September is the month a lot of people who live here would pick.
The sea is at its warmest, the crowds thin out after the first week, and the feast season is still running.
The sea is warmer than in June
The water takes all summer to heat up and then holds that heat into autumn.
September swimming is warmer than June swimming, even though the air temperature is similar. It stays comfortable well into October for most people.
Air temperatures still sit around 29°C for most of the month and only drop through the last week.
Fifteen village feasts still to come
15 of the 134 parish feasts fall in September.
That is fewer than August, which carries 32, but more than any month outside summer. The season tails off through October, which has 8.
Feasts run Thursday to Sunday and the fireworks are on the Saturday night.
Two public holidays
- 8 September: Victory Day, marking the end of the Great Siege and the 1943 armistice.
- 21 September: Independence Day.
On both, banks and government offices close, most shops close, and buses run a Sunday timetable.
The Grand Harbour regatta is rowed on 8 September and is free to watch from the bastions.
Nothing has switched to winter yet
The Valletta harbour ferries stay on the summer timetable until 31 October.
Boat trips, diving and watersports all run normally through September. The Comino boats keep a full schedule.
The change comes in November, not now. Bus fares drop to the winter rate in mid-October.
What to watch for
The first rain usually arrives in the second half of the month, as a short heavy thunderstorm rather than a grey day.
Roads flood fast after five dry months and then clear within the hour. It is the most slippery driving day of the year.
Hotel prices fall sharply from about the third week, which is when September stops being high season.
