Methodology · Marine Directory
Marine & Coastal Infrastructure Data
Methodology, coverage, exclusions and quality notes for the ImaginaMalta marine and coastal infrastructure dataset. All records are derived from OpenStreetMap under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).
1. Dataset overview
The marine and coastal infrastructure dataset contains 408 records across 60 localities in Malta and Gozo. All records are derived from OpenStreetMap community data, queried and processed in June 2026. The dataset covers physical coastal infrastructure — not services, activities or live operational status.
2. What is included
| Marinas (10) | leisure=marina nodes and ways |
| Yacht clubs (2) | club=sport + sport=sailing |
| Slipways (110) | leisure=slipway |
| Diving centres (72) | shop=scuba_diving, sport=diving |
| Lifeguard stations (5) | emergency=lifeguard |
| Beach facilities (194) | amenity=shower, toilets, changing_room, bbq near coast; information kiosks at beaches |
| Swimming zones (14) | leisure=swimming_area, sport=swimming near coast |
| Fishing points (1) | leisure=fishing |
3. What is NOT included
- Blue Flag data — not sourced; requires Malta Tourism Authority integration
- Bathing water quality — not sourced; requires Environmental Health Directorate data
- Boat tour operators — not sourced (commercial services, not infrastructure)
- Water taxi routes — not sourced (transport, not coastal infrastructure)
- Live lifeguard status — not available; lifeguard station locations only
- Piers and breakwaters — filtered out (142 records excluded; structural features, not access infrastructure)
- Indoor swimming pools — excluded (not coastal)
- Fitness centres with pools — excluded (leisure, not coastal infrastructure)
- Closed / historic features — excluded via lifecycle=closed tag filter
4. Data source: OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative geographic database maintained by a global community of mappers. The Malta OSM community has good coverage of coastal infrastructure, though completeness varies by area and feature type.
| Licence | Open Database Licence (ODbL 1.0) |
| Query date | 2026-06-20 |
| Source tier | osm_only (all 408 records) |
| OSM data URL | https://www.openstreetmap.org |
| ODbL URL | https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/ |
5. Official sources attempted but not yet integrated
- Malta Tourism Authority Blue Flag list — no machine-readable open dataset available at time of build
- Environmental Health Directorate (bathing water quality) — not published in a structured open format
- Transport Malta (harbour authorities) — no open infrastructure data available
- Local councils — no standardised coastal facility data
6. Exclusions and filters applied
- Records with lifecycle=closed or disused=yes
- Indoor swimming pools and leisure centres (no coastal context)
- Fitness centres tagged sport=swimming without coastal location
- Piers and breakwaters (man_made=pier, man_made=breakwater) — 142 records filtered
- Beach areas (natural=beach) — handled separately in the Beaches section
7. Locality normalisation
Raw OSM locality tags use inconsistent naming conventions (e.g. PACEVILLE, SAN GILJAN or MARSALFORN, GHAWDEX). These are normalised to canonical locality slugs that match the ImaginaMalta PLACES registry, using a hand-curated mapping table in src/lib/marine/marineLocalityMap.js.
Example: raw slug paceville_san_giljan maps to canonical slug saint-julian-s. Unmapped slugs (e.g. unknown) are set to null and excluded from locality-linked pages.
8. Indexation policy
Individual marine records are not published as separate indexable pages (indexable: false on all records). This is because most records are OSM-only with minimal metadata — name, coordinates and a few tags. Publishing individual pages for low-data records would create thin content.
Hub and category pages ( /marine/, and all subcategory pages) are indexed as they aggregate data and provide source documentation.
9. Corrections and updates
Marine infrastructure data is sourced from OpenStreetMap. To correct or update a record, edit it directly in OSM. Changes will be reflected in future dataset refreshes. Corrections to locality mapping or category classification can be submitted via the ImaginaMalta open data page.
ImaginaMalta open data →10. Dataset information
| Last checked | 2026-06-20 |
| Total records | 408 |
| Localities | 60 (raw OSM) — 58 mappable to canonical PLACES slugs |
| Licence | ODbL 1.0 (OpenStreetMap contributors) |
Attribution
Contains information from OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL 1.0).
Marine hub · Marinas · Slipways · Diving centres · By locality · Open data