From the moment I first dived the Blue Hole, Azure Window and Inland Sea in 1980, I had also marveled at the diving sites of Malta’s neighboring island, Gozo. Many thousands of dives later, I still find them as good.
In Malta a dive is of exceptional quality – at 20, 30, 40m, every ripple could be spotted on the surface, and underwater life went on. Octopuses scurried over the reef. Morays with their ever-opening and closing jaws eyed us with suspicion, and grouper floated motionless, always about 4m away, and considered us with shy inquisitiveness.
As shoals of damselfish moved to and fro in an hypnotic dance around us, I was moved to a state close to drunken euphoria. Then, in seconds, all life was gone. Too soon, the dive was over. It seemed as if only a few minutes had elapsed since we had left the confines of the Blue Hole, but my computer indicated that we had spent 50 minutes down below.
For many years the Maltese islands have enjoyed a vast influx of divers from all over Europe. With shore-diving giving immediate access into 30m-plus depths with drop-offs, caves, natural arches, reefs and of course wrecks at a number of locations, it’s easy to see why.
A number of World War Two wrecks lie in deep water (the S-class British submarine HMS Stubborn in 60m, a Blenheim bomber in 42m, a Spitfire in 50m and the “Freighter” wreck in 65m) and they are dived only infrequently, but there is still much wreckage from this period to dive at less demanding depths.
The Maltese government has initiated an artificial reef program which to date has scuttled six ships, including two car ferries, an ocean-going tug and the 5390 ton, 109m-long merchant tanker Um el Faroud, a shore dive from Wied iz-Zurrieq.
Malta and Gozo offer good diving suitable for all grades of qualification and experience, while the non-diver should never feel neglected, as there is much to see and do around the islands.
What Malta can offer is some of the best diving available in the Mediterranean, in a safe location, within three hours’ flight-time of the UK. It’s comparatively cheap, and divers are warmly welcomed everywhere.
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