it has changed hands and had been the focus of a lot of military attention. This really shows in the amount of large historical buildings that visitors to this island can see.
Many sea forts, churches, cathedrals, town halls and other important buildings have been standing for hundreds of years, and some for longer. St Paul's Cathedral was built in the 12th century, and it is a fantastic Baroque example of Christian religious architecture that you can find all over the island.
Malta is a fabulous winter destination for all of you who crave some winter sun. I hope you learnt through this story that it is actually far better to visit Malta during the winter months than to do it in the summertime.
The author
Joe Thorpe
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