Maltese diving regulation

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Your Open Water (OW) certificate (from PADI?) enables you to dive up to 18 m, right?.

There is no depth restriction on PADI OW other than recreational limits. There is a recommendation that new divers limit their depth until they gain experience. I don't know if Malta restricts depth according to certification, like some dive ops do, but nothing in the link provides that information.
 
The sentence in the link is
Under Maltese regulations, divers are only permitted to dive independently if they have a diving certification that allows them to dive to a depth of 30m, otherwise they must be accompanied by a licensed instructor.
And PADI says:
PADI Open Water Diver [...] allows you to [...] dive on your own with a buddy (who can be another Open Water Diver and does NOT have to be a diving professional) up to a maximum depth of 18 meters/60 feet.
That's why @Mario007 who wanted to dive independently
discover that [PADI OW] is not enough to be able to rent out gear from a DS in Malta.
 
As said before, in Malta you have to be certified to dive to 30m, if you want to dive independently.
And because of the latest developments in Malta, don't dive with a Maltese buddy. If anything happens, Malta will prosecute in absurd ways.

In the Maldives, all diving is restricted to 30m max, including deep specialty courses and technical diving.
In Croatia, a very expensive license is required to go diving independently.
In Greece, solo diving and independent night diving is forbidden.
In Egypt, several dive sites are not accessible without a licensed guide.

Look into the diving related laws of the country you plan to visit. If you don't like it, pick a different destination.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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