Shore diving in Malta & Gozo

All photographs: Tamsin Eyles

As well as being only a three-hour flight from the UK, the Republic of Malta is supremely convenient for diving, as many of the best sites are accessible from the shore. In fact, as the island of Malta is smaller than the Isle of Wight, it can be quicker to arrive at a dive site by road than by boat. Meanwhile, Malta’s sister island of Gozo is small enough to get from one side to the other in less than half an hour – including the all-important stop to pick up snacks.

Shore diving can offer flexibility and independence for groups and experienced divers. An advantage of islands the size of Malta is that whatever the wind direction, you can make your way to the leeward side of the island to get in the water. Very rarely are all diving options completely blown out, and shore diving can be done all year round. We took a back-to-basics tour of the Maltese islands, kitting up in car parks and in the back of Transit vans, and have put together some of the best underwater sites that can be visited without a boat.

Car parks are generally close to the entry point, although there are some steep walks that can be pretty tough in full kit. That said, our photographer was carrying an old ankle injury but still managed the climbs down to the water and back. Facilities vary: at sites popular with tourists, such as Dwejra and Wied iz-Zurrieq, there are toilets, cafés and ice-cream vans; at quieter sites such as Reqqa Point on the north coast of Gozo, you’ll find only rocks.

Dive centres can take you on guided shore dives, or will arrange accommodation, transport, air fills and kit hire and give you information on dive sites so you can go and dive at your own pace. One thing to note when shore diving is not to leave valuables in your vehicle: break-ins are not unknown, especially at the quieter sites.

Malta and Gozo are big on scenery, with many wrecks purposely sunk for divers and natural caves, tunnels and swim-throughs to explore. The deep azure colour of the water combined with excellent visibility make this a real draw for divers. You find yourself looking out from caves, tunnels or wrecks in wonder at the rich blue – it’s one of the best things about diving Malta.

Considering that the Mediterranean is notorious for its declining habitats, and that Malta is known more for its scenery than for fish, there was much more marine life than I had expected. I spotted octopus and cuttlefish on several dives, and plenty of colourful corals, anemones and tube worms on the reefs. We saw John Dory in Gozo and even asked our guides to help us track down the famously elusive seahorses.

MALTA

P29, Cirkewwa

Originally an East German minesweeper named the Boltenhagen, the P29 is the wreck of a patrol boat and was purpose-sunk for divers in 2007. It’s one of Malta’s newest wrecks: it’s almost entirely intact but hasn’t had long to establish itself as a reef. As such, it’s a bit like swimming around a boat that happens to be underwater as opposed to a shipwreck.

The entry point for the dive is a ramp from the car park to the sea, where steps are cut into the rock and a handrail leads into a small, shallow cove. From the shore, we swam on the surface to a small buoy, which marks the stern of the wreck, and then descended. The 53m-long wreck sits upright on sand at 35m, with the deck at about 30m. Moving towards the bow, the superstructure offers a couple of swim-throughs – look out for the toilet on the starboard side. There were also groupers on the wreck that were particularly camera-friendly.

Rozi, Cirkewwa

The Rozi was a tugboat that was sunk as a diving tourist attraction in 1992. It has had more time to establish itself than the P29 and consequently has more life on it, and it holds a special place in the hearts of the dive guides here.

On the way to the Rozi from the entry point (a giant stride from a jetty), you can pass a large anchor, standing proud of the sea bed. Surrounded by sand and covered in seaweeds, it’s very picturesque. On the return journey, you can also visit an arch and a cave in the reef.

Seeing all these sites on one dive is a bit of a whirlwind tour, so consider splitting your dive into two. Getting out of the water here is slightly harder, with a climb up a ladder; you can de-kit in the water if climbing it is a problem.

Um El Faroud, Wied iz-Zurrieq

At 110m long, the Um El Faroud is on a much grander scale than the previous two wrecks. It’s 30m deep, and you need two dives here to do it justice: one to take in the bow, which is a long swim but worth it to see the ship rising out of the sand; the other to see the stern and the propeller.

On the deck at around 25m, there are staircases, winding gear at the bow, and swim-throughs along gangways. The container ship was sunk in 1998, and is now split down the middle. The funnel remains – we saw barracuda circling it – but some of the bridge structure was broken off in a storm last winter.

The wreck is a ten-minute swim from the shore, and there were strong currents on one of the days we dived here. The entry point is a jetty in an inlet, which is used as a harbour by boats visiting the Blue Grotto, so beware of traffic. The steps into the water are currently being rebuilt, but the work is due to finish soon.

HMS Maori, Marsamxett Harbour, Valletta

A Tribal-class destroyer, the HMS Maori was hit by a bomb in 1942 while in the Grand Harbour. The wreck interfered with shipping, so it had to be moved and scuttled at its present site. Only the front half of the ship survived the move, and today the wreck is broken up and half-buried in sand. You can swim through it, but local guides say it’s deteriorating more each year and might not be safe for long.

Protected on several sides by harbour walls, the site was diveable even in quite strong winds. The entry is right below the car park, and you walk into the water along gently sloping rock. It’s slippery, but there are handrails to keep you steady. The visibility isn’t as good as at other sites, but it does have lots of life; we saw a couple of moray eels swimming around. With a maximum depth of around 14m, it’s a good second dive.

Ghar Lapsi

There’s a very pretty bay at Ghar Lapsi, three miles north of Wied iz-Zurrieq, which is popular with swimmers and is this dive’s entry point. Once underwater, you leave the bay through a tunnel to the open sea, which is wide but quite shallow. Light streams into the tunnel from three exits, but it’s no place for the claustrophobic as your tummy and your tank can be touching the rock at the same time.

The rest of the dive takes in shallow reefs, areas of seagrass and sand, and a second swim-through cave with a maximum depth of about 20m. There are a lot of steps from the car park down to the sea at this site. They’re shallow, though, and it’s an easy entry to the water.

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