UKC

Hi,
We are considering going to Malta for Easter with our seven year old. He is quite used to approaching and sitting at bottom of cliffs (he even does some climbing now and then ). We are just wondering whether Malta is suitable for us, i.e. we are looking for cliffs were you don't have to abseil in. Do you think there is enough to do there for us? Looking at the guidebook, I am not sure.
Any info much appreciated.
Cheers
Heike

In reply to Heike:
My only knowledge of Malta climbing is at these places
Wied Il-Mielah and Victoria Lines

Both of which offer a bit of modestly graded climbing, ideal for a sensible 7 yr old. Victoria Lines is a good but limited spot, inland, accessable and totally safe. Wied Il Mielah has two sides, one on a concrete walkway which would be fine, the other is partly on a dried up river bed which wont be too bad, and partly on a spectacular arch. The arch offers amazing sub F6 climbs but having a 7 yr old wandering unsupervised up top would give me the heeby jeebies. Gozo Gozo Gone (3c) is an essential low grade tick and would be great for a 7 yr old though. Cant comment on other crags but it looks like a lot of the best stuff does come straight out of the sea. My advice would be that of you are looking for a nice place to go with a bit of great climbing thrown in then Malta would be good, if you are looking for a kid friendly climbing holiday then it might not be so suitable.

In reply to DerwentDiluted:

Thank you for that. Hmmm...Well, maybe Mallorca is a better bet than, but I have been before and was looking for new inspiration. Flights to Greece are unfortunately a bit expensive from Scotland.

In reply to Heike:

I'd hate to put you off Malta, its a great place to visit but its USP is the sea cliffs which I cant see being compatible with a 7 yr old. Hopefully somone with more knowledge will come along and tell us I'm wrong.

In reply to DerwentDiluted:
Thanks for your input. Yeah, well, one reason why we haven't been...I have considered it before. Our wee boy is really quite good to sit in one place, he is very good scrambling and stuff and we have abseiled him into places like the Financial sector on Skye before (he probably climbs better than me nowadays anyways - almost), but still, I prefer somewhere more suitable and non-consequential. Also for the reason that you might find other children there. So, I think you are confirming our opinion gleaned from the guidebook and reports otherwise. However, if there are any other people wanting to tell me otherwise, I'd love to go there!!

In reply to Heike:

We went primarily for the sea cliffs but did visit a couple of crags with walk down descents which weren't sea cliffs:

Wied Babu - East Side Wied Babu - West Side which I wasn't that keen on - but from previous comments on here I'm in a minority of one.

Mgarr-ix-Xini Which I really enjoyed and is on Gozo so little chap gets a boat ride too!

In reply to jon:

Thanks for that. So another couple of options.

In reply to Heike:

I should have said walk down approaches, not descents.

In reply to Heike:

Hi,
there are plenty of places with easy access like Mosta Valley (over 70 bolted routes now, check out the Malta Rock Climbing Club FB page for free topo), Ghar Lapsi (loads of routes), Wied Babu, Gharghur, Crazy horse cave. I've been to all of these with my 2 boys 5 and 6 years old.