Malta · Wreck
Her Majesty, Um El Faroud — The Wreck I Never Get Tired Of
Second only to the SS Thistlegorm in my personal list of wreck dives.
Read the complete guide →Malta · Gozo · Comino
My Favourite Dive Sites in Malta, Gozo & Comino
Not a complete directory. Not a ranking made by an algorithm. These are the places I would happily dive again tomorrow.
I have spent years diving the Maltese Islands, teaching here and returning to the same sites in different seasons, with different students and in different configurations. There are many more dive sites than the ones on this page. These are simply my favourites.
The first three are easy for me to rank. After that, ranking becomes pointless. A shallow night dive at Buġibba Reef can be exactly what I want one day; the next day I may want the scale of P29, the staircase of Karwela or the depth of Middle Finger.
Click a point on the map or use the list below. Every site has its own guide with history where relevant, access notes, practical diving considerations and a GPS reference.
The map
My Malta, Gozo & Comino favourites.
Loading the interactive dive map…You can still use the complete site list below.
The markers are site reference positions for planning and orientation. Shore access, buoys, wreck condition and local restrictions can change.
The easy part of the ranking
My Top 3.
Gozo · Reef / cave / arch
The Blue Hole — My Best Reef Dive Ever
The cave, the arch, the fallen Azure Window, the Chimney and Coral Garden. WOW.
Read the complete guide →Gozo · Tunnel / wall
Inland Sea — The Cherry on Top of Dwejra
After the Blue Hole, you think Dwejra has already shown you enough. Then you swim into the tunnel.
Read the complete guide →A special place, outside the ranking
Buġibba Reef
I did hundreds of dives here. Maximum depth around 12 metres, perfect for training and — for me — one of the best places for night diving. It belongs in this collection for a different reason from the big wrecks and dramatic Gozo geology: a huge part of my teaching life happened on this reef.
And then the rest…
The other favourites.
After the Top 3, I would rather group them by island than pretend I can rank completely different dives.
Malta
WreckP29Ċirkewwa, Malta · 20–34 m→Wreck / reefRoziĊirkewwa, Malta · 20–34 m→Reef / archĊirkewwa ArchĊirkewwa, Malta · 12–25 m→Shallow cave / reefGħar Lapsi CaveGħar Lapsi, Malta · 5–12 m→Reef / wall / cavernFinger ReefGħar Lapsi, Malta · 7–20 m→Reef / caves / wallWest Reef & CavesWied iż-Żurrieq, Malta · 5–25 m→Historic wreck / reefHMS MaoriSt Elmo Bay, Valletta, Malta · 10–16 m→Historic fuel lighterX127 “Coralita”Manoel Island, Malta · 5–22 m→Wreck / reefTug 2Exiles, Sliema, Malta · 15–25 m→Shallow reefQawra Bay / Inner ReefQawra Point, Malta · 2–10 m→WreckTugboat 10Żonqor Point, Marsaskala, Malta · 18–24 m→Historic tug wreckSt. MichaelŻonqor Point, Marsaskala, Malta · 18–24 m→Patrol boat wreckP33Żonqor Point, Marsaskala, Malta · 18–24 m→
Gozo
How to use these guides
I write these pages as a diver, not as a tourism brochure. I include what the site feels like, how the history changes the experience, what the access can be like and the details I personally watch. Conditions are not permanent. A ladder can disappear, a storm can move a wreck, visibility can collapse and a perfectly easy exit can become the wrong exit in the wrong swell.
Use the guides to understand the site and prepare better. Then make the dive decision that belongs to the day you are actually standing beside the water.
SAFE Diver: Slowly Ascend From Every dive. I finish recreational dives with a three-minute safety stop at 5 metres whenever conditions allow, and I treat planned decompression as a different kind of dive requiring the appropriate training, gas and procedures.