Malta in June?

Hi everyone!

My wife and I are thinking of going to Malta this June for a week long vacation (we've been to the Carribean the last few times, so we thought we'd try something new). While there, we're planning to do a few days of diving. A few questions:

1) What's the water temp in June?

2) What are the recommended dive ops?

3) How's the diving in Malta? How does it compare to diving by the Gozo?

4) How does diving in Malta compare to diving in the Carribean?

Thanks for all the answers!

You should PM WJL. He was there in the fall and should be able to provide some good info for you.

[http://www.diverforum.co.uk/talkforums/destinationstalk] then do a search for Malta threads. Malta is a very popular destination for European divers so you'll get lots of information and recommendations from those who've been there recently. Enjoy your trip!

Phil

I was diving in Malta last October. I think you will enjoy the experience. Here are some things to consider:

Water temp: Should be high 70s in June, up to 80s in the shallows. In October it was mid-70's with no thermocline down to 100'.

There are probably two dozen dive operators on the islands, more on Malta than Gozo. Most of the dive sites are shore dives, and most of the operators just have trucks and vans to haul you to the different sites. Maybe two or three operators have boats to take you out to their favorite sites, but these boat dives are generally fairly deep, like 150 feet or more. I did not use one particular dive shop, because I made arrangements to dive with an independent guide who trains divers at the US embassy in Malta. I can give you an email contact if you are interested in talking to this person.

There are plenty of very interesting shore dives in both Malta and Gozo. Malta has more wrecks to visit, including warships sunken in WWII, as well as a number of vessels purposely sunk to serve as dive sites. Visibility was generally over 50, often up to 100 feet. Lots of marine life to see, typical of the Med. Different sites have different underwater geography, ranging from shallow reefs to walls, to rocky canyons. The sites on Gozo have some striking rock formations. There are several dive sites on Gozo which are very popular, such as the Blue Lagoon, where the water is nice, but there isn't that much to see. The sites at the western end of Gozo and along the north shore, however, are spectacular and well worth the entire trip.

I have never been diving in the Carribbean, so I can't give you a comparison. Malta is a fairly small place, but there is a lot to do there besides just go diving. Malta has good restaurants and hotels, ancient ruins, casinos, medieval forts, hopping night clubs, arts and crafts villages, and friendly people. Malta is not in the EU, but is heading towards membership. Everyone I met spoke English as well as Maltese, and most people can converse in Italian and various other European and North African languages. They drive on the left hand side of the road, so you better be ready if you rent a car at the airport. Airfares are comparatively expensive because of government price controls. The Maltese lira (called a pound for historical reasons) is valued at about US$2.50 if I remember correctly.

You will need to get a medical certificate of your good health before you can go diving in Malta. All the operators and guides will ask to see this. The form you need is available on-line, and all the dive shops have them. A doctor on Malta did mine for $25. Local laws prohibit you from diving without a certified local guide or supervisor, unless you pass a test of some kind. I just went with my guide, who was an excellent diver and knew all the sites. I was asked for my dive log and c-card so you probably better bring them.

Honest opinion - I went to Gozo in October last year - even if you paid in $1million. you wouldnt get me near the place! But thats just my opinion.

The diving in Gozo to me means a mile trek in full gear over uneven rocky mountain conditions which I do not classify as "fun"!

WJL - wherever you were you must have had ALL the marine life as there was nothing on Gozo. Very little coral and I think the dive operator brought a fish with us to each dive site so we could at least say we saw a fish! It was empty!

There were loads of caves and the blue lagoon was a much easier dive (without the mile trek) but again very little to see apart from the magificiant blue through the hole and some corals on the rocks.

As for diving alone, you need to be Rescue Diver (PADI) or equal and you can apply for a Diving Federation Card (which there is no test just an application form). If you go to your dive operator they will be able to organise it for you. This cost 15 maltese. We were never asked to present it but its worth getting it just in case!

I havent dived the caribean before so I could give you a comparison.

Sorry if I've been really negative about the island but I have heard a lot of people say you either love it or you hate it.

I guess things were different when I was there. I saw big schools of bream, lots of amberjacks, dentex, several eels, some jellyfish, some scorpionfish, some tuna, a few baracuda, and had a close encounter with an octopus. We swam through a large school of bream on the ocean side of the passage to the Inland Sea.

I don't remember any mile walks to the dive sites on Gozo, although the ground was, as Scubababy said, rocky. The longest walk was about 400 yards, but that was down a gravel road, going to the Inland Sea site.

I suppose people have to judge for themselves. Here are links to Malta tourist info sites:

http://www.visitmalta.com/

http://www.searchmalta.com

The dramatic arch that is shown on the home page of the visitmalta web site is the Azure Window/Blue Hole dive site on Gozo. You can dive right down in the Blue Hole, then out under the arch. The pictures I took didn't turn out well or I would post them for you.

I've dove both Malta and much of the Caribbean and lived in both locales for some time. They are very different.

Malta is a popular destination for European divers due to proximity and cheap tour packages. It ain't the Caribbean.

The water gets cold enough that most corals simply cannot survive. There is an impressive variety of underwater topographical features that make the diving interesting, but if you are thinking of coral reefs such as found in the Caribbean, then you've got the wrong idea.

Malta has been overfished as has too much of the Med. Certain parts of the Caribbean have suffered the same fate. Still I found many octopi (on almost every dive), schools of bream, cuttlefish, cardinalfish and much more. The larger dentex and tuna were rarer, but occasionally seen. On average I have seen substantially more fish life in the various Caribbean locales than I ever saw in Malta.

Malta does have wrecks. Several are easily accessible from shore. They range from WWII ships and planes to a modern tanker. Quite a variety and you probably won't get to them all in one week.

Shore diving is the operative idea for Malta. This sometimes means long hikes. Ghar Lapsi has a killer hill to climb after the dive to get back to the parking lot. Wied iz Zurrieq (site of the wreck of the Um El Faroud) is a bit better, and some parking is available on the hill. The killer is the Blue Hole at the Azure Window on Gozo, with a fairly long hike over some nasty sharp rocks to get to the entry point. Though there are a few such hikes, most entry points are easily accessible from the parking areas.

Drew Sailbum once bubbled...
The killer is the Blue Hole at the Azure Window on Gozo, with a fairly long hike over some nasty sharp rocks to get to the entry point. Though there are a few such hikes, most entry points are easily accessible from the parking areas.

Click to expand...

God I hated that walk! We ended up going all the way round and exiting out of the Inland Sea on that as I wasnt going back over those rocks!! We also got there in the afternoon so we were stuck with a longer walk too!

There was another dive I didnt do - I can not remember what it was called now - but it was on a wreck (ferry) and the entry was jumping in from 8 feet of rock face - I wouldnt have minded but the waves were crashing over 1/2 way up and I could see the back of my head decorating the rocks........not a pretty image so I opted out!!

I must have missed all the marine life.....must have been on holiday in Malta and not visiting Gozo when I was there!

I agree, the marine life is different than, the Caribbean. It isn't dead though. Last summer I came across some of the largest groupers that I had ever seen (5+ feet). Don't kid your self in the 80's I have seen a 22-foot great white caught off Zurrieq. Depth can be an issue with some divers but compared to my regular Canadian water diving it's a breeze. My buddy was down to 65 meters with shorties in August. The caverns around Gozo are great. I wonder why some went to dive in Blue Lagoon. That's a touristy area for swimming with 10 feet of water. It is undeniably blue and clear but isn't for scuba diving. You need to go to Lantern Point down some 160 feet and hand feed the morays.

The difference between Malta and Gozo is that most wrecks are around Malta but the rock formations and the blue diving is in Gozo. There are dive boats on both islands. Like some said, there are WW2 wrecks, WW1 (if you are lucky enough to find them), modern wrecks like the Rozi and the el Faroud, and also an underwater prehistoric temple. Regarding the hikes and walks, YES it is not a dive off a boat, but a diver must be in good physical shape. It gets hot too, so carry loads of water.

If you like, you can get me on email, because I'm off to Malta in May and June and I could possibly connect with you.

Cheers

Lawrence

Hi all,

Just got back from Malta

Overall impressions
Food excellent and good value, cheap (ish) local wines very good quality. Locals VERY friendly and helpful at all times. Local Bus service definetely part of the experience and not to be missed
(Note for the non-Brits, they drive on left , like nutters )
The appartment we rented in Mellieha (N West) was excellent , slept 4 at 14 Lira / night, short walk into a lovely town , good restaurants. (PM for owners details)

Diving:
Cirkewwa point, where the ferry goes to Gozo.

Give this one a miss ! They are working on the ferry terminal and have silted out the dive site completely, we aborted this dive when the viz got down to less than two feet. Shame because it looked like being quite good.

Not sure how this silt affects the Rozi (tug wreck) a bit further out.

Anchor Bay.

Shallow afternoon dive, couple of octopus, LOTS of Cuckoo Wrasse males in their colours hoping to do what males do Pretty blues and yellows and greens. Banded Bream by the ton, sea urchins everywhere, one type I've never seen before but like a ball with tubes coming out in all directions (help appreciated).

Um el Faroud.

Well what can I say , spectacular wreck, tanker sitting upright 35m at the bottom 15 m at the top, 140 m long. Appears out of no where after a swim of about 200 meters.

Good condition, swim throughs and safe to penetrate (training of course).

The entry and exit was a bit rough (exit to say the least), I ended up with a cramp problem early on, decided to call the dive short due to hoovering air.

All in all a good trip, I was only intending doing a few dives and so I was satisfied.

Not the Caribbean, but beats jumping in muddy puddles here in the UK.

Water temp of 18 C , being a wimp I took the dry suit, most were diving in 5mm suits and 5mm Farmer johns, warm enough they said.

I dived with Paradise Bay Divers http://www.paradisediving.com

Great people, thanks to Martin the resident Instructor, Alison & Noel the Owners. Shore dives at 10.50 LM, boat dives at 13.50 LM, 2 LM extra for full gear.

Any one need anymore info then feel free to PM me.

Cheers
Hoppy