During my Autumn half term, I jumped on a plane and headed off to Malta for some sun and good vis on the dives.

I landed in torrential rain, following an hours delay in the air, but eventually I was down. In Malta my dad use’s Maltaqua for support and logistics as you cant beat the experience and helpfulness of the team led by Mike & Agnes Upton.  Agnes met us at the airport and we had a lovely trip to our hotel, lots of chatting and catching up. 

The purpose of this trip was for me to achieve my SDI Advanced Diver qualification plus some other specialties.

The diving out here is great, but the weather this week hasn’t been the best. Our first few dives were out of Cirkewwa and the dives were lovely. The plan was the Tugboat Rozi, the P29 patrol boat, a reef and arch dive and a dive to see the Madonna.  The entry and exits were interesting as there was a good swell coming up the shore, but we got in and had some great diving.

The next dive site for us was off Comino – we started off and the weather was fab, but by the time we ended the dives we were in a 2 to 3mtr swell and it felt rough. However, we got some good diving in and even though it was blowing on the surface, the visibility under the water was great.

The last dive site for the week was in Valletta. Two very good wrecks are just inside the harbor. The first dive was the HMS Maori, which sits just off the shore in maximum depth of 16mtr. This was a lovely dive full of life, including a couple of Moray Eels, Grouper, shoals of smaller fishes, Scorpion Fish, Flat fish plus much more. The second dive here was the X127 Lighter Coralita which starts in 6mtr and descends down a slope to 18mtr. An interesting wreck, with a large poppy and plaque on her in commemoration of her duties since troops died on it in Gallipoli (Turkey) during and then she was sunk by torpedo whilts in the Greater Harbor in Valletta during World War 2. However, this was in poor visibility as another local dive school had about a dozen divers on her stirring up the fine silt layered all over her. However, still a lovely dive. The HMS Maori was my favorite dive of the trip!!