If you’re looking for the cleanest beach on Santa Marija, then Gozo is the place to go.
This is because the south of Gozo consists of 11 out of the 25 cleanest beaches on the Maltese islands, according to a report by Prof. Victor Axiak, Head of the University of Malta’s Biology Department.
With a substantial number of Maltese will be flocking to the sister island of Gozo for the holiday of Santa Marija, they should take the opportunity to bathe in the cleanest beaches on the Maltese islands, which are Mgarr ix-Xini in Sannat, Ramla l-Hamra, Marsalforn’s Qbajjar Bay and Xwejni Bay, and Comino’s Blue Lagoon Bay and San Niklaw Bay.
Many more of Gozo’s immaculate beaches however are also facing the threat of development. Ramla l-Hamra at Nadur was recently thrown into the limelight when it was confirmed by the Malta Environmental and Planning Authority that the derelict Ulysses Lodge site in the Calypso Cave area would be developed into 23 new villas – a factor which might lead to the depreciation of Ramla’s prestige as one of the cleanest beaches in the Maltese islands.
Even Mgarr ix-Xini, an inlet by the Ta’ Cenc cliffs, faces controversial development interests from Gozitan businessman Victor Borg, who wants to build a new hotel to the west near Sannat, and villas at Mgarr ix-Xini to the east.
The beach at Mgarr ix-Xini has been found to be the cleanest overall, with findings of a variety of species of fish and even seahorses.
Despite being one of the highly frequented locations in Gozo, Marsalforn still remains free from pollution with Ghar Qawqla, the platform at Paletta and breakwater areas, scoring ‘nil’ pollution points in the 0-100 scale of pollution in Axiaq’s report.
And the island of Comino, with its famous Blue Lagoon which attracts numerous tourists each year is equally clean, along with San Niklaw and Santa Marija Bay.
Another popular beach in southeast Gozo is Hondoq ir-Rummien, low on the pollution scale at 3 points, but again this beach is on the development agenda – the owners of Gozo Prestige Holidays want to transform a disused quarry next to Hondoq ir-Rummien into a 5-star hotel and yacht marina.
Swimmers who frequent the beaches of Dahlet Qorrot and San Blas, both situated in Nadur, will also be happy to note these beaches are low on the pollution scale, at a negligible three points. At Dwejra Bay’s inland beach, the seawater was given a score of 15 while Zewwieqa Bay, a beach which is not well known by tourists and is situated in southeast Gozo, also scored a 15.

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NEWS | Wednesday, 15 August 2007

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