To the Hop-On Hop-Off Bust Tour, a Harbor Cruise was added as a bonus, but I thought it was better than the bus tour. It was indeed superb. The views were fantastic and we did not have to suffer from the strong wind and traffic jams.
The boat we rode was small but cute and colorful.
The cruise took approximately 90 minutes but visited almost all creeks as well as main harbors.
One of the spots we passed through was a ship that was used for filming the cartoon movie Popeyes. Now it is a restaurant. In fact, there is Popeye Village in Anchor Bay where Paramount Pictures and Disney Pictures established their movie sets to film the movie. But, they were abandoned in 1980 and the village still attracts tourists year-round.
I could easily figure that tourism is an important source of Malta's GDP. But it accounts for only 25% of its GDP. The remainder comes from the manufacturing of high valued products like electronics and pharmaceuticals primarily for exports, filming, and maritime services. I learned that Gladiator, Troy and World War Z were filed in Malta recently. Also, Malta's per capita GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity was known to be around $30,000. Wow! We passed by industrial structures and shipbuilding docks during the cruise.
We saw many condominium buildings built all over the island, even in a remote area like the mouth to the harbor. I am not sure if it is a good idea.
We could have visited two other islands of Malta, namely Gozo and Comino. To visit there, we should take a boat like one below and travel for two hours each way and spend an hour or so in each island. We chose not to. Perhaps next time.
Our stay in Malta was short, but we thoroughly enjoyed the scenic views and cozy ambiance of the cafes and restaurants located all over the island. Definitely, we could stay longer and surely we will consider coming back. - Jeffrey
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