Maltese Islands, Malta
Malta, Gozo and Comino
Three Mediterranean islands with clear water, extensive shore access, a set of scuttled and wartime wrecks across the full depth range from novice to trimix, and limestone caves and tunnels.
- Wreck
- Caves
- Formations
Best season
Best May–Oct
Minimum cert
Open Water
Water
14–28°C
Current
mild
Season
When this place works
Apr-Oct is the season, with the warmest water and the calmest sea. Diving continues through winter but water falls to 14-15C and the operator base thins out, hence 'limited' rather than 'closed' for Dec-Mar: the islands are dived…
Why dive here
What this place is known for
01wreckWreck diving across every depth tier
The genuinely distinctive thing: Malta has wrecks graded from 12m to well past 100m, so the same destination serves a newly certified diver and a trimix team. The Rozi and P29 at Cirkewwa are shallow and shore-accessible; the Um El Faroud, a 110m former…
02caveCaves, tunnels and swim-throughs
Santa Marija Caves on Comino has more than ten connected caverns. The Inland Sea on Gozo is a natural lagoon joined to the open Mediterranean by an 80m rock tunnel that you swim through into deep blue water, which is one of the more theatrical entries in…
- 03formationLow confidence
Blue Hole and the Azure Window collapse site
Gozo's Blue Hole is a natural limestone shaft opening onto the reef. The Azure Window arch above it collapsed into the sea in March 2017; the resulting boulder field is now itself a dive site. Marketing photographs of the intact arch are still in circulation,…
Marine life
Twelve-month species timelines
Endangered in the Mediterranean and heavily fished; present around the wrecks and reef.
Conditions
What the water is like
Water temp
14–28°C
15°C — 32°C
Visibility
15–30 m
0 m — 40 m
Current
mild
mild — strong
Thermoclines
Expected
likely
Minimum certification — Open Water
Easy conditions and hard options in the same place, which is the thing to understand. Shore entries over rock can be awkward in swell, and there is minimal current, no significant marine hazard and reliable visibility. The risk profile…
Entries — shore, boat
Recommended & required
- wreck_penetration — recommended. The Um El Faroud has cut penetration holes and is routinely entered; that is an overhead environment regardless of how well lit it is.
- deep — recommended. Several of the named wrecks sit at or past 40m.
- trimix — required. The deeper wartime wrecks are beyond air limits and are technical dives, not deep recreational ones.
Logistics
How people dive it
3-14 days
scuba
The defining format. Most named sites including the Rozi, P29, Blue Hole, Inland Sea and Cirkewwa reef are shore entries. Hire a van, fill…
3-14 days
scuba
Boat diving reaches Comino's caves and the deeper offshore wrecks. Large operator market with a wide quality range and a lot of training…
Operators
Who to book with
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