Gozo Dive - St Andrews

Also known as Xlendi Bay Interest Cave & Reef Popularity Medium Depth6m (avg), 10m (max) Qualification Beginner Shore accessHard Location 36.0298°N 14.2142°E (Nearby) Xlendi Bay dive site is located on the southwest coast of Gozo island in the village of Xlendi. The bay is mostly sandy in the middle and rocky on both sides, with high cliffs above the water. The dive spots in Xlendi Bay are a beautiful shallow 70 m long tunnel cave and a pretty reef with lots of marine life. This is one of the easiest sites in Gozo, ideal for dive training and beginners also. The deeper reef is suitable for technical dive training, and the shallow bay is nice for night diving. Xlendi Bay is a popular spot for swimming and snorkeling too. Xlendi Bay can be dived either from the shore or as a boat dive. Entry/exit point for shore dives is on the south side of the bay from a concrete diving platform with some metal steps. The steps are usually removed during the winter months. The dive sites, tunnel and reef, are opposite the entry/exit point on the other side of the bay. Beware of boat traffic while crossing the bay. Xlendi Bay is mostly sheltered but can get really rough with southwesterly winds. After heavy rain the visibility is bad as the valley behind the village takes all rain water from the surrounding areas into the bay.

Inland Sea is a shallow semi-circular lagoon of about 60 m wide connected to the Mediterranean Sea by 80 m long Tunnel cave through the rock. There is not much to see for divers in the Inland Sea. In the Inland Sea the maximum depth is around 2m. The bottom of the tunnel gets deeper and deeper. Starting at 3 m in the lagoon side, and will finally reach 26 m. The tunnel has vertical walls and a pebble bottom, ending with a lot of big boulders around the seaside exit. At the end of the tunnel the seabed drops down to around 50 m. DIVE SITE HIGHLIGHTS The Tunnel The tunnel at the Inland Sea is probably the best part of the dive. Going into a slightly darker place makes your dive more interesting than normal. At the end of the tunnel it opens up into the open blue which gives a really nice image. Experience Needed You must be certified to dive to a depth of 18 meters to dive this site. We would also recommend Nitrox Diver.

Crocodile Rock is a boat dive site located in Dwejra south from the Blue Hole. It combines a wall dive, going down to 30+ metres with a shallow, 7m deep plateau with a nice reef. This dive site is suitable even for less experienced divers.

Interest Cave Popularity High Depth 20+m (avg), 30+m (max) Qualification Advanced Shore access Medium Location 36.0523°N 14.1881°E (Exact) Coral Cave dive site is located in Dwejra on the west coast of Gozo. Coral Cave is a large open cavern with colorful corals inside. The cave entrance starts at 17-18 m deep and stretches down to the seabed at 28-30 m. The semi-circular opening is about 30 metres wide, and the cave reaches 50-60 m inwards. There are boulders in front of the cavern, but inside the floor is sand/silt and slopes up to around 21 m meeting the ceiling at the back. The walls and the ceiling of Coral Cave are literally covered with many different types of corals. The corals in the cave are very fragile, so divers should be careful not to damage them – do not touch anything, watch the buoyancy and do not stay long as the bubbles are harmful too. Coral Cave is an overhead environment cavern although very well-lit, even at the back. Stay in the open spaces and do not enter the hole in the back without proper cave diving training. This part of the cave is difficult to navigate when the silt is stirred up, and two divers lost their lives there in 1999.

The Blue Hole Interest – Cave Wall Popularity – High Depth – 15m (avg), 25m (max) Qualification – Advanced Shore access – Medium Location – 36.0530°N 14.1887°E (Exact) Dwejra was and still is one of Gozo’s most visited tourist sites. One can find the Blue Hole which is one of the most beautiful dives the Maltese Islands have to offer. Not only is it great for scuba diving but a marvelous site to see for snorkelers, swimmers and freedivers alike. It is one of the safest way to get in and out of the water safely, since it acts as a sheltered pool. It’s a sinkhole in limestone, and it formed a circular rock formation that spans up to 10 metres wide and 5 metres across. Best to be dived in the afternoon, and when other diving sites are hard to get when weather is bad. The sinkhole goes down about 15 metres deep and has a lovely archway to pass through which leads to a nice shallow pool. From the pool one can come out into open sea at a depth of 9m filled with marine life, coral and tubeworms! There are large boulders from where the Azure window has collapsed which is now called The Azure Reef. Opposite of that you can find a large cave. Normally the two dives are combined into one whole dive. The Azure Reef are the remains of what was formerly called the Azure Window. It had collapsed on the 8th of March 2017. There is another route which is going through the Inland Sea and out the Blue Hole, or the other way around. There is a walk of about 200 metres to get to the Blue Hole, but the diving makes it worth the walk with all the equipment! Azure Reef Interest – Reef Popularity – High Qualification – Advanced Shore access – Medium Location -36.0536°N 14.1884°E (Exact) The Azure Window was an internationally well known tourist attraction. It’s limestone had been eroding slowly for years and was known and bound break apart at some point in time. What is unfortunate is that tourists had also been walking on it back and forth for years, even though it had been banned – which in turn had quickened the degradation process quite hastily. During a storm with very strong winds and waves, the window finally collapsed and fell into the sea. However, one could say that from one unfortunate occurrence, something positive came out of it. The Azure Reef has been attracting new marine life, and has become a new reef in itself for divers to enjoy! The site starts from just below the surface and descends down to under 40 metres. At the minute, it is quite barren since the rocks haven’t been in the water for very long. Marine life will soon call this home and algae are forming on the boulders, and sure enough the boulders’ sharp edges will deteriorate. Divers who have been to this new site have already, have still seen plants that had been growing on top of the rocks while the Azure Window was still intact on the surface. Divers also have new routes and swim throughs to pass through. However, since the reef is fairly new and things might change from one second to the next, precaution must always be taken and divers must always be vigilant and boulders might split or shift. If you venture on outwards toward the outer cliff face of where the Azure Window was, you can see shoals of Damsel Fish, Picarel, and Bogue swimming around near the cliff face. Whatever you do, don’t forget to look up, you might spot some Dentex or Amberjack fish on the hunt!

Interest Cave & Reef Popularity High Depth 5m (avg), 10+m (max) Qualification Beginner Shore access Medium Location 36.0529°N 14.1878°E (Exact)