It appears that the great majority of members on this site are North American.
So Ive put this together to let you know something about this beautiful island and great diving destination.
Over the years I have not dived with many Americans, and those that I did dive with where really great guys. They are divers after all.
I know that many Americans actually travel to Europe for its culture yet I do not meet many coming here. Not divers at least.
When I ask those that do come here as to, how they came to choose Malta, they usually reply, by chance or whim. When they try and ask friends and neighbours about Malta. Its usually Now aint that some milkshake?
Its quite an interesting island. There are a lot of things to see and do. However if you are only interested in the diving youll find this towards the end
We are a small nation, we are not an international power, nor do we make the CNN headline news. We do not have any natural resources.
Probably, the only thing that you, as divers may know that is related to Malta are the BARE wet and dry suits, of which 80% that are bought in Europe are actually manufactured here.
What we do have is the sun, the sea, mild winters and a historical heritage the envy of the world. In fact the worlds oldest temples are found here. http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/malta/malta.html. These are older then Stonehenge and about 800years older then the Pyramids of Egypt. It is said that our capital Valeltta has proportionately a higher concentration cultural heritage then the Vatican and is a world heritage site.
We have a history that goes back over 10,000 years. During which we had two important highlights in the defence of Europe and Liberty.
In 1565 10,000 of us stopped an army of 40,000Turks from invading the south of Europe causing the ottomans first major defeat and eventual downfall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_(1565).
The second was WW2 when Malta suffered more bombs dropped on her in an hour than any other massive bombardment in Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_(1940).
Not bad for a little island.:14:
THE DIVING
The islands have a coastline of around 180klm. Yet in such a small area we have around 85 to 90 shore dives with depths ranging from 15M to around 35M - 40M.. We also have about half that as boat dives. To a maximum tech depth of 115M
The diving is quiet exciting, and offers divers various environments ranging from, drop offs, walls, caverns, wrecks, tunnels, overhangs, about 10 or 12 wrecks, with more to be sunk this year.
It is different.
You guys are probably used to coral reefs.
We do not have those here.
What we have are rock reefs and massive boulders. However our marine bio diversity never fails to amaze marine biologists that come diving here. You can expect to see, depending on the season, rays, morays, large shoals of barracuda, thunny, tuna, Bonito, Dorados, Amberjacks, Crevalle Jacks, Octopus, Squids, occassionally dolphins, and much more
The logistics are quite good with the farthest shore dive, from any part of the island, is no more than a 35mins overland drive, during which you can take in some of the sites.10 to 40mins max for boat dives
There are some 50 diving centres on the islands, and these are regulated by law and are regularly inspected to ensure that the safety and service standards are adhered to. The safety record here is amongst the best.
http://visitmalta.com/scuba
TECHNICAL DIVING.
There are some fantastic opportunities for technical diving the gems of which I think are the WW1 and WW2 wrecks HMS Southold, HMS Russell, The Polynesia. I have not dived these wrecks, far too deep for me but these sites will guide you, http://www.starfishtng.com/Malta.htm
http://www.marinefoundation.org/wrecks.htm
ARCHEOLOGICAL DIVING
Malta has a very rich marine archaeological history, so if anybody out there may be interested to come over for some research, they will not be disappointed.
Personally I handed in to the Superintendent of Heritage a Byzantine amphora, a clay plate dated to the middle ages which was from Crusades, a Moorish eating bowl from the same period and lots of other artefacts that I recorded but left there. As well as a new site which is yet to be plotted and recorded.
For information contact http://www.culturalheritage.gov.mt/index.asp Please note that these are all part of the historical heritage of the island, and that they cannot be moved or removed or collected :no without the specific permission of the Superintendent of Culture.
I hope that you have found this interesting
So Ive put this together to let you know something about this beautiful island and great diving destination.
Over the years I have not dived with many Americans, and those that I did dive with where really great guys. They are divers after all.
I know that many Americans actually travel to Europe for its culture yet I do not meet many coming here. Not divers at least.
When I ask those that do come here as to, how they came to choose Malta, they usually reply, by chance or whim. When they try and ask friends and neighbours about Malta. Its usually Now aint that some milkshake?
Its quite an interesting island. There are a lot of things to see and do. However if you are only interested in the diving youll find this towards the end
We are a small nation, we are not an international power, nor do we make the CNN headline news. We do not have any natural resources.
Probably, the only thing that you, as divers may know that is related to Malta are the BARE wet and dry suits, of which 80% that are bought in Europe are actually manufactured here.
What we do have is the sun, the sea, mild winters and a historical heritage the envy of the world. In fact the worlds oldest temples are found here. http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/malta/malta.html. These are older then Stonehenge and about 800years older then the Pyramids of Egypt. It is said that our capital Valeltta has proportionately a higher concentration cultural heritage then the Vatican and is a world heritage site.
We have a history that goes back over 10,000 years. During which we had two important highlights in the defence of Europe and Liberty.
In 1565 10,000 of us stopped an army of 40,000Turks from invading the south of Europe causing the ottomans first major defeat and eventual downfall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_(1565).
The second was WW2 when Malta suffered more bombs dropped on her in an hour than any other massive bombardment in Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_(1940).
Not bad for a little island.:14:
THE DIVING
The islands have a coastline of around 180klm. Yet in such a small area we have around 85 to 90 shore dives with depths ranging from 15M to around 35M - 40M.. We also have about half that as boat dives. To a maximum tech depth of 115M
The diving is quiet exciting, and offers divers various environments ranging from, drop offs, walls, caverns, wrecks, tunnels, overhangs, about 10 or 12 wrecks, with more to be sunk this year.
It is different.
You guys are probably used to coral reefs.
We do not have those here.
What we have are rock reefs and massive boulders. However our marine bio diversity never fails to amaze marine biologists that come diving here. You can expect to see, depending on the season, rays, morays, large shoals of barracuda, thunny, tuna, Bonito, Dorados, Amberjacks, Crevalle Jacks, Octopus, Squids, occassionally dolphins, and much more
The logistics are quite good with the farthest shore dive, from any part of the island, is no more than a 35mins overland drive, during which you can take in some of the sites.10 to 40mins max for boat dives
There are some 50 diving centres on the islands, and these are regulated by law and are regularly inspected to ensure that the safety and service standards are adhered to. The safety record here is amongst the best.
http://visitmalta.com/scuba
TECHNICAL DIVING.
There are some fantastic opportunities for technical diving the gems of which I think are the WW1 and WW2 wrecks HMS Southold, HMS Russell, The Polynesia. I have not dived these wrecks, far too deep for me but these sites will guide you, http://www.starfishtng.com/Malta.htm
http://www.marinefoundation.org/wrecks.htm
ARCHEOLOGICAL DIVING
Malta has a very rich marine archaeological history, so if anybody out there may be interested to come over for some research, they will not be disappointed.
Personally I handed in to the Superintendent of Heritage a Byzantine amphora, a clay plate dated to the middle ages which was from Crusades, a Moorish eating bowl from the same period and lots of other artefacts that I recorded but left there. As well as a new site which is yet to be plotted and recorded.
For information contact http://www.culturalheritage.gov.mt/index.asp Please note that these are all part of the historical heritage of the island, and that they cannot be moved or removed or collected :no without the specific permission of the Superintendent of Culture.
I hope that you have found this interesting
