Salvu Vella — The Extraordinary Man of Comino

Every morning, before most of Malta has had its first coffee, a 75-year-old man sits inside a house on a small island between Gozo and Malta and launches a drone.

Not from a field. Not from a rooftop. From inside the house itself — through a gap he has engineered specifically for the purpose. The drone rises above the limestone and the garigue, climbs to a height where the whole island is visible below, and begins its circuit.

He is checking the sea. The wave height. The direction of the swell. Which bays are sheltered and which are exposed. He is checking the water pump at Il-Lifrat — the solar-powered system he built himself that draws water up from the well and fills a pond for his animals and birds. He is checking the rubble walls, the paths, the fields.

When the flight is done, the drone comes back in through the same gap and lands inside the house.

Then Salvu Vella goes to the garage and starts work on whatever he is building next.

This is a Tuesday. It is also what a Monday looks like. And a Wednesday. And every other day of the year.

Salvu Vella has lived on Comino since he was one week old. He was born in 1951, brought back to the island by his mother when he was barely old enough to open his eyes, and has been there ever since. Engineer. Inventor. Mechanic. Farmer. Fisherman. Beekeeper. Drone pilot. Boat builder. And in every practical sense that matters — the guardian of Comino.

This is his story.

Salvu Vella — Key Facts

A Life That Started in the First Week

Salvu’s mother left Comino briefly in 1951 — travelling to St Paul’s Bay on the mainland so that a midwife could assist with the birth. One week later, she returned to Comino with her youngest child.

He has never truly left since.

The Vella family’s connection to Comino goes back to 1926, when Salvu’s grandfather was brought to the island by Captain Arthur Zammit Cutajar — whose company had been granted a lease to develop horticulture on Comino. Grandfather, then father, then Salvu himself — three generations anchored to the same small island between the two larger ones.

He grew up in the Palace and Isolation Hospital complex — a building dating to the 17th century, built by Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt. Eight members of the Vella family lived in a single room measuring roughly 15 feet by 15 feet. Below them was the family shop, opened in 1927, selling tinned food, flour, and basic goods to the small island community.

Salvu was educated at the school in the same complex — opened in 1929 to serve the children of the farm workers. He was the last pupil when it finally closed in 1964-65. He left without formal qualifications and with an education that no school on earth could have provided — a complete, intimate knowledge of every corner, every current, every cave, and every creature on one of the most extraordinary islands in the Mediterranean.

The Mechanical Genius — Where It Began

If you want to understand Salvu Vella, start with his mechanical genius.

He was still a child when he first took a broken bicycle apart and made it work again. But the story that best captures who he is comes from his early teens. He got his hands on a walk-behind rotary tiller — the kind of engine-driven tool used for turning soil. He attached it to a two-wheeled cart that had almost certainly been built for a horse or a mule. Nobody told him this was possible. Nobody showed him how. He simply looked at what he had, understood what it could do, and built himself a vehicle.

Just like that — a teenage boy on a tiny island with no roads, no cars, and no garage — had something that could carry him and his friends from one end of Comino to the other.

At 20, he converted his father’s petrol-driven car to run on gas. His relatives were convinced it would explode. It didn’t.

Later he converted multiple quad bikes and cars from petrol to electric power — and in some cases beyond that, to run entirely on solar energy. On an island with no petrol station, no garage, and no mechanic within easy reach, this was not a hobby. It was survival. For Salvu, it became something far beyond that.

The Inventions — One by One

The Remote-Controlled Boat Trailer

This is Salvu’s most celebrated invention — and the one that best demonstrates how his mind works.

Launching a fishing boat from a slipway normally requires a second person. You drive the trailer into the water, float the boat off, and then someone needs to drive the trailer back up while you take the boat out.

Salvu lives alone on Comino.

His solution: a trailer with a remote-controlled hydraulic system. He built it himself — the engine, the hydraulics, the remote control unit, all of it. He can now drive the trailer down the Santa Marija Bay slipway and into the water remotely, release the boat with a push of a button, and then drive the trailer back up to its parking position — all while sitting in the boat.

When he returns from fishing, he calls the trailer back remotely. It comes to him.

A problem that most people would simply accept as requiring two people — Salvu turned into an engineering project. Then he solved it.

The Solar Panels That Chase the Sun

The solar panels on the roof of Salvu’s house are not fixed. They move.

He engineered a tracking system that rotates the panels throughout the day — following the arc of the sun from east to west — to maximise the energy collected at every hour of the day. Most solar installations point in one direction and accept whatever angle they get. Salvu built a system that never accepts a suboptimal angle.

More units collected. More power generated. From the same number of panels.

The Solar Golf Buggy

His golf buggy runs on batteries. The batteries are charged by four solar panels mounted on the buggy’s roof. The panels charge the batteries as he drives — and when the buggy is parked in the sun, they charge it passively.

He does not need a plug. He does not need a charging station. The sun charges the vehicle that he uses to patrol his island.

The Solar Water Pump at Il-Lifrat

At the Il-Lifrat well in central Comino, Salvu installed a solar-powered pump that draws fresh water up from the well and feeds it into a pond he built for his animals and birds. The system runs autonomously — no switches, no timers, no manual intervention. When the sun shines, the pump runs. The pond fills. The animals drink.

Every morning during his drone flight, he checks that the system is working. Most mornings it is. When it isn’t, he goes and fixes it.

The Hovercraft

At some point — characteristically, Salvu built a hovercraft. The full details of its construction exist mainly in the memory of people who saw it. That a self-taught engineer on a tiny island in the middle of the Mediterranean built a functioning hovercraft is the kind of fact that takes a moment to properly absorb.

The Drone System

Salvu flies a DJI Mavic 4 — one of the most advanced consumer drones currently available. He taught himself to fly it, taught himself the software, and then engineered a system that allows him to launch and land it from inside his house.

Every morning he uses it not for photography — though his aerial footage of Comino is extraordinary — but for practical reconnaissance. A 75-year-old man doing a daily aerial survey of his island from his kitchen.

The Mechanic Everyone Called

Salvu’s reputation as a mechanic extended well beyond Comino.

He was the mechanic for the Comino Hotel for years — maintaining the boats that ferried guests between the island and the mainland, fixing the kitchen equipment, keeping the hotel’s vehicles running. His reputation was so strong that when a boat was sent to Malta to be repaired by professionals and came back still broken, the hotel called Salvu. He went out, found the problem, and fixed it.

People used to ship their cars to Comino — across the water, to a small island with no road connections — specifically so that Salvu could work on them. Engine swaps. Modifications. Conversions. Things that garages on Malta and Gozo had said couldn’t be done, or wouldn’t do.

He was also the mechanic for the pig farm — the government facility that operated on Comino from 1979, breeding disease-free pigs after swine fever wiped out the Maltese national herd. Trucks, tractors, farm equipment — all of it maintained by Salvu.

The Farmer, the Fisherman, the Beekeeper

Engineering is only part of who Salvu is. The rest of his life is just as rich.

Organic Farmer

The plots around his house and the old Palace building grow onions, garlic, potatoes, and tomatoes. Everything organic. Salvu has used chemical-free pest control in his fields for decades — developing his own methods rather than relying on anything bought from a shop.

He grew up watching his family farm the valleys of Comino when they were productive and carefully tended. He still tends what he can.

Fisherman

Salvu has fished the waters around Comino for most of his life — not casual shore fishing but proper, skilled, seasonal work on open water.

He fished many seasons for lampuki — mahi mahi — one of the most prized catches in Maltese waters, targeted during their autumn migration through the channel. He worked trammel nets, requiring intimate knowledge of the seabed, the currents, and the movement of fish. He fished by longlining — setting lines for tuna and swordfish in deeper water.

He still goes out from the Santa Marija Bay slipway when conditions are right — reading the same water his father taught him, in the same channel his family has fished for a century.

Beekeeper

Comino produces wild thyme honey — the only place in the Maltese islands where this is possible, because Comino is the only island covered almost entirely by garigue packed with wild thyme. The thyme flowers purple every April. The bees follow immediately.

Salvu keeps hives and produces honey for himself. In recent years a new challenge has arrived — the Asian hornet, which has taken a significant toll on bee colonies across Malta and the wider Mediterranean. He tends his colonies carefully. The bees are still there. So is he.

Guardian of the Birds

Over decades, Salvu reintroduced birds to Comino — starlings, quails, pheasants, partridges, turtle doves, and collar doves. He hatched eggs, built nesting boxes, and watched populations slowly establish themselves on an island that had lost much of its wildlife.

Around 300 free-range chickens roam his land. Peacocks move through the garigue — you hear them before you see them on a quiet morning. Wild rabbits, which he speaks of as pets rather than livestock, move through the vegetation.

He buys grain for the birds out of his own pocket — spending approximately €400 per month to keep them fed. Nobody reimburses him. He does it because the animals are his and the island is his and that is simply what you do.

A Day in the Life — Comino, 2026

Here is what a typical day looks like for Salvu Vella at 75 years old.

Morning: He launches the drone from inside the house. The DJI Mavic 4 rises above the garigue and begins its circuit — checking the sea state, the swell direction, the safe bays, the water level in the Il-Lifrat pond, the rubble walls. When the flight is done, the drone comes back in and lands inside the house.

Mid-morning: He goes to the garage. There is always something being worked on — a generator being tuned, a modification being made to the buggy, a new component being fitted to one of his solar systems. He improves things continuously. Nothing on Comino that Salvu considers unfinished stays unfinished for long.

Midday: A spot of lunch. Then a siesta — the entirely sensible Mediterranean practice of resting during the hottest part of the day.

Afternoon: Back to the garage for more work. Then, as the day cools, he gets on the buggy or the quad bike and does a circuit of the island. Every bay. Every path. Every field boundary. Checking that everything is as it should be.

He is the only person doing this. On an island visited by thousands of people every summer day, one man on a solar-powered golf buggy makes the daily round that keeps the island in order.

The guardian of Comino. That is not a romantic description. It is simply accurate.

What He Loves

Salvu still loves Comino.

Not in a complicated way. Not with nostalgia or regret or wishing things were different. He loves it because it is peaceful. Because it is quiet in the way that only a small island surrounded by sea can be quiet. Because he knows every corner of it and every corner of it is his.

He notices everything. If the tiniest thing changes on Comino — a wall section that shifted overnight, a path that looks different after rain, a bird that appeared somewhere new — Salvu notices. After 75 years on the same island, his knowledge of it is so complete that the island’s smallest changes register immediately.

He loves the animals. He loves the birds. He loves the sea and the fishing and the feeling of early morning water before anyone else is on it.

At 75, on an island he has lived on for his entire life, Salvu Vella is exactly where he wants to be.

The Island He Keeps

Every day when we pass Comino on the boat — the skipper pointing out the Blue Lagoon, the Crystal Lagoon, the cave entrances, the Battery cannons on the southern cliff — Salvu’s world is all around us.

The solar panels on the roof that follow the sun. The slipway at Santa Marija Bay where the remote-controlled trailer sits waiting. The garigue where the peacocks move. The Il-Lifrat valley where the pump draws water from an ancient well.

Most of the tourists on the ferries passing by have no idea that someone lives here. No idea that the island they have come to photograph has a guardian who woke up before them, flew a drone over the whole of it, and went back to the garage to work on something new.

Salvu Vella is one of the most remarkable people in the Maltese islands. Not because of any single invention or achievement — though the remote-controlled trailer alone would justify the description. But because of the totality of it. A life lived entirely on one small island, making it work, keeping it alive, understanding it in a way that nobody else alive does or ever will again.

Book a private Comino boat tour and see his island for yourself.
For the complete guide to who lives on Comino, read here.
For the complete Comino history, read here.
For the farming history of Comino that Salvu’s family helped build, read here.

FAQ — Salvu Vella Comino Malta

Who is Salvu Vella?

Salvu Vella is the permanent resident of Comino — a self-taught engineer, inventor, organic farmer, fisherman, beekeeper, and drone pilot who has lived on the island since he was one week old in 1951. He is widely regarded as the guardian of Comino.

What has Salvu Vella invented?

His most famous invention is a remote-controlled boat trailer that allows him to launch and retrieve his fishing boat alone. He has also built solar panels that track the sun throughout the day, a solar-powered electric golf buggy, a solar water pump at Il-Lifrat, a hovercraft, and converted multiple vehicles from petrol to electric and solar power.

How old is Salvu Vella?

Salvu Vella was born in 1951 and is 74-75 years old as of 2026. He has lived on Comino for his entire life.

Does Salvu Vella still live on Comino?

Yes — Salvu is the only permanent full-time resident of Comino as of 2026. His cousin Veggie spends time on the island when she is able to.

What does Salvu Vella do every day?

He starts each morning by flying his DJI Mavic 4 drone from inside his house — conducting a daily aerial survey of the island to check sea conditions, animal welfare, and the state of his solar and water systems. He then works in his garage on whatever project is currently underway, takes a midday siesta, and in the afternoon patrols the island by electric buggy or quad bike.

Why is Salvu Vella called the guardian of Comino?

Salvu has maintained the paths, walls, water systems, and animal life of Comino for decades — largely at his own expense and with no formal support. He patrols the island daily, monitors its conditions by drone, and maintains the infrastructure that keeps it functioning. No other person performs this role.

What animals does Salvu keep on Comino?

Approximately 300 free-range chickens, peacocks, wild rabbits, and bees. He also reintroduced various bird species to the island over the decades including starlings, pheasants, quails, partridges, and doves.

Does Salvu Vella produce honey?

Yes — Comino wild thyme honey, which is unique to the island. Salvu keeps bees and produces honey for himself. A friend of the family, George Baldacchino, also maintains colonies on Comino and sells the honey at Marsaxlokk market every Sunday.

Can you see Salvu Vella on a boat tour?

We pass the areas of Comino where Salvu lives and works on every private boat tour. On longer tours that include time ashore at Santa Marija Bay, it is sometimes possible to see him working — on the slipway, in the fields, or driving his buggy along the island’s paths.

Further Reading

• Who Lives on Comino? The Last Residents
• The Forgotten Farming History of Comino
• The Secret History of Comino — Pirates, Knights and War
• The History of the Blue Lagoon Malta
• Abraham Abulafia — The Mystic Who Lived on Comino
• Comino Island Malta — Complete Guide 2026
• Blue Lagoon Malta — Complete Guide 2026
• Best Things To Do on Comino 2026
• Santa Marija Bay Comino — Complete Guide
• Private Boat Tour Malta — Complete Guide