The village extends along both sides of the bay, and across most of Il-Hamrija, locally nicknamed Siberia due to its exposure to icy northernly winds in winter and because buildings there are deemed to be too cut off from the centre of the village and church area. Marsaskala boasts a rather modern church, and a very pleasant promenade of shops, restaurants and coffee shops along the long stretch of waterfront.
The shore north of Zonqor Point is of low cliffs, with shelving rock ledges south of the point. Marsaskala Bay is largely edged by promenade, with low shelving rock ledges cut with salt pans on the seaward face of Il-Hamrija, which continue on round the eastern point and into St Thomas Bay to the south.
Though not endowed with much in the way of sandy beaches, the environment is ideal for Scuba diving and snorkelling, and the town boasts at least two Diving schools.
The parish church is dedicated to St. Anne and St Anne's feast is celebrated in the end of July in Marsaskala.
The town has a population of 9,298 people (Nov 2005).
Man inhabited this area thousands of years ago as evidenced by the several archeological remains found in various areas of Marsaskala. Its Pre-history is normally divided in the Neolithic period and the Bronze age. Some of the most ancient remains at Marsaskala are undoubledly the cart-ruts, which are parallel channels formed in the rock face. Some of Malta's cart-ruts, mysteriously, lead straight into the sea. Difficulties and uncertainties still abound as regards their use as well as the time and the way they were made, though it seems that they served to transport heavy burdens from one place to another.
