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MALTA DIVING SPECIAL

by Lanna Marshall

Malta
E

2011

xpectations can be difficult things high expectation indeed for what is ac sometimes surpassed, and sometually one of the most affordable weeks times disappointed. away in the diving Malta 2011 was one such diary. Could a cheap Could a cheap as dive trip that had enormous as chips, shore-based chips, shore-based expectation built up around weeks diving off a tiny weeks diving off a it booked back in July 2010, rocky island really comMaltexpert divers from past tiny rocky island really pare with the best of trips had built the destination compare with the best British greats, the likes up to impossible heights over of Scapa and Lochaline of British greats, the and Lyme; or the D-Day the intervening 10 months. likes of Scapa and Blue waters guaranteed, shores of Normandy or we were promised, beautifully Lochaline and Lyme; a 1,000 liveaboard in warm and crisply clear. Sunor the D-Day shores of the crystalline Red Sea? shine? Absolutely, its been Normandy or a 1,000 The Diving booked. Fish? Of course. liveaboard in the Wrecks and caves? Theyre all One of the first promthere. There seemed nothing crystalline Red Sea? ises we were to unravel that a was that of the specweeks tacular Rozi, a dive Dive Sites dive trip to Malta John raved rapturously about. Sunk in The Rozi, Cirkewwa couldnt offer. 1991, the tug boat Rozi rests in about Madonna to Old Mans Its my favour- 35m of water and is reached from the Nose, Cirkewwa ite trip, I wait rocky shores of Cirkewwa point on the The No.10 & St Michael all year for it, north of the island. An easy stride enTug Boats, Zonqor Point enthused one try, and John was off in the lead of our The Harbour, Anchor Bay repeat Malta small group of followers he clearly The Caves, Anchor Bay offender, as he knew exactly where his favourite wreck Cave to Crib, Ghar Lapsi marked down lay, and the determined swish and P29 Patrol Boat, another day swoop of his yellow Forcefins showed Cirkewwa from his counthow eager he was to get there. It didnt Um El Faroud, down calendar, take long before the shadowy form of a Wied iz Zurrieq Nothing abboat loomed out of the blue at us, a few P31 Patrol Boat, Comino solutely nothing barracuda menacing around the hull. Santa Maria Caves, can beat it. The wreck is opened up at the stern Comino High promises, deck quite wide, so it makes an easy high hopes penetration dive; and is cut away elseBuoyant Lift Malta Diving Special

IMAGES: JOHN CORNELL, JOE BLYTH, KEITH PRIOR, MIKE PRICE

Highlights of the Week Pastizzis filo pastries stuffed with ricotta cheese for the grand sum of 0.50, which proved a real addiction for a number of the group. Joe managed to down four in one (snacktime) sitting, before moving on to a slice of pizza and a cheese and ham pastie. White Crocs with socks. Just no. Mdina: The Silent City a pretty, high-walled city that makes a peaceful walk in the early evening. Joe recommends the chocolate cake from the little caf in the battlements and if you cant work out which chocolate cake that is, do what Joe did. Order a slice of every cake on the menu that has the word chocolate in its name. Its a lot of cake. Bananas there were a lot of bananas too. In fact, they were pretty much dangling from the car windows at times. Maltese Driving extra kudos to Mike who managed to completely nail his Advanced Maltese Driver award, and to Joe who was right there behind him at breakneck speed. The three rules of Maltese driving, we were told, are: 1) If theres a space, fill it. 2) Biggest wins. 3) Only use your indicators if youre foreign. Congrats to Mike and Joe on blending so extraordinarily well with the natives on the roads and all to get back to the hotel for a lunchtime burger

My Favourite Dive: Mike Price The best dive for me on this trip was the Um El Faroud, mainly because it was the most challenging of the dives we did in Malta. The Um El Faroud is an old tanker weighing in at 10,000 tons and 110 metres long. It was sunk in 1998 after a large explosion killed nine workers while it was being refurbished in Vallettas dry dock. It sits 140 metres south west of Wid Iz Zurieqs at a maximum depth of 34 metres, and because of the distance and strong currents even experienced divers find it difficult. This was my third dive on the wreck, and the first without incident. I would like to think I am getting more experienced, but I think the reason is more likely better planning and especially Johns exceptional navigating skills. I would strongly recommend this trip to everyone in the club, and I would like to thank all who went this time for such an enjoyable week, especially Pete for organising it.

where so you can have a really good look inside the boat. Although its not a huge tug, its sizeable enough to enjoy a proper look around before heading back to the reef for some deco. It made a pretty, enjoyable and easy dive to break us in for the week ahead. But one last stop before heading back, for Keiths rapturous raving centred around a lone anchor just a short swim from the Rozi. Heading off along the smooth, white sands of the seabed, we came across this enormous anchor, just as Keith had promised. Covered in seaweed and with a few stray fish aimlessly floating by, the anchor sat dominating the seascape with nothing else in sight, just blue and white in every direction. It was quite impressive in its loneliness. A dive to the Madonna statue followed from Cirkewwa that afternoon, finished with a relaxed dive around the reef. Monday saw a dive Buoyant Lift Malta Diving Special

to visit two tug boats off Zonqor Point, resting close together and with plenty to see. The swell of the sea made the return swim across the reef quite difficult on that dive, a problem that was more evident as we arrived at Anchor Bay for our second dive of the day the waves were chopping about and crashing onto the jetty quite worryingly. Despite this, a few local divers kitting up said it would be fine under the water, and recommended a cave dive a bit further around the head that they assured us would be great. A number of the group found these caves and came away waxing lyrical about the beauty of the light there, while a smaller number chose to dive in the harbour that was rich in marine critters. Ghar Lapsi and a visit to the crib (a life-size Nativity scene) after a descent through some small caves proved a strenuous dive on Tuesday for many of

the group, and a real test of navigation skills. The return climb to the cars back up the steep steps with sodden dive kit proved to be the ultimate finisher for a few, who needed vital resuscitation with chocolate cigarellos. A second dive for this day was agreed to be a return to the two caves at Anchor Bay, but with churnedup waters and even choppier waves, this made the experience an entirely different one to that of only a day previous. The swim was hard, the cave entrance difficult to locate, the caves themselves were dark with no sign of the beautiful light so admired before, the air was warm

and close and the waters murky with stirred-up sand: a point that only serves to prove that the same site can be a completely different experience from one dive to another with only a slight change in conditions. Wednesday saw an early and stunning dive around the wreck of the P29 off Cirkewwa, offering a wide-open temptation to get right down inside the wreck and have a good root around something Joe did with a real purposeful glint behind his mask. A split in the group saw some going off to explore the island for the afternoon, while others couldnt resist returning to the beacon call of the Rozi. Um El Faroud and a return to the two tugs at Zonqor Point were the order for Thursday, the first being described as

My Favourite Dive: Lanna There were two dives that I enjoyed best throughout the week, the P29 and P31. Both are quite newly scuttled wrecks, patrol boats that are sunk about 35m and 20m respectively. The vis on both dives was amazing, deep cobalt waters with a white, sandy seabed. Both boats are opened up quite well so it was easy to get inside them and have a really good look around the P31 especially has openings from pretty much every room, so you can complete an entire swimthrough of the wreck one end to the other, working your way up through the decks. Switchboards and toilets and even lantern-style ceiling lights were still intact, giving a real sense of what these boats were and how they might have been before their sinking. Both the P29 and P31 made excellent dives, stress-free and picturesque; perfect sites to spend a long time exploring every nook and cranny. They were far and away my favourite dives of the week.

Buoyant Lift Malta Diving Special

a challenging but great wreck dive by those that reached it. Alex and Lee reported a fantastic dive meandering around the reef meanwhile, and Pete and I circled the gulley after a bit of a scare on the way to the wreck, where we found plenty of random things to rummage amongst old tyres and hundreds of glass bottles, and perhaps most weirdly, a dead electric ray that was stiffly jammed between a couple of rocks. It would have made a great (if rather sad and macabre) photographic prop but wheres a camera when you need one? Later that afternoon, an encrusted old cannon and (very much alive) Moray eel just 10m down on the northern reef at Zonqor Point were unexpected and exciting finds for some. Friday was reserved for boat diving from a RIB, the first dive of which was the amazing P31, resting in beautifully clear waters at only 20m to the seabed and through which there are so many openings you can swim from one end to the other without ever having to emerge from the wreck itself. The second dive of the day was to the Santa Maria caves off Comino, which was a series of three caves that were always open at some point letting in plenty of glittering sunlight. From day to day over six days, the dives were varied and interesting, making for pleasant and generally easy diving. With wrecks and reefs, and caves and critters, there was something to please everyone in the group we all came away smiling, and we all looked forward afresh to the next days diving knowing that the water would be clear and blue, the sun would shine, and wed always be able to find a spot somewhere on the island that we could jump in and enjoy a good dive. Malta: A Promise Fulfilled? So, were the great Maltese expectations surpassed or disappointed? The promises made were not reneged there were indeed lapis-blue waters, calm flat seas, visibility

My Favourite Dive: Keith & Lee Prior Lee and myself dived together most of the week, and we both agree that the dive of the week had to be at Popeyes Village (otherwise known as Anchor Bay) where we dived two caves on the Monday afternoon. While Pete, John, and Lanna dived in the harbour, myself along with Lee and Joe, as well as Mike and Alex, dived some caves recommended to us by a few local divers. The sea swelled and the waves pounded on the harbour wall, so we decided on a quick negative entry where we could meet under the swell and take our bearings from there to make for the cave. The entrance to the cave was not easy to find, hidden behind a couple of large boulders but it was worth the effort. As we surfaced in the first cave, the surroundings were breathtaking and lit with a beautiful blue light. Despite deciding not to take our regs out due to the risk of stale air, there was a small window from above letting in sunlight and fresh air, so we could breathe normally and have a chat. As Mike and Alex left the cave, we noticed a small hole at the back of the cave a closer look revealed it was the entrance to a second, smaller cave. Once again, the air was fresh and clean as we surfaced in the second cave, and we took some amazing photos. Although the whole dive was no deeper than 10m throughout, there was only one word to describe it: awesome! It was so relaxing, and what I would call a dive of dives. Hearing about the harbour dive on our return that Pete, John, and Lanna had enjoyed with Johns great photos of cuttlefish and a flying gurnard, it made me won- der which dive was actually the best to have done. But looking back, I would not have missed the cave dives that afternoon for a Great White, never mind a gurnard! Saying this, we returned the next day to dive the caves again, and with rougher seas and more churned-up conditions it made for a completely different experience this same dive was also my worst dive of the week.

Buoyant Lift Malta Diving Special

My Favourite Dive: Pete Stiff After being asked by Lanna to put together a few words about my favourite dive in Malta, I thought for a few seconds and decided I would recall what would more be described as a memorable dive, subtitled why training is an important part of diving. Just to set the scene, our group had set off to dive at The Blue Grotto, the site of Um El Faroud, a very large oil tanker about 120 metres from the inlet. All was going well for my buddy and I on our long mid-water swim out to the wreck, then just as we started to descend to the wreck I checked OK? with my buddy and was returned the dreaded shaky hand signal. At this point we were at about 27 metres and the huge wreck had just come into view. Not knowing what was bothering my buddy I pointed out the wreck and we ascended a metre or two, thinking this might reassure my buddy that we were nearly there however another check and still shaky hands. Decision time! We made a firm contact grip on each other and a definitely up signal was made. After determining to ascend, controlling our initially very positive ascent speed was a priority still not knowing what my buddys thoughts were and how serious our predicament was, I decided to slow down a little and reassess the situation. At this point the urgency of the situation seemed to ease a little, and we were now on a very controlled ascent with a good grip on each other.

Once we reached the surface the main objective was to reassure my buddy that all was well and under control. After a short chat (thankfully we were both well and now just had the 100m+ swim back to contend with) we started our long swim home. Once in the inlet we decided to drop below the surface to no more than 3-4 metres and see how things went. They were good, and we completed our dive with a further 30 minutes in the inlet. In the end we enjoyed the dive, but I was very glad that all that training and practice paid off. Buddy diving is all about being within an arms length of your buddy in case you do need them. In spite of our situation we knew to try and stay calm to stop, assess, and then plan our actions; to stay close and keep a good grip on each other, control our ascent speed, use plenty of signals and with good eye contact proceed safely to the surface.

Buoyant Lift Malta Diving Special

My Favourite Dive: John Cornell Of all the ships and boats sunk around the coastline of Malta for recreational diving purposes, in my opinion the Tug Boat Rozi that lies 130 metres North West of Marfa Point Lighthouse, Cirkewwa, provides the most rewarding dive. We dived this wreck twice, once on the Sunday and also on Wednesday afternoon. A dive on the Rozi is a combined scenic and wreck dive, as your typical 50 minute dive plan will encompass approximately 20 minutes on the wreck, which lies upright and intact on a sandy seabed at 35 metres, and at least 30 minutes spent travelling to and from the wreck over the reefs of Marfa point. The wreck is easily penetrated and being a mere 30 metres long 20 minutes bottom time is sufficient to visit the hold, the engine room, and swim in and around the bridge; but for me the premier attraction is the marine life that has made the Rozi its home. This year, in addition to the usual shoals of Saddle Bream and Pilchards, we spotted Barracuda, Parrot fish, and Grouper. If your air permits and you are comfortable planning for up to 10 minutes deco, you can also visit a large Admiralty Anchor which lies on the seabed approximately 50 metres South of the Rozi on the way home. The time spent on the reef is rarely disappointing either, as this is the home of many species of Stonefish, Nudibranch, and Octopus to name but a few. of 20-30m or more. The sun shone every day we have the pink noses and peeling shoulders to prove it. There were caves where the light shone blue and white through the quiet waters, and there were wrecks that we could delve inside with enthusiasm and didnt need a torch to see what we were looking at. There were rocky reefs and strange creatures, and John has the photos to attest that nature is often weirder than fiction.

Malta is one of those places that seems to be a lot of things to a lot of people, and so it cannot disappoint. For the wreckies, there are wrecks aplenty those we dived in shallower waters, and those we didnt where the seas are deeper and you need to hire a boat to reach them. For the cave divers, there are endless systems around Malta, Gozo, and Comino, all within easy reach. For lovers of critters and creatures, although Alex spent the week in hopes of a shark sighting (and was disappointed in that, although I myself was enormously happy to not have seen a single shark), there is plenty living among the rocks and gullies to seek out and prod and poke a bit. Except the fire worms we were warned not to poke them. But although Malta has in the past been noted for its lack of fish-life, its evident that fishing restrictions are now having an effect and fish are returning to the reefs and wrecks that make perfect homes. Barracuda on the Rozi and Um El Faroud, the curled-up Moray off Zonqor Point, the parrot fish and groupers are all testament to this and point to a whole new promise that the best of Malta is actually still to come. Promises, promises you can expect Malta to be up there as one of the best dive sites in the Med for a long while yet.

Buoyant Lift Malta Diving Special

Malta for Two


by Gareth Leyshon
lthough I have been to Malta a number of times and have family there, I have done very little diving around Malta itself. What little experience of the diving I have is based around Gozo. The branch has been visiting Malta on and off for many years. One of my first branch trips was to Gozo, organised by a previous DO, Viv Lowther, in partnership with John Finch. Pete Stiff and Keith Prior have been making regular post-Easter visits for the last few years with a number of others. Malta is a very relaxed destination and very easy if you are British, as the vast majority speak excellent English. The Maltese also drive on the left or at least thats the theory. In truth the Maltese drive in the shade rather than on any specific side of the road. Visitors should also be aware that time keeping is not a Maltese strength. I do sometimes think that all Maltese clocks only have the hour hand. Opening hours, timetables, etc, are all intended to give an indication of when things may or may not be happening, rather than a literal statement that they will. Gozo is worse; they only use clocks showing am or pm.

Having visited Malta just wreck you will be pressed to before Easter, Lanna asked me get 15m. It is possible to go for a little piece on my favourdeeper but there is little to see ite dive. I have dived a number if you swim deeper into the of sites on Gozo, including Bay. The site is actually quite the Inland Sea and the Blue spectacular right in front Hole, etc. I have also done a of Valletta. Around the point few dives on Malta, include to the right is the Grand Harthe Rozi, the Imperial Eagle, bour, to the left is Marsamxett and the associated Harbour. Behind statue of Christ you are the fortifiThere are a and Cave but cations of Valletta, number of nice all of these are also known as swim throughs as the Palace of the a few years ago. well as open sec- Grand Masters, On this years trip all our dives were tions of wreck and and one of the few shore dives, mostly into the wreckage. We found entrancesyour right around the South town. To and West of Malta. plenty to see during is the Fortizza This included Ghar our dive, including Sant Iermu. Lapsi, the El FaTo get to the cuttlefish, flat fish, roud at Wied iz Maori site, you scorpion fish and drive around the Zurrieq, and the goatfish. Tugs in Marsascala left side of the city, Bay at Zonqor Point. I have decided to write about HMS Maori in St Elmos Bay, Valetta. This is actually a very shallow dive and if you stay around the Buoyant Lift Malta Diving Special

IMAGES: SARAH MILLER

briefly passing through one of the gates into the city, and then back out along the side of Marsamxett Harbour (dont enter the city unless you want to pay a congestion charge for entering Valletta in a car). The HMS Maori was a Tribal Class Destroyer, bombed on February 14, 1942, whilst in Valletta Harbour, receiving a direct hit to the engine room and killing one person. Fortunately the rest of the crew were not on board. Originally it blocked a major shipping lane so was towed out of the way, but it broke into two. Only one section is now diveable. We did the dive as a shore dive, parking on the quay. We used one of the small cafs on the quay both for refreshment and to use their toilet (which is a little basic). We entered the water by For details the sea wall; of the 2012 there is a Malta trip, well-defined please talk to entry point. Pete Stiff. You swim Dates: depart straight 5th or 12th out down May (tbc), the slope 7 days through Cost: est.400 rocks and inc. flights, boulders unhotel (fully til you reach inclusive), car the sand at & cylinder/ the bottom weight hire of the slope.

Turning right you will swim into the wreck, which is up against the slope. Basically, if you are deeper than 15m turn right; if you are shallower than 13m you turn left. The wreck itself is quite broken, although the forward section is still quite well defined with one of the smaller gun mounts still recognisable, although there are no guns to see, these having been removed. Originally the ship was armed with eight 4.7-inch Quick Firing Mark XII guns, making it quite formidable. There are a number of nice swim throughs as well as open sections of wreck and wreckage. We found plenty to see during our dive, including cuttlefish, flat fish, scorpion fish, and goatfish. I have been told that visibility can be quite poor, although we found it excellent during our dive. We had such a pleasant dive that we spent over an hour and a half just drifting around the wreck. It is a great little dive, suitable for both experienced and new divers. During our dive we had two or three groups arrive and depart, some via boats, some from the shore. We even bumped into a couple of guys on CCRs, one of which was a Poseidon MkVI, producing more bubbles than me on OC!

After our dive we took the opportunity to do the Harbour cruise. I would strongly recommend this as it gives you a sense of Maltas historical importance through the centuries. You do need to cross over to Selima to catch one of the boats offering tours of the two harbours with running commentary on the sites and history. I would also recommend one of the smaller boats they give you a more personal service. There are an abundance of shore dives to keep you entertained for a week. We had the loan of a book from John Finch, A Guide to Shore Diving the Maltese Islands. The diagrams are a bit strange, but they were accurate and helped us find the sites with relative ease; although there were a number of dives featured that appeared a little too adventurous to attempt as shore dives.

Buoyant Lift Malta Diving Special

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