Traditional Site
St. Paul's Bay
saint PAWLZ BAY · Modern San Pawl il-Baħar, Malta · 35.9483° N, 14.4017° E
St. Paul's Bay is the traditional site where the ship carrying Paul as a prisoner ran aground during a storm, after which he and all 276 aboard reached shore safely (Acts 27:39-28:1). Paul then spent three months on Malta, surviving a viper bite and healing Publius's father (Acts 28:1-10).
Archaeology
The identification with this bay has been local tradition for roughly 500 years, but no archaeological evidence — wreck timbers, anchors, or 1st-century artifacts tied specifically to the event — has ever been confirmed here despite searching. Some researchers argue the geography in Acts fits other locations better, such as St. Thomas Bay, making this a genuinely open question. A statue of St. Paul was erected on the small island at the bay's mouth (Selmunett) in 1845.
On a modern map
Further reading
Reflect
After the shipwreck, Paul gathered firewood — small usefulness in a disaster — what small helpful thing can you do inside a situation you can't fix?
More sites
Capstone Bible is a free interactive study app — a map of every place in this library, a zoomable timeline of biblical and church history, the Bible text with every name in it linked to its article, reading plans and personal notes.
Open Capstone Bible