Friday, March 29, 2024

Top 8 Dive Sites In Malta

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The islands of Malta, Gozo, and Comino form the Maltese Archipelago. Malta is the largest out of the three, Gozo, which is known as the mythical isle of calypso and Comino, the tiny island which is known for its blue lagoon. All three islands provide some of the most stunning dive spots found throughout the world.

Malta and its surrounding islands are situated in the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean Sea, with impressive visibility stretching 30m and more. If you’re a budding photographer, then this is your dream destination. Home to stunning colors, abundant marine life, beautiful coral reefs and interesting wrecks, Malta and its surrounding islands have it all.

With their inviting natural harbors, creeks, cliff edges and bays, Malta and its sister islands have a lot to offer both on land and under the water, so make sure you make Malta your next scuba diving destination. Most of the dive sites located in this area are only a stone’s throw away from each other, making them easy to reach and offering a whole new level of diving, allowing you to move from one dive site to the next.

Location

Top 8 Dive Sites In Malta

The Blue Hole, Gozo

Deep blue hole at the world famous Azure Window in Gozo island - Mediterranean nature wonder in the beautiful Malta - Unrecognizable touristic scuba divers swimming to adventure water cave
Deep blue hole at the world famous Azure Window in Gozo island – Mediterranean nature wonder in the beautiful Malta – Unrecognizable touristic scuba divers swimming to adventure water cave

The Blue Hole, located in Dweijra, Gozo is one of the most famous and popular dive site found within the Maltese Islands. This dive site overlooks the stunning Azure Window and begins in a 10m wide, natural inland sea-pool, which leads to a large hole that opens up to the open ocean. This dive location is home to stunning natural rock formations and incredible marine life, including bream, moray eels, octopi, lobster, and colorful parrot-fish. As you head towards the reef, make your way through a large vertical swim-through, which is a giant crack in the reef, this is called The Chimney. The Chimney starts at around 18m and goes up to approximately 4m, which is where you will find the coral garden.

The Blue Hole is suitable for all levels of diver as there are a number of routes to choose from, depending on how experienced and qualified you are.

The Inland Sea and Tunnel

Top dive sites Malta
Top dive sites Malta

Due to its location, The Inland Sea and Tunnel can be done either at the same time (if you have good air consumption) or on the same day as the Blue Hole dive site.

The Inland Sea and Tunnel are the most spectacular dive site in Gozo, not only because of its magnificent rock formations, marine life, and coral, but also because of its shape, and specific holes in the rock that create a stunning lighting effect that shows the pure beauty of nature.

This dive starts within a 60m wide scenic inlet that is totally surrounded by high cliffs, which in itself is awe-inspiring. This unique tunnel is roughly 80m long, however, when undertaking this dive, be aware at all times as boats like to use the tunnel too. As you reach the end of the tunnel, the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ forms a stunning color display in the crystal clear water. Once exiting the tunnel, the seabed drops into the abyss, allowing you to choose between taking the right or the left side of the tunnel. Whichever way you choose, makes no difference as either side of the tunnel offers stunning wall dives which are home to abundant marine life including John Dory, parrot-fish, octopi, cardinalfish and more.

Qawra Reef

Scuba Diver in Malta
Scuba Diver in Malta

Qawra Reef is located in the northern part of Malta. This dive is perfect for newbie divers as well as advanced, depending on the route you choose around the reef. This is a shore dive and can be accessed easily. This stunning coral reef has a drop off for 40m and offers a great wall dive as well as a number of caves to explore.

The caves in this area run underneath the reef and are easy to enter, as they are quite wide. If you’re a naturist, then this is a great location for you with vast numbers of marine life including spider crabs, spiny lobster, slipper lobster, stunning reef fish, nudibranchs and hermit crabs.

If you’re an advanced diver and want to follow the drop off down to 30-40m, then this opens up a whole new variety of fish including barracuda, tuna, amberjack, dentex and this is also the home of the Mediterranean finger sponge. This dive site is not as well known as some of the other sites around Malta, which means the coral is in pristine condition. If you’re going to the area, this is a dive site not to be missed.

Blenheim Bomber, Malta

Blenheim Bomber, Malta
Blenheim Bomber, Malta

The Blenheim was a light world war two British aircraft, which is now lying on the seabed of Xorb il-Ghagin. The wings and engine of the plane are still intact, however, the fuselage has been damaged and is now sitting in front of the plane. It is a continuous dive, which goes down to a depth of 42m, so it’s certainly not for beginners. This dive requires careful planning and if you are planning to attempt it then make sure you use a guide, as they will be able to spot things you may not. The wreck is so interesting and is home to some magnificent marine life.

Santa Maria Caves, Comino

Amazing creatures you can see whilst diving in Malta
Amazing creatures you can see whilst diving in Malta

The Santa Marina caves are a fascinating cave system that consists of 10 caves that all offer their own individual beauty. Some offer the ability to swim through, others are half in the water, half out meaning that this is a great spot for snorkelers as well as divers.

This is quite a popular dive location throughout the year, so if you’re planning to explore this site, make sure you get there earlier in the day before the crowds arrive. All the caves are relatively shallow, providing amazing homes for critters, banded sea bream, nudibranch, damselfish, and moray eels. If you’re looking for adventure and a place to explore whilst diving, then this is the perfect spot for you. Suitable for all levels of diver, this site offers amazing photograph opportunities; so don’t forget to take your GoPro.

Billinghurst Cave, Gozo

Billinghurst Cave is located in the northern part of Gozo. This cave has a top that reaches just above the waterline and plunges to a depth of 27m. Within the cave is a long tunnel, known as The Railway Tunnel, which leads to another cave found deep within the rock, which is where divers can surface. Divers can see red sponges, cardinalfish, soft coral and more. Once you start your return journey, the view of the blue ocean, at the end of the tunnel, with the sun streaming through the coral is beyond breath-taking and is definitely not a sight to be missed.

If you do choose to dive this site, make sure you take a torch with you, as there is little natural light within the caves and tunnel.

Imperial Eagle, Malta

Imperial Eagle Wreck, Malta
Imperial Eagle Wreck, Malta

The Imperial Eagle was a ferryboat, which would transport people from Malta to Gozo. Now its hull lays on the sandy bottom of the sea at around 42m. The hull is open, allowing for penetration.

Relatively close by is a statue of Jesus, which is roughly 13 tons in weight as was relocated to the area in 2000. It was originally placed in the waters surrounding St Paul’s Islands and blessed by the Pope, to protect the fishermen of Malta.

Madonna Statue, Malta

The Madonna statue is a great dive site and is suitable for all levels of diver. The Madonna statue was placed at the entrance of a small swim through, roughly 18m below the surface, by a local dive club, over 25 years ago. This is a shore dive that offers a shallow dive for the beginners, around a plateau, with a maximum depth of 10m. If you are a more experienced diver, you can dive off the plateaus, for around 30m. The wall offers a number of adventurous swim-troughs with amazing marine life including barracuda, scorpionfish, amber-jacks and if you’re really lucky you may see trigger-fish.

There are so many top dive sites in Malta and it’s surrounding islands, so if you have one that has not been mentioned in this post, don’t forget to let us know about it in the comment box below.

Brought To You By

Suunto - Conquer New Territory #suuntodive

This guide is brought to you by Suunto. We recommend that you use a Suunto Dive Computer when diving one of these dive sites. Suunto is the world’s leading dive computer designer and manufacturer providing diving instruments for recreational, technical and freediving.  You can find out more at Suunto.com.

Jennifer Palmer
Jennifer Palmerhttp://www.jenniferscakes.co.uk/
Diving since I was 13 years old, I am currently a rescue diver working towards my Dive Master qualification. As well as diving, I am also a freelance writer and a professional baker, with my own recipe blog Jennifer's Cakes.

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