The waterfront in Sliema is only a 5 minute walk from our flat. There is a small sand beach and shallow entry. It gets a little rocky in the water so I usually wear shoes.

Making sand sculptures at Sliema beach. We sometimes eat picnic lunches down here, too.

The rocky area along the Sliema waterfront may be hard to walk on, but it helps make great tidepools. We have done lots of exploring down here and have found crabs, anemone, hermit crabs, fish, prawns and lots of seaweed.

Near the Sliema sand beach is a dock and rocks, both of which provide good jumping spots. Lily is jumping into Deep Hole, the name we have given this deeper, sandy area.

Around the way from the dock is Sea Glass Bay. This was the first place we really discovered. It is a really fun place to explore. We named it Sea Glass Bay because…yup, there is lots of sea glass washed up on shore here.

The next closest beach (and probably the girls’ current favorite) is St. George’s Bay in Paceville. There’s lots of sand and shallow water with a sandy bottom for a long ways.

Lily loves to play in the sand but is getting more comfortable being out in the water.

We also really like Golden Bay, up on the northwest part of the island. Lots of sand and lovely water.

Mellieha Bay. A huge sandy beach but it is very shallow for a long way out. Perfect for little kids but not quite so fun for older ones…

….unless you want to bury yourself up to your neck. 🙂

Just being by the water – the sounds, smells and breeze – can be refreshing without even swimming.

Paradise Bay. It was too windy and cool the day we came here. It is a lovely little bay tucked back on the north part of the island. It’s on the Next Time list. 🙂

Back in March we visited Gnejna Bay. It was a little cold and windy, but we had the whole beach to ourselves!

The girls set up camp and read for a while. I took shelter in the car. We haven’t been back this spring, but I’m sure it’s lovely now!

San Anton Gardens and Palace, the official residence of Malta’s president. The public gardens were so beautiful. There were thousands of annual flowers, 2 ponds (one with black swans and one with ducks and turtles), and this maze in the hedges.  That’s Sylvia’s tan hat peeking over the top!

The Kitchen Garden, also part of the President’s Palace. I could have stayed here all day! Huge swaths of rosemary and lavender lined the perimeter. There were lots of great veggies throughout the garden as well, and so beautifully done.

Parks are always on the Bucket List! 🙂 We found this one at the Kitchen Gardens.

Buskett Gardens, Malta’s most extensive woodlands.  It was established as a hunting grounds for the Knights of Malta some 300 years ago.  Today, there are paths and picnic areas and no cars!

A cool respite on a warm day.

Looking for the Painted Frog, Malta’s only native amphibian. They are found only here and in Sicily.  And guess what? We saw some! A pretty cool discovery.

Way up north on the Marfa Ridge. We drove out to the northeast edge of the island for fantastic views and lunch on the rocks.

Caper plants! They are so cool. The flower is pretty unique and it’s fun to see the buds that are picked and pickled to become capers. The plants seem to like the salty, windy, rocky ledges.

Walking along the cliffs with Jon on the outside. 🙂

More parks. 🙂 This one is by the yarn shop and Busy Bee Gelateria, so it’s never a problem to go there. Plus, it’s a fun place to play hide and seek tag.

Sylvia and I went horseback riding at Golden Bay Stables. We had a great ride with beautiful views of the sea. We rode in Il-Majjistral National Park in the northwest part of Malta, a place I would like to explore more. Next time.  🙂

This is the First Park or Little Park.  It is the closest park to us, but now it is torn out because they are going to put in a new playground.

This is the Middle Park. We call it the middle park because it’s in between the First Park and the Big Park, which is farther away.

This is the Big Park. It is one of the only parks that has grass and it has a lot of stuff.

This is the exercise equipment that they have at lots of parks.

This park is near the marina on the way to Valletta.

This is by the petting zoo in Ta’ Qali Nat’l Park. It is small but fun.

This the Adventure Park by the Farmer’s Market. It is really big.

There is some fake grass here at the Adventure Park, too.

This park is by Mdina, the old walled city.

This the park on top of the old dump. There are lots of steps.

There is a really fun swing that goes side to side.

This is Pembroke Gardens. It’s really fun because there are waterfalls and streams to play in.

This is the park we found on Daddy’s birthday when we ate lunch.  It is in Marsascala.

This one is by Busy Bee, the gelateria. We learned to play hide and seek tag here.

This is the park by Golden Bay. It’s very small but it’s fun. We ate lunch in the shade under the slide.

We had a birthday party at this park. There are fountains to play in.

This is a park by the President’s Palace. It is a Carnival float!