Mġarr ix-Xini

Where it sits. Mġarr ix-Xini is a narrow inlet on the south coast of Gozo, at the seaward end of a steep-sided gorge that cuts inland between Xewkija and Sannat, with Għajnsielem to the west. The approach is the point: a single-track road drops through the valley for a couple of kilometres between rock walls and terraced rubble fields, and the sea appears only at the last bend, a slot of blue at the bottom of a limestone canyon. The beach itself is small — a strip of coarse shingle and rock platform at the head of the creek — and the water in the inlet is unusually still because the gorge shelters it from almost every direction.

A galley harbour. The name records what the place was for. Mġarr means a landing or anchorage; ix-Xini refers to a type of galley, and under the rule of the Order of St John this was a small harbour where galleys could be brought in out of sight of the open sea. That concealment cut both ways — Gozo's south coast was raided repeatedly by corsairs, and the inlets were as useful to the raiders as to the defenders. In 1661 a watchtower was raised on the eastern side of the mouth to cover the creek, one of the smaller works in the island's coastal chain; it has been restored several times in recent decades and stands intact above the swimming area. Further up the valley, the Mġarr ix-Xini pumping station once supplied a large share of Gozo's drinking water from the springs that feed the watercourse.

On screen. In 2014 this bay became the centre of the largest production Gozo has hosted. By the Sea, written and directed by Angelina Jolie and starring Jolie and Brad Pitt as an American couple unravelling in a French seaside town in the 1970s, filmed at Mġarr ix-Xini from August to November of that year. The production built a French village set at the head of the creek, dressed the shoreline and used the gorge and the water for much of the picture; the film was released in 2015 to divided reviews and modest returns. The choice was a deliberate one — Jolie and Pitt reportedly wanted an enclosed, unbuilt stretch of Mediterranean coast that could pass for southern France without the traffic of the Côte d'Azur, and this gorge on a small island of thirty thousand people delivered exactly that. Locals still refer to particular rocks and ledges by what was filmed on them, and the temporary set was removed after the shoot, so nothing of the village survives.

Under the water. The inlet is a well-regarded shore dive. Depths increase gently along the walls of the creek toward the open sea, and the rock is riddled with small overhangs and swim-throughs; octopus, moray, damselfish and the occasional barracuda are routine. The main draw is the MV Xlendi, the former Gozo Channel ferry deliberately scuttled off the mouth on 12 November 1999 to create an artificial reef. The sinking did not go to plan — the ship rolled while going down and settled upside down on the seabed, which changed both her appearance and her risk profile. The wreck sits deep, is penetrable only in a disorienting inverted configuration, and is treated as a technical dive; it is not appropriate for inexperienced divers, and several serious incidents have occurred there.

Above the water. The valley behind the beach is one of the better short walks on Gozo. A rough path follows the watercourse inland through carob and fig, past dry-stone terracing and small rubble huts, and after rain the bed runs with clear water. The cliffs on either side hold caper and thyme; kestrels work the updraughts along the gorge. A seasonal snack kiosk operates near the shore in summer and there is nothing else — no hotel, no shop, no beach club, which is the point.

Getting there and timing. There is no bus down the valley; access is by car or on foot from Xewkija or Sannat, roughly half an hour walking. Parking is a handful of informal spaces near the water that fill early on summer weekends, and the access road is too narrow for two cars to pass comfortably in places. Swimming is best from June to October. The shore is shingle and rock with no ramp, and the final descent to the water is over uneven stone.