Malta in March runs daytime highs of 17–18°C and night lows of 10–11°C, with roughly 37–45 mm of rain – around half of February's total, and the point at which the Maltese winter stops being a wet season. The countryside is green and flowering, and it is the last month before the summer sun burns all of that off.
The sea is the one thing that has not moved: it sits at about 15.5–16°C, the same floor it holds from February through April. Water lags air by two to three months in both directions, so March is a walking and sightseeing month rather than a swimming one. It is also the month with Malta's most unusual dated event – a 5,000-year-old sunrise alignment at Mnajdra that Heritage Malta opens to the public for two mornings only.
What is the weather like in Malta in March?
Mild, bright, and improving noticeably from one end of the month to the other. Early March still feels like the tail of winter; by the last week it is properly spring, and the difference across four weeks is larger than in any other month of the Maltese year.
| Measure | March |
|---|---|
| Daytime high | ~17–18°C |
| Night low | ~10–11°C |
| Sea temperature | ~15.5–16°C – still the year's floor |
| Rainfall | ~37–45 mm |
| Wet days | ~5–9, depending on the record |
| Feel | Light jacket by day, proper layer after dark |
Wind is the underrated variable. March still catches the tail of the winter systems, and an 18°C afternoon on the exposed western cliffs with a north-westerly running feels several degrees cooler than the same 18°C in a sheltered Valletta street. That matters most if you are walking Dingli Cliffs or the northern coast, which is exactly what March is best for.
Our Malta temperature by month page puts March against the other eleven, with the full year in one table.
How much does it rain in Malta in March?
Around 37–45 mm across the month, but the wet-day count is genuinely contested: Climates to Travel gives March about 5 rain days, while Malta's Met Office series recorded at the Balzan station gives 9. That is a wide gap for a single month, and it comes down to the threshold each record uses for what counts as a rain day at all.
The honest reading is somewhere between one week and a third of the month seeing some rain, almost all of it as short bursts rather than sustained drizzle. Millimetres are the more stable comparison, and on that measure March is clearly drying out: roughly half of February's 60–65 mm, and well under half of January's.
What this means for a trip is a light waterproof and half a day of slack in the itinerary, not a rethink. The megalithic temples are canopied and the museums are indoors, so a wet forecast rarely cancels a plan outright.
Can you see the equinox sunrise at Mnajdra?
Yes, and it is the strongest single reason to time a March trip precisely. At the spring equinox – 20 March in most years – the first light of the rising sun runs straight down the central passage of the South temple at Mnajdra, an alignment its builders engineered more than 5,000 years ago and which still works.
Heritage Malta runs this as a ticketed public event across two mornings around 19–20 March, meeting outside the Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra visitor centre at 05:30. Recent editions have cost around €35 per person, or €25 for Heritage Malta members, and included a guided tour of both temples plus coffee and something to eat afterwards. A separate Spring Equinox Breakfast event has run a day or two later.
- When – two mornings around 19–20 March; the exact dates shift slightly year to year, and a third date is sometimes added
- Where – Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra Archaeological Park, on the southern cliffs above Filfla
- Start time – 05:30, outside the visitor centre; you need a taxi or your own car at that hour
- Booking – through Heritage Malta's own site, and editions regularly sell out before the date
- The catch – it needs a clear eastern horizon, and a cloudy dawn means you see the temple but not the alignment
Check the programme on Heritage Malta's website as soon as it appears rather than assuming last year's dates carry over. If you miss it, the same alignment happens at the autumn equinox in September.
Can you swim in Malta in March?
Not comfortably, and the reason is worth understanding. The sea sits at about 15.5–16°C in March, which is the same level it held in February and will hold through April – a three-month floor caused by the water's lag behind the air.
Beach lidos are largely shut and the Comino boat season has not properly started. Diving is the exception that runs all winter, with operators open year-round and a thicker wetsuit doing the work. If swimming is the point of the trip, the honest advice is to move it to June at the earliest, when the sea crosses 22°C.
Is March better than February or April?
It depends entirely on whether there is an event you want.
| February | March | April | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average day high | 15–16°C | 17–18°C | ~19–20°C |
| Average night low | 9–10°C | 10–11°C | 12–14°C |
| Sea temperature | ~16°C | ~15.5–16°C | ~16–17°C |
| Rainfall | ~60–65 mm | ~37–45 mm | ~20–26 mm |
| The draw | Carnival | Equinox, greenest countryside | Easter, warmest of the three |
March's specific advantage is the landscape. The winter rain has done its work and the summer sun has not started undoing it, so the countryside is at its greenest and the wildflowers are out – a state that lasts a few weeks and is gone by late May. For walking, that makes March and early April the two best weeks of the year.
February is cheaper and has Carnival; April is warmer and has Easter, though its date moves. March is the quiet one in between, with the best walking and the lowest crowds of the three.
What is there to do in Malta in March?
The whole land-based half of the islands, in the most comfortable air of the year for covering ground on foot.
- Valletta – the Baroque streets and the Grand Harbour, walkable all day without the summer heat
- Mdina and Rabat – the walled city and the catacombs, before the coach season restarts
- Coastal walking – Dingli, the northern cliffs and the Victoria Lines, green and flowering
- Gozo – at its most agricultural and least touristed, and an easy day even on the reduced ferry pattern
- The temples – Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra and Ġgantija, canopied and quiet
The full things to do in Malta guide has prices and opening hours; check winter closing times into early March, as several state-run sites change to summer hours only later in spring.
What does March cost, and what should you pack?
March sits in Malta's low season, with rates close to the winter floor right up until Easter demand starts pulling them up – which, in years when Easter lands in late March, means the last week can be an exception. Our is Malta expensive guide sets a daily budget, and the best hotels in Malta list shows where the off-season value sits. For how March fits the whole year, see best time to visit Malta.
Pack for a month that is genuinely two different climates at either end.
- Layers – 17–18°C days and 10–11°C nights inside the same 24 hours
- A light waterproof – 37–45 mm across somewhere between 5 and 9 days
- Proper walking shoes – this is the month you will use them, and wet limestone is slippery
- A windproof outer layer – the cliffs are exposed and March still catches winter systems
- Sunglasses – the spring light is low, direct and stronger than the temperature suggests
Featured image: Felix König / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0
