Diving and Dive Sites

Malta offers excellent diving opportunities for divers of all abilities. There are hundreds of dive sites covering all kinds of terrain such as caves, wrecks, reefs, and beautiful bays. The sea temperature ranges between 15°C in winter and 26°C in summer so all year round you can experience the beauty of Maltese scuba life. A few notable dives are shown below.

HMS Maori

The HMS Maori was a Tribal-class British destroyer, built during 1936 and launched during 1937. She saw a lot of action in World War II and was responsible for sinking two Italian cruisers and helping to sink the Bismarck by pinpointing her position using radar. On February 12th 1942 she was bombed and damaged during an air raid at Valletta harbour. After that she was stripped and dragged to St Elmo where she sank. Besides the obvious interest of the wreck itself there is some interesting marine life to be found around this wreck including Octopus, Sea Breams, Scorpion Fish, and Lobsters. The sides are open enough for you to be able to swim in and swim out but, due to her age, she is a bit jagged in places and consequently this dive should only be undertaken by qualified wreck divers.

Wied Iz-Zurrieq (Blue Grotto)

This is a very popular tourist destination and dive so sometimes boat traffic can be heavy. Wied Iz-Zurrieq is a narrow harbor inlet that tourists use to catch small boats to view the Blue Grotto. There are plenty of access points and exit is via ladders or the slipway. The water is about 27m deep and has a sandy bottom. Following the headland round to the right you eventually come to a cave known as the 'Bell Tower Cave'. This cave has three narrow entrances and enough room for approximately 3 divers. Another cave past that contains a large diversity of marine life. From the mouth of Wied Iz-Zurrieq there is the wreck of a large cargo ship. Laying upright on the sand in approx 35m of water the wreck is accessible from all angles. Fish include painted combers, damsel fish, rasse, goatfish, scorpion fish. Sometimes young barracuda and sea horses have been spotted there.

Ghar Lapsi

Situated close to Zurrieq this makes an ideal second dive of the day after the Blue Grotto. The quiet shallow entrance to this dive are perfect for novice divers or people trying out the sport. Large boulders and varied fish life appear immediately at shallow depths. Maximum depth is around 18m. A reef here has been known to support some very rare sea life. A shallow cave can be found on this dive that consists of many entrances and exits. Common fish here include flying Gurnard and Flounders. All in all this dive is an excellent easygoing shallow dive with enough scenery to satisfy novice and experienced divers alike.