Salina Salt Pans

Salina Bay takes its name from the pans cut into the rock along its shore, where seawater is let into shallow beds and left to evaporate in the summer sun, the salt then raked off by hand. The system is very old, with Roman origins and substantial development under the Knights, and part of it is still worked. A heritage park around the bay includes a restored tower, a chapel and a stretch of planted saltmarsh.

What to look for

• The rock-cut pans - shallow beds cut into the shore for evaporating seawater.
• The hand harvest - salt raked off the pans through the summer.
• The heritage park - the restored tower, chapel and planted areas around the bay.
• The saltmarsh - the wetland at the head of the inlet, used by waders.

When to go

May to September is the working season when the pans are in use. Winter fills them with rainwater and nothing is produced. Mornings are best for photographs.

Practical notes

Outside the summer season the pans are simply flooded and there is nothing happening. Only part of the historic system is still worked. The bay is beside a busy road and modern development.

Nearby

St Paul's Bay is northwest, and Naxxar is south.