DIVING IN GOZO - 2003

by Roger Barefoot

Gozo is one of the Maltese Islands and has a wide variety of dives for new and experienced divers.

Calypso Divers is one of the oldest dive shops and SCUBA schools on the island and I have dived with them on many occasions. George Vella the owner is one of the nicest and most accommodating people I have ever met.

Calypso made all the arrangements for my stay on the Island and I only had to book my flights. Malta is not on the "cheap flights" list but £176.00 return was not too bad. I took my two youngest sons Nigel (19) and Peter (16) with the intention of teaching them to dive.

My sons live in N.Ireland with their mother so, I met them at Gatwick airport and we then caught our flight to Malta. Air GB (part of BA) fly older Airbuses which are very comfortable with loads of legroom and comfortable leather seats, the cabin crew was also very pleasant and the 3 hour flight was most enjoyable.

We landed at 10.30pm and were met at Luqa Airport in Malta by a minibus taxi provided by Calypso Divers. A half hour drive to the Gozo ferry and then another taxi got us to our accommodation in Dolphin Apartments, Marsalforn by midnight.

The two bedroom apartment was very comfortable with a double bed for me and two singles for my sons. A fully equipped kitchen, large sitting room and bathroom made this a very nice place to stay. The first floor balconies gave us nice views over Marsalforn town.

During the two weeks I intended to show my sons all of Gozo so had a Suzuki jeep included in my package.

On day one we all went to Calypso Divers to collect the jeep and get re-acquainted with George and his staff, we received a very warm welcome, as this was the fourth time I had holidayed with them.

The first morning was spent organising training schedules for Nigel and Peter but initially a try-dive for that afternoon was the first step. The try-dive went well for Peter but Nigel was not comfortable and decided that diving was not for him. Peter is really a bit of a fish and loves water sports, he is a really good swimmer and is a sea cadet and often sails and canoes in the sea at home. SCUBA seems to be a natural sport for him. Nigel decided to catch the rays and chat up the girls (at which he had great success).

That evening we decided to hit the town and went out for a meal. The choice of places to eat in Marsalforn is fabulous and we ended up eating somewhere different ever evening. We usually had lunch in St Paul's Bar or Smugglers Restaurant as they were very close to the beach and served excellent food.

The first week was mainly taken up with me teaching Peter the theory of diving and George and myself taking him on practical sessions in Marsalforn bay. The bay is not usually used for diving as it has one of the only sandy beaches on the island and is popular with tourists. We established ourselves on the harbour wall and used the concrete jetty as a base.
Theory lessons were completed in the cool evenings in the apartment and Peter progressed through them very well. During the day we did two or three training dives in the bay. Diving the bay was a great experience as there was a large variety of marine life in crystal clear water. The gradually sloping seabed gave us depths to 15m and no tides or wave action made it more like a swimming pool. With air temperatures reaching 40°C the water in the bay was a balmy 26°C at the surface down to 18°C at 15m.

During the week we saw shoals of Saddled Bream that enjoyed being fed with bread, Flying Gurnards, Octopus and some small Barracuda. On our final training dive for Ocean Diver we swam out and achieved 15m, on this dive we saw a truly huge (for Malta) Moray Eel with a length of around 2m. It was simply lying coiled up on the sandy bottom sunbathing. We stopped and watched it for a while and then it decided to move on, it seemed to uncoil forever and then swam off. George had never thought that they had such an animal in the bay.

Peter learned the skills very quickly and was soon signed off for all his training skills. He passed his theory exam at the end of the first week.

In the second week we joined other divers enjoying the hospitality of Calypso divers and Peter and I dived as a buddy pair to a maximum depth of 18m. As the other divers went deeper we shadowed them at the shallower depth, which was very enjoyable.

The first dive was the Inland Sea at Dwerja; this takes you through a tunnel and out into the Mediterranean. This is a spectacular dive going from the cloudy green of the Inland Sea to the pure crystal blue of the Med through a very atmospheric tunnel some 200m long. What a first dive for a newly qualified Ocean Diver! Peter was well impressed. Over the next few dives we completed dives at Reqqa Point, San Dimitri (RIB), Mgarr-Ix Xini, Lantern Point (Comino Island) off a RIB, Cathedral Cave (RIB), the Blue Hole, and Hondoq Bay.

The variety of the dives really impressed Peter and made him decide that it is a sport that he will continue with. The underwater geology of Gozo is some of the most stunning in the Mediterranean with caves and tunnels to provide that little bit extra. There are wrecks available to dive but none were dived in this week as they would have been too deep for Peter to attempt.

The holiday was fabulous and, even though he didn't dive, Nigel enjoyed himself snorkelling in the bay with a few people he made friends with when Peter and I were off diving.

Peter has now joined his local BSAC Branch in Larne and is progressing towards Sports Diver. Nigel, well, he is intent on becoming a rock guitarist and his band has recently played two gigs in Newcastle (England) and have more planned, keep an eye and ear out for "KLASS".

Calypso Diving Centre provided us with everything we needed, airport transfers, accommodation, cylinders, air and weights. Their amply-equipped dive shop provided my sons with some equipment that they required.

The Suzuki jeep that I hired was a great benefit and allowed us to travel all over the island, which isn't very big, and explore it in depth. Probably the best evening was when we drove across the island to Hondoq Bay where the locals were having a mass barbecue. It was fantastic - loads of food, wine and beer and really friendly people.

The total cost of transfers, accommodation, jeep hire and dives for the two weeks with Calypso Diving Centre was £825.00 sterling. During the training George only charged for the air we used and the cost of dives after that was Lm10 for shore dives and Lm 15 for boat dives. This has all been included in the total amount shown.

Flights with BA were £176.00 per person having pre-booked them in March. June, July and August are very hot in Malta/Gozo we had temperatures of 42°C! September to November are generally cooler, providing more comfortable conditions when not diving, but there can be heavy rainstorms.

We ate out all the time and the cost was very acceptable, full breakfast for about £2.00, light lunch £2.00 to £3.00 and evening meals at around £5.00 to £700 per head. Local dishes are, I find, fun and a lot of rabbit is used, although I never saw a live one on the island! Local wines and beers are very good and cheap.

The Gozoan people are very warm and welcoming and once they get to know your name you are warmly greeted and looked after.

Whether you are new to diving or experienced Gozo can provide some very exhilarating diving experiences and BSAC run a Combined Instructor Event every September with Calypso under the tutelage of our very own Jack Ingle and his team of National Instructors. It is one of the places I simply love returning to both for diving and enjoyment.

Try "The Gozo Experience" you will not be disappointed.

Dive Shop: Calypso Divers, Marsalforn, Gozo


Roger Barefoot, BSAC Dive Leader & T.I., Peterborough Branch
Date: 16-21 August 2003