The Blue Grotto Caves: The boats take the tourists to a number of caves carved into the cliff face. One of the caves visited is a small cave with a sandy bottom and usually people are given the opportunity to have a refreshing dip in the turquoise, emerald and blue waters of this cave. The Blue Grotto gets its name from the colour of the water close to the rock face. When exiting the Grotto you can see the deep blue Mediterranean in front of you and then the small island of Filfla appears straight ahead. Filfla is uninhabited except for a unique species of lizards that live there. When Malta was a British colony, the island of Filfla was used for target practice by the British Armed Forces. The island is now protected under Maltese law.