Malta was our diving destination for two weeks in April 2005. Why April? Well, to be honest, this diving holiday was really a honeymoon. Needless to say, this review will be heavy on the diving stories and light on any other details. This particular destination has been described as one of the best climates anywhere. Warm and sunny in summer with little humidity, and mild in winter.

The country of Malta comprises of three Islands. Malta itself is the largest Island and hosts the capital Valetta and the airport. There are many resort towns around the coast of Malta, with destinations such as St. Julian’s being popular. Keep in mind that there are no long sandy beaches in this country...pebble beaches are the best you’ll get so all sunbathing will be done on hotel sun loungers. For those without diving partners, Malta has some fantastic places to visit. The narrow streets and port of Valetta, and the old city of M’dina to mention a couple.

The Blue hole, Gozo, Malta.

This place has a lot of culture to offer, and is reasonably priced compared to Ireland. It doesn’t offer the good value for money that some parts of Spain can provide, but even the popular tourist spots are not over priced.

The second largest island is Gozo. This is north of Malta but maintains contact through an excellent car ferry service which operates as often as anyone could wish for. In other words, there always seems to be a ferry making the 20-30 minute trip though the service is reduced overnight.

The last remaining island of the trio is Comino. According to our local guide, this has only a handful of permanent residents and one hotel. During the summertime, the occupants of the hotel increase the population of this little place manifold. However, once you see the “Blue Lagoon” which sits on its doorstep, it’s easy to see why.

For the duration of the two weeks, we based ourselves in Gozo. The only reason for this was that we (personally) preferred a slightly quieter destination. In April, however, the whole of Malta is a slightly quieter desitination. In turn, Gozo was almost asleep by comparison but this did allow us to get to know the place a little better without all the bustle of tourists. The island (like Malta) has a lot of dive centres, but many of these would only open in early June as the season started to get busy. Some of the more established centres are open all year round and it was to one of these that we made our contact. St. Andrew’s Divers Cove in Xlendi (pronounced Sh-lendi) is a well run centre with lots of gear and plenty of instructors. In fact, they hire nothing but instructors which gives you a good indication of the level of expertise. In high season, three trucks carry gear and divers twice a day (every day!) to many of Gozos diving attractions. Considering there are about fourteen more centres on the island, this makes for lots of diving activity. So what draws all these divers to this little island? Well the great big reef that surrounds it is one. Add the crystal clear visibility and great diving infrastructure and you have the makings of a great diving holiday.

Gozo is home to two of Maltas best known dive sites, namely The Blue Hole and the Inland Sea. The Blue Hole is a naturally occurring 17m deep hole which is accessible by a short walk along rocks on the western side of the island. Once you enter the 10m wide circular hole, you can decend through brightly covered side walls to an exit arch underneath allowing you to continue deeper towards the reef close by. Upon return, it provides one of the most enjoyable places to decompress as you are likely to be sharing the column with many more divers.

Though the immediate area around the Blue Hole is a great dive in itself, it also forms a very good start point for several other dives. The reef close by is impressive with a sheer drop off down to 35m, and a more gradual drop down to 50m. Another entry point close to the Blue Hole is called Coral Garden. This 6m pool is alive with life and color, and gradually funnels towards a narrow point which delivers the diver over the reef in quite dramatic fashion. At the foot of the drop is Coral Cave which is home to sea-horse and slipper lobster. We subsequently found out that local dive literature was asking divers to stay away from this cave as divers bubbles are apparently harming the delicate coral that grows in there. In hindsight, we didn’t venture too far into the cave and would probably steer completely clear next time around.

Entry to the Blue Hole

The Inland Sea is exactly as its name suggests. A cliff face with a tunnel to the sea which allows sea water to form an inland lake. Local tour guides will take you through the 25m long tunnel by boat (think lots of whistling and whooping as they pass through) while local dive operators will do the very same at depth (25m). An interesting co-existance which seems to work, but then again I don’t have the “head scars due to propellor strike” statistics to hand.

Another very memorable dive on Gozo was the wreck of the car ferry Xlendi. When the ferry came to the end of its useful life, the good people of Malta decided that it would be sunk as an artificial reef. With the best of intentions, it was cleaned down and its keel filled with concrete to ensure it sat upright once sunk. Nature had other ideas though and when the sinking was brought forward to avoid a potentially messy change in the law, rough weather caused her to hit the reef and tumble. It now sits very proudly upside down, slowly collapsing on itself. A perfect recipe for a diving destination.

We also visited another wreck close to the ferry port on Malta. The tugboat Rozi lies there (upright) in about 36m of water. A very photogenic boat if ever there was one.

The dive trip was made complete with two separate dives to the Comino caves on the smallest island. An small but interesting cave system allowing the novice cave diver to bend and sqeeze his way through various pockets and swimthroughs. You can pop up in air holes, or travel through the caves to the other side of the headland. A real headache for the boat cover, though we were all well behaved. This is a popular destination with less experienced divers as it is shallow and sheltered. We were lucky therefore to be diving this during a quiet time and had it pretty much to ourselved.

Overall, Malta should be on every serious divers list of holiday destinations. The water temperature was not high in April. In fact, I missed my cosy dry-suit on more than one occasion. However, we were reliably informed that later in the summer it gets very comfortable. Another very good aspect is the fact that the islands are not that big. So in the event of a prevailing wind, it is always possible to head for the sheltered side. This is something we did on a number of occasions on Gozo with very little inconvenience.

Many of the dive centres with arrange accommodation for you, which will be conveniently close by. They can also arrange a collect and return service if you select one of the local hotels. Having said that, car hire is easy though not especially cheap.

On the flight over there we met a group of divers, some of which were making their tenth trip to Malta. It seemed to us strange at the time, but seems completely possible after having experienced the place.

Cuttlefish