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A winter weekend of diving and seahorses hunting in Malta

by Mark Dove

In the UK only the most addicted and hardy divers would plan a weekend underwater at the end of January. Here in Malta we don’t need to break any ice before we start, and So Scubaworks organised some off-season dives for Saturday and Sunday. The weather forecast was reasonable, but it had been windy all week, and on turning up at Cirkewwa (Malta’s most popular dive site) it quickly became apparent that even if we got in and underwater quickly, we would be faced with possible beaching on very sharp rocks as we tried to get out again, so large was the swell.

No problem – divers always have a plan B, and so we boarded the roll-on roll-off car ferry over to Gozo, Malta’s smaller sister island. Plan B was Reqqa Point, a spectacular dive near Marsalform onthe north-east coast, but once again it was difficult to see how we could safely exit the water afterwards. Although the authorities in Malta provide plenty of swim ladders during the summer, these are either removed during the winter, or fail to survive the storms and end up as mini-wrecks on the sea-bed.

We were determined not to let the weather beat us, and so off to the Inland Sea (nowhere on Gozo is a very far to travel to). This is a truly unique dive in an area of stunning cliffs which is a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Our dive started inland, in a shallow lagoon but with a tunnel connecting it to the Med outside.

Divers can explore this 80m long geological marvel and emerge 26m under the pounding seas on the other side. From there it is possible to explore the vertical cliffs that plunge into the sea and continue straight down to 50m deep or more. The world famous Azure Window and Blue Hole are also nearby at Dwejra, making this area of Gozo a must-dive location for anyone visiting Malta and Gozo. We saw John Dories (St Peter fish), amberjacks, and all the usual reef fish, and were even treated to an exceptionally friendly amberjack who was so interested in our scuba gear that he allowed us to touch him as he darted around us.

On Sunday we had more luck. Plan A was to seek and photograph the elusive seahorses that everyone claims are living in 10m of water just off the mighty fortifications of Valletta. The Scubaworks team drove us around the enormous Grand Harbour of Valletta, as far as Fort St Elmo on the end of the peninsular. From there it was a quick climb and descent to the harbour on the other side of Valletta called Marsamxetto, where there are at least two genuine World War II naval wrecks divable from the shore. However, we were not so interested in HMS Maori, historically significant and amazingly preserved after over 60 years though it might be.

We had all seen the front half of this Royal Navy destroyer many times before, and this time our mission was to explore the sandy bay all around, searching for tiny pieces of seaweed that on closer inspection might just be those masters of camouflage, seahorses.

Underwater life was prolific as always, just metres away from an EU capital city. We saw John Dories again, hovering cuttlefish, schools of silvery bream, comical flounders, scuttling hermit crabs, and the wreck itself was covered in those most beautiful sea creatures, nudibranchs (sea slugs). After 40 minutes, and with hopes fading fast we eventually heard spotter Dave calling loudly to us through his regulator: he had found them, or at least something worth looking at.

As I followed his pointing finger with my eyes I saw a green-brown scrap of weed, ebbing and flowing with the water movement, but… it had the unmistakable profile of a horse only a few centmetres long. By the time I had turned on my camera and looked back I couldn’t see the thing anymore, so perfect was its cover. Eventually two tiny but perfect horses were discovered within a few metres of each other, duly photographed, and it was time to surface and enjoy the remainder of a perfect winter weekend.

Pictures by Mark Dove

Tags: Azure Window, Blue Hole, Cirkewwa, Diving, Diving weekend in Malta, Dwejra, Gozo, HMS Maori, Inland Sea, Malta, Malta diving sites, Marsalform, Reqqa Point, Scubadivin in Malta and Gozo, Seahorses in Malta, UK Diving, Valletta, Winter diving in Malta