That's usually identified with Malta, despite Malta not being in the Adriatic (cf. Acts 27.27), and not having any poisonous snakes. The natives are called barbaroi. If Malta was Phoenician-speaking, the language would have been similar to Hebrew. But maybe that would still count as "barbarian" to someone writing Greek.
The Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitos believed that the island in question was the Dalmatian island now calle Mljet (also known as Melite in ancient times), which is in the Adriatic and has poisonous snakes.
Interesting. Thanks for that lead.
I’m always interested in names and their meanings, and how identifications of ancient locations can end up all over the map.