Four club divers, comprising Steve Elsmore, Richard Buxton, Alex Snow and myself, went to Malta for four days of diving. Steve and Richard had booked the trip to complete their ADP course; which they successfully completed, whereas Snowy and I tagged along for some early-season diving and to see what Malta had to offer in the way of dive sites and marine life.
Our trip started with an overnight stay at Gatwick as we had an early flight to catch. We arrived in Malta with no problems and were met by our transfer, which took us to our accommodation. The trip was organised through Maltaqua; which is an excellent dive centre based in St Paul’s. As well as organising the diving, they also offered accommodation; which was fantastic. We had the penthouse apartment, which had loads of room, as well as a large balcony; where we enjoyed the setting sun with a drink or two at the end of the day.
Our four days of diving were fantastic; they were all shore dives, and the depth increased very quickly from the shore. You could easily reach 30m within the first 10 minutes of diving, with a good 20m+ visibility.
Our first dive site was called Cirkewwa, and after dropping over the reef, you could access two shipwrecks, the ‘Rozi’ and the ‘P-29’, which have been sunk for the enjoyment of divers.
They have provided great interest for may divers over the years, but more importantly, they’ve provided a vast attraction for marine life.
I was very surprised by the diverse marine life that Malta had to offer; which included Octopus, Moray eels, Parrott fish, Barracuda and an array of beautiful reef fish. I was most impressed!
Our second dive site was the small fishing port of Zurieq; you can swim from the shore to access the shipwreck of the ‘UM El Faroud’.
This wreck was massive; we were able to penetrate this wreck and swim from the captain’s quarters down to the engine room. The best part for me was swimming out of the wreck and seeing the huge shoals of fish circling the main mast, backlit by the sunlight.
As well as diving, we enjoyed the diverse cuisine that Malta had to offer, as well as the ancient walled city of Mdina; which was stunning.
Overall, I would highly recommend Malta for diving, and if you’re not diving, it has plenty of other attractions to offer. It is certainly a location I would visit and dive again.
Thanks to all that came and for making it a very memorable trip.