Who writes this, and how
There is a lot of Malta content on the internet written by people who have never been here. This is not that, and here is how you can check.
I am Santiago, and I live in St Paul’s Bay on the north-east coast of Malta. I am not a travel writer by trade — I build websites for small businesses on the island, which mostly means I spend my working life talking to the people who run the cafés, the guesthouses and the boat trips that visitors use. This site started because I kept writing the same long message to friends who were coming over.
What I actually do before publishing a guide
- Go, or say that I have not. Where a guide describes a place, a route or a crossing, it is because I have used it. Where I am relying on someone else — an operator, a friend who dives, the tourism authority — the text says so.
- Avoid quoting prices that will be wrong by Tuesday. Fares, tickets and rental rates move constantly in a seasonal economy. I describe how the pricing works and link to the operator’s own page for the current number, rather than publishing a figure that quietly rots.
- Date everything. Every guide carries the date it was last reviewed at the top. If that date is old, treat the details with suspicion — and tell me, because that is the fastest way for me to find the stale ones.
- Say what is bad. The Blue Lagoon at noon in August is unpleasant. The bus can leave you standing. A rental car in Sliema is a mistake. A guide that will not say these things is not a guide, it is an advertisement.
The rule about the affiliate links
This site earns commission when readers book through some of its links, which is what pays for it. The editorial rule that follows from that is short and it is not negotiable: the recommendation is written first, and the link is added afterwards, if a suitable one exists. Nothing gets recommended because it pays better, nothing gets left out because it does not pay at all, and where the best option has no affiliate programme — the Hypogeum, the public buses, the quay ticket at Ċirkewwa — it is still the one I tell you to take, with a plain link and no commission.
If you ever read something here that seems to bend that rule, write to me and say so. The full detail of how the money works is on the disclosure page.
Corrections
Malta changes fast: bus routes get renumbered, ferries add sailings, whole streets close for construction. If something on this site is out of date or simply wrong, the correction is welcome and it will be made and dated. Contact details are on the disclosure page.