We had planned this trip some time ago and in doing so the airline was able to reschedule our flights 3 or 4 times. As a result we had to be at the airport at 3am for a 5am flight, but we were escaping an autumnal day in London for the warmer temperatures of Malta. We’ve dived with Scuba Kings before and so we knew the location and set-up, so having our accommodation at the end of the road meant everything was walkable for us & no need for hired vehicles etc.
We had just arrived when the weather in Malta had turned and they had some really heavy rainfalls which did stir up the visibility somewhat, however being UK divers, the Maltese version of poor visibility would have been pretty good in the UK.
On the first day we headed South towards Ras il-Hobz, to dive the pinnacle, rudely named ‘Middle Finger’ and then onto the neighbouring bay of Xatt l-Ahmar to dive the Karwela at 39 metres, so hardly a warm-up dive. The wild swimmers, Toni & Brian decided to do a short walk with plenty of swimming stops near our resort of Marsalforn.
On day two we headed to the firm favourites; the Inland Sea and the Blue Hole in Dwejra. Well I knew it was the Blue Hole because I had been on a family holiday there years earlier but it wasn’t blue and in fact you couldn’t see a ‘hole’. Because of the poor weather and heavy rainfall the area around the hole was higher than normal and it was pretty murky brown water. George, our guide had to feel for the hole with his feet before telling us to follow suit and fall backwards into what he insisted was the hole. Once down about 2 metres, the vis cleared into its more familiar blue colouring. The area around the blue hole had a large ‘Azure’ arch until a few years ago. Fortunately, no-one was in the water when it happened but the arch collapsed. In George’s opinion, and as I had suspected, the boulders which hit the seabed had made the dive much more interesting. The tourist board saw an opportunity and renamed it the ‘Azure Alps’.
Our accommodation at the Maria Giovanna Guest House, Marsalforn can be really recommended for anyone organising another Gozo trip. It was close to the Dive Centre, a bit quirky, with very friendly staff and great breakfasts & included within a very reasonable price.Having transport provided for us everywhere it was pretty stress-free. For the rest of the week we visited the Santa maria caves in Comino by boat, the P31 patrol boat wreck and then the Cathedral Caves and Reqqa Reef with our new guides from Scuba Kings. We saw pipefish, large grupers, seahorses and generally lots of marine life.
We’ll definitely be back in possibly two years time, but this time we might take the fast ferry which leaves from Valetta, which some of us took on the return to the airport. What’s more, we felt our Summer holidays had been extended. A big thanks to all those to came along and helped make the trip so enjoyable.