Merħba abbord

Traditional luzzu boat trips & private charters from Buġibba, Malta

A fisherman's luzzu, reborn as a floating lounge.

Ta' Pawlu spent a working life hauling nets off the north of Malta. Today she's been restored plank by plank, repainted in the old colours and fitted out as a bar on the water. She still carries the eye on her bow.

We keep it small and unhurried: grown-ups only, sixteen guests at most, and plenty of time to swim.

18+Adults only

16Guests max

1Restored luzzu

Il-Pakketti

Choose your day at sea

Three ways aboard, each one small, slow and made for swimming. Every trip leaves from Buġibba Jetty.

Sitt siegħat

6 Hour Day Tour

Adults only
Max 16
Full day

A whole day on the water. Cruise the coastline aboard a restored luzzu, with long swim stops and room to stretch out on deck.

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Nżul ix-xemx

3 Hour Sunset Tour

Adults only
Max 16
Golden hour

Skip the crowded party boats. Blue Lagoon, Crystal Lagoon and the Gozo coast, timed so the sun goes down while you're still out on the water.

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Għalik biss

Private Day Charter

10:00 – 16:00
Your group
Customisable

The whole luzzu is yours. You set the pace, pick the coves and choose what's in the cooler. Out at ten from the north of Malta, back by four.

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It-Tberfil

Painted by hand, line by line

The scrolls, pinstripes and dots on every luzzu are called tberfil. Those on this page aren't pictures. Each one is painted live, stroke by stroke.

Click any painted strake on the page to watch it painted again.

In Malta, tberfil covers any decorative line-work. It's the scrolls on the old buses and karozzini, the curls around a boat's name, and the same flowing line you find in bizzilla lace and festa banners. On a luzzu it runs along the gunwale in bands of yellow, blue, red and green, and it gets repainted every spring.

We built a custom shader to paint it the way a sign-writer would. It's all generated from curves and painted in real time, with no image files for the ornaments.

1
Brush orderEvery scroll is a real curve, and the shader paints it in the order a brush would travel: out of the curl, down the stem, into the next curl. The tip is ragged while the brush moves, then the edge sets crisp.
2
The sign-writer's lineStrokes swell and taper like a loaded brush. Pinstripes run alongside them, and triads of dots fill the gaps.
3
Luzzu coloursFlat, bright enamel in the classic hull colours. Switch between them with the colour buttons above.

Id-Dgħajsa

About the boat

She was built by hand in the traditional way for an old fisherman, who worked the island's waters in her for years. She was passed down, patched up and never quite let go.

We restored her as a one-of-a-kind floating bar. She has the same bright colours and the same watchful eye, and a new life carrying guests along the coast she knows best.

Discover more

L-GħajnThe eye of Osiris, painted on the bow for luck and said to watch over the fishermen. Ta' Pawlu still wears hers.
It-TberfilScrolls, pinstripes and dots painted by hand along the gunwale, with the boat's name in shaded sign-writer letters.
Il-KuluriYellow, blue, red and green in bold bands, refreshed every season so the boat is bright again each summer.
It-TindaOur addition: shade over the deck, a bar on board and room to lounge between swims.

Ir-Rotta

Where the luzzu takes you

We leave Buġibba, round Selmun and cross to Comino's lagoons, with the Gozo cliffs across the channel.

Il-Moll ta' BuġibbaBuġibba JettyWe board here, in the heart of St Paul's Bay.
Il-Gżejjer ta' San PawlSt Paul's IslandsBy tradition, where St Paul was shipwrecked on his way to Rome.
Il-Bejn il-KmiemenBlue LagoonThe famous turquoise channel between Comino and Cominotto.
KemmunaCrystal LagoonRound the headland from the Blue Lagoon: clear water, fewer boats.
GħawdexThe Gozo coastCliffs and coves across the channel, especially good at golden hour.