diving in malta suggestions?

[TruckDiver1981]

hi there, i hope this is in the right section (i did have a look first!) im looking at heading to malta for a weeks break, and want to try and get some diving in while im there. does anyone have any suggestions of where or where not to go?

im an advanced open water if it makes any difference

cheers

 

[PT4476]

There's some great diving in Malta, much of it shore based. My trip there was with friends who knew their way around the sites so we went DIY. Peter Lemon's book 'Scuba Diving Malta Gozo Comino' has very good site drawings and advice. We did our boat dives with Sea Shell, Cheap Diving in Malta, Gozo & Comino. Dive Courses. Snorkelling and Try Dives.Diving Excursions. Nitrox and Trimix. Sea Shell Divecove, Malta Europe — very good operation, they also run guided trips to many of the shore dive sites. As mentioned, great diving in Malta, well worth a visit, have fun!

 

[dberry]

We had a great time in Malta, although we didn't go there mainly for diving. Loads of dive sites, although it's far different than the Caribbean. If you go to Gozo, I can highly recommend Blue Waters Dive Center in Qala (pronounced "ala"), if you need a guide or instruction. Doris Thomas was great for AOW; we didn't dive with her husband Brendan, since he does mainly tech stuff, but he was incredibly helpful and informative in the shop. Franco is the owner. Doris and Brendan aren't Maltese, but have lived on Gozo for 3-4 years. I think many of the other diving guides on Malta are transients who work there in summer and are probably ski instructors somewhere else in the winter.

Gozo Diving - Dive Gozo, Dive Blue Waters

We were there in January, which is the coldest month (air temp 15-20C/ 60-68F, water temp ca. 16C/62F). We had sun most of the time and it was very pleasant (we're not crazy about really hot weather.) On the bright side, it was low season. They say August is brutal (40C, 104F), but spring and fall are perfect for most. We did all shore dives, including a nice swim-through from the "Inland-Sea" out to the wall near the Azure Window. One of the days the wind was from the NW, which nixed all the sites on the NW coast. I don't know about other times of year, but at least in January you can't predict where you'll be diving until the DM reviews the weather in the morning. But Gozo is incredibly small - no dive site is more than a 20-30min drive from anywhere else on the island.

Comino is an even smaller island in between Malta and Gozo. There weren't enough people to justify a boat trip to Comino when we were there, but it's also supposed to be excellent.

Enjoy!

 

[TruckDiver1981]

thankyou very much for the help! just need to confirm i can afford it and ill be off there!!!

 

[Rusty Roo]

i can recommend cresta diving. no tech only rec but will endeavor to get you to the best sites and has great knowledge of the malta and the dive sites.

 

[tkaelin]

What are the average water temps in April and Oct?

 

[tkaelin]

What are the average water temps in April and Oct?

 

[Gareth J]

Have a look here at a previous thread about Malta.

As stated, the Peter Lemon book is a great book for divers, explaining the sites quite well.

Are you looking to stay on Malta or Gozo?

There are a huge number of historic sites (non diving) as well as the dive sites. English is widely used, they all so drive on the correct side of the road - the left (although they do tend to drive in the shade).
If you want to visit the hypogeum, you need to book this well in advance (via the internet).

We normally visit early season, late May or late October, and use drysuits, although wetsuits are in use all year round.

Gareth

 

[Rusty Roo]

What are the average water temps in April and Oct?

went in may and temp was between 17-21 c