This is a trip report about our June 2010 dive holiday in Gozo, the small sister island to Malta.
In general, we were very satisfied with Gozo as a scuba destination, both for the beginners in our group as for the pros. We also did some technical diving and of course cave diving, which Malta in general is famous for. And the most striking experience for me was the Maltese people - I think I never before met such friendly and warm-hearted people anywhere in Europe!
We took an appartment in Gozo with Bellavista Appartments, a very good choice, everything including the transfer and the jeeps was organized well. A word to the jeeps maybe, these are (in general, as we noticed) in quite bad condition on Malta, but they work. All diver jeeps on Malta and Gozo are the same model, a Maruti. Don't get discouraged on your first ride
For the dive center, we just shopped around a bit and finally decided to go for St Andrew's Divers Cove in Xlendi Bay. The staff there was really friendly and helpful and we immediately felt at home here. Plus, Xlendi is the ideal starting point for a first dive in the shallow bay, or an easy cave dive in the Xlendi Tunnel. Night dives are very easy to perform here, you can dress up in front of the dive center and even have fresh water to clean up.
As for the other dive sites, it was just amazing. We did pretty much all of the caves on Gozo, including Billinghurst Cave, Shrimp Cave, Blue Hole, Inland Sea and others.
My favourite was Billinghurst Cave. I posted several pictures, a dive site description and a video at my blog (Billinghurst Cave, Gozo - Malta | No Limits Dive Blog) - go check it out. The cave has a profundity of about 100 meters into the rock, beginning at about 22 meters, then down to 31, and then going up again in the narrow "Railway Tunnel" to a Cathedral where you can surface inside the cave (but don't breathe the air in there!). Not for beginners!
In general, visibility was really really good. I would guess about 40 to 50 meters. We saw lots of fish, probably one of the best spots in the mediterranean!
Have Fun Diving in Malta, and feel free to come back with any questions here in the forum!
In general, we were very satisfied with Gozo as a scuba destination, both for the beginners in our group as for the pros. We also did some technical diving and of course cave diving, which Malta in general is famous for. And the most striking experience for me was the Maltese people - I think I never before met such friendly and warm-hearted people anywhere in Europe!
We took an appartment in Gozo with Bellavista Appartments, a very good choice, everything including the transfer and the jeeps was organized well. A word to the jeeps maybe, these are (in general, as we noticed) in quite bad condition on Malta, but they work. All diver jeeps on Malta and Gozo are the same model, a Maruti. Don't get discouraged on your first ride
For the dive center, we just shopped around a bit and finally decided to go for St Andrew's Divers Cove in Xlendi Bay. The staff there was really friendly and helpful and we immediately felt at home here. Plus, Xlendi is the ideal starting point for a first dive in the shallow bay, or an easy cave dive in the Xlendi Tunnel. Night dives are very easy to perform here, you can dress up in front of the dive center and even have fresh water to clean up.
As for the other dive sites, it was just amazing. We did pretty much all of the caves on Gozo, including Billinghurst Cave, Shrimp Cave, Blue Hole, Inland Sea and others.
My favourite was Billinghurst Cave. I posted several pictures, a dive site description and a video at my blog (Billinghurst Cave, Gozo - Malta | No Limits Dive Blog) - go check it out. The cave has a profundity of about 100 meters into the rock, beginning at about 22 meters, then down to 31, and then going up again in the narrow "Railway Tunnel" to a Cathedral where you can surface inside the cave (but don't breathe the air in there!). Not for beginners!
In general, visibility was really really good. I would guess about 40 to 50 meters. We saw lots of fish, probably one of the best spots in the mediterranean!
Have Fun Diving in Malta, and feel free to come back with any questions here in the forum!
