Jonathan pulls away from the Hondoq jetty and asks you one question: 'Fast and see everything, or slow and swim a lot?' Most people say both.

First stop is the cave corridor along the Comino south coast. He idles through each entrance so you can see inside. Some are narrow and the engine echoes off the walls. Some open into cathedral-sized chambers where the water glows from the sand below.

Second stop is the swimming bay he doesn't show the shuttle passengers. The water is chest-deep over white sand. There's a natural ledge at waist height where you can sit. He drops the anchor and opens the ladder. You swim. You float. Someone jumps off the boat.

Third stop is the Blue Lagoon. But not the side where the catamarans anchor and the music plays. Jonathan takes you to the back entrance between the rocks, where the water is just as clear but the only sounds are yours.

On the way back he follows the Gozo coastline. The cliffs change color in the afternoon light. He points out a window in the rock where you can see through to the other side. The boat idles into Hondoq and the three hours feel like they took twenty minutes.