Diving in Malta

Just come back from a two week holiday in Malta. It was a great experience and I'll diffenetly go back again (soon hopefully). I was told it was one of the best places to dive in the Med and I wasn't disappointed.

Some of the highlights were caves, swim throughs and wreck diving on a world war destroyer and a supply barge in the harbour at Valetta. In terms of marine life I saw scorpion fish, parrot fish, octopus, a shoal of Jacks, cuttlefish, cardinal fish, grouper, lots of varities of really colourful wrasse and all the other usual mediteranian inhabitants. There was usually plenty to see on every dive and I'm just PADI OW so that's just staying above 20m.

Most of the diving is done from the Shore which means a bit of driving around to find the best site (depending on weather conditions). The water was a little chilly as it was May but diving in a 5mm full suit with a 3mm shortie on top kept me warm (even on one dive lasting an hour). You need to be fairly fit as there's often a little bit of a walk (in your gear) to get to the water's edge. I'd recommend hard sole boots as some of the rocks can be a bit sharp, a pair of gloves can also be useful for the more difficult exits. Fortunately it's well worth the effort once your in.

Boat dives are available but mainly for the islands of Gozo and Comino.

I've got more information on dive sites, etc if anyones looking at getting over there. I was diving with Subway Scuba www.subwayscuba.com who have a number of shops around the island. The staff were really friendly, helpful and the rental equipment and facilities were great. Prices are very competitive too, I'd be happy to use them again.

Hope this information is useful

Hi,
intereseted by your info, any chance of giving us a full report. I'm being forced by my non-diving partner, to skip the Red Sea in July so Malta is looking like one of the top destinations for me. Just how bad are the entry/exit walks, I have read quite a few reports that have recommended avoiding Malta because of them. After all I am going for a holiday as well.
Thanks

Entry/Exit level of difficulty depends on site really. You usually have to walk up/down a slipway as a minimum. These had smooth steps and a handrail so are easy enough. With slipway sites you always seemed to get a jetty to jump off and ladder to climb back out. I completed dives at Wied iz Zurrieq and Ghar Lapsi using this method. Both of these are great dives for marine life. Also caves and swim throughs available.

The wrecks in Valetta require a short walk (5- 10 metres) down steps. You can then sit on the rocks while you attach your fins. Difficulty of this increases if there is a swell, but chances are if it's that bad you'll look for another site. My understanding is that the sea's are nearly always flat for July/August. As you'll know fully clad scuba divers aren't that agile out of water, so any small movement in water your trying to gear up in can make things a bit interesting. I found it really good experience as all I'd only done boat diving previously. You can then shuffle forward and lower yourself forwards depending on depth of water and fin away from any wave break/surge. HMS Maori and the reef next to it were packed with all sorts of Marine life. This was one of my favourite dives.

L'Ahrax Point was a long walk, over rocks of about 75 meters but it's only a shallow dive so with a 10 ltr it was fine. I don't have boots so I usually slipped on shoes and then passed them to some non divers when I got to the smooth rocks near the waters edge. Same entry technique as above. Not to many fish but pretty spectacular underwater landscape.

Qwara point was similar to above but shorter walk. The best technique I found to exit was to fin to a suitable kneeling depth and then crawl forwards on the rocks until you are clear of any waves (very few), and the swell (if present). Then sit down and remove fins before standing and getting clear of the water. Ocassionaly there was a swell on exit and it's possible to get pushed towards some sharp rocks if you don't got out of the wave/surge area. That's when I found gloves useful, because I was happy to put my hands down to hold on/or aid lifting myself up. Again not as many fish as on previous dives.

One of the longest walks I saw was the Blue Hole in Gozo. Up and down steps over rocks and all with a 15 ltr tank. The sea conditions weren't up to us going in so I can't comment on how difficult it actually was. It looked like it would be a bit of a slog, but as we were looking three divers had just come out.

In summary I'd say if you know what to expect and take/hire some boots/gloves then you'll be fine. I'm just average build and although it was a little uncomfortable carrying 15ltr tanks I managed without too much difficulty. There were also smaller divers than me that managed fine.

Once you've mastered the entry/exit techniques (I watched the guides), it's pretty straight forwards.

I didn't get a chance to do the boat diving to Comino but I understand this is highly recommended. In summer these are run pretty regularly.

I'd recommend that you give it a go. Once your get in the water I'm sure you'll be impressed with the variety of marine life. I was surprised at the bright colours and variety of fish and sponges that can be seen.

I bought a book on Diving the Maltease Islands by Ned Middleton which was really good. I also saw a book on shore diving the islands which covered more sites. Not sure on author but it had a black cover if you can spot it in a bookstore.

Hope this helps.

For more information on Diving in Malta and Gozo check the Maltese Scuba Diving Portal at http://www.i-dive.net

Thank for the link, looks to have some good information. I did various searches before I went and didn't find this website.

Not sure if your related to the website owners in anyway but the keywords for the site aren't diving related. I suspect this is why it's not coming up when you use seach engines like Yahoo.

If the site had some keywords for diving on the homepage then I'm sure it would get more hits.

Hope this is useful.

Hi,

Thanks for the info on the keywords. I will modify them.

I am the owner of the website. More articles will be eventually added.

Lots of good points about diving in Malta but has anyone dived on the sister island Gozo? Any opinions about the dives and lifestyle?

Looks from your profile info. like your based in Gozo yourself Mobymark. Is this right or am I confused ? If you are what dives do you recommend ?

Personally I've dived the inland sea and a little sandy bay on the south west which I think was called Xeminji (spelling). I was hoping to dive the blue hole but sea was too rough. The walls once you've cleared the inland sea are quite spectacular. Didn't see much marine life on that dive though, couple of groupers, etc.

The sandy bay was a nice relaxing second dive, lots of flat fish and cavern/caves to explore. I'm coming back to Malta in September and I'm hoping to do a couple of dives on Malta while I'm there.

Rich.

Hi, I dived this site in june. The walk was very dodgy as it is over 300 mts and over rough rocks and down slippery steps. once in it's great. The cool water is such a relief after walking that distance in 85 Degrees and full sun! I spent a week there. I had dived in the red sea two months before, thats why I was a bit disapointed with the wildlife.

If diving Gozo, would have to recommend diving Azure Window / Blue Hole / Inland Sea... they can all be dived in 1 dive (at a push) but are better done seperately.