Many times I’ve been to Malta, but every time either on a course or as pleasure dives, never have I been to any of the famous Deep Tec Wrecks of Malta.
I like visiting new places every year and not returning to the same destination again, but Malta is very close and easy to get to from home, and the opportunity arose to do the wrecks that I have always wanted to see, with a specially designed package by Gozo Technical Divers.
I’ve always stayed in mainland Malta, but this time stayed in the Island of Gozo. The Island is much more chilled to that of Malta, sleepy villages and the people much friendlier! However I soon realised, the old stone buildings were radiating so much heat! It was literally like been inside an oven! Temperatures inside the villages were between 45 to 50’c in the sun! 5 to 10 degrees more to what it was out at sea or in the mainland!
Day 1
First day was mainly a check dive. Our dive gear was already setup from the day before, which we did shortly after landing in Malta and traveling to the Island of Gozo. We headed out to the wreck of “Imperial Eagle”, a wreck I had previously dived, a few years back when doing one of my Tec Courses. I was actually looking forward to re-diving the same wreck, because on the course, I couldn’t use my DSLR camera, and only had some footage with my GoPro, as I had to practise some skills during the course.
Our check dive involved a twinset, and 2 stages. The wreck was sitting at a depth of just over 40 metres, so a second stage really wasn’t required, but like I already mentioned, it was a check dive, for deeper dive progression throughout the week! Other diving teams were using different configurations, i.e. CCRs.
Near the wreck, a small statue of Christ can be seen. Both the wreck and statue was placed in this area as an artificial reef.
Day 2
The second day of diving is when it really got exciting, down to the deep Tec wrecks I’ve been wanting to see for ages! We headed out to the WWII British S-Class: Submarine HMS Stubborn.
She lies in 56M, and today, we started using helium in our breathing gas (Trimix). Although from WWII, she was sunk a year later; in 1946, by the Royal Navy for Sonar Training Target! I actually attempted to dive this wreck in one of my Tec diving course a while back, but the dive was aborted by the diving instructor half way down the descent on the shot line, as the wreck was not visible. The shot line had been sent down slightly off-position by the skipper, so unfortunately I was not able to see the wreck then, but did this time round!
Day 3
Today's Dive was at a WWI War Grave; SS Polynesien - French Ocean Liner. She was torpedoed whilst passing near Malta carrying Serbian Troops from Tunisia to Greece. The Wreck is a huge 150m in length and sits in 65M!
The boat was having problems reaching a higher travel speed. This was probably due to the weight of so much gear on-board! It was a bit strange boarding the boat in Gozo to travel to wrecks quite far away, off mainland Malta. Previously I had done boat dives, departing from Valetta in Malta with another Dive Centre. We took double the time than expected to reach the wreck, with a change of plan almost implemented to dive a different wreck closer to Gozo! But a call was made to take the longer travel time, and the boat be checked by a mechanic later on that day.
Day 4
Back to S.S. Polynesien today! As she is 150 metres in length and at a depth of 65M, unless you are using a rebreather or scooter... you are very limited in how much of the wreck you can see!
Yesterday we did Mid-Ship to Bow, and today; Mid-Ship to Stern!
P.S. The boat again suffered problems with it’s speed, despite been checked the night before. Again I believe the issue was overweight from heavy gear!
Day 5
Our next day of Tec diving was on HMS Nasturtium; WWI Minesweeper today at a depth of 67M. She struck a mine and sunk 10km off Valletta, Malta in 1916.
Day 6
Hypoxic Trimix Dive today on HMS Southwold - British Hunt-Class Destroyer from WWII!
She's at 73M deep, so a travel gas was required, as the bottom gas is hypoxic at the surface, but then the travel gas is hyperoxic at the bottom, so gas switches are not only required on ascent for deco, but on descent too!
She struck their own British Mine by accident in 1942. The wreck is a war grave, unexploded ordnance litters the entire wreck and sea bed too!
Day 7
Final day of Tec Wreck week. The plan was to go dive the “Faroud” wreck. An artificial reef which I had dived many many times before, so the Cave Divers went Cave Diving today to Billinghurst Cave instead of the boat dive!
The cave, although at sea, is accessed from shore. It was extremely hot kitting up at the site, due to the radiating heat coming off the limestone!
I believe it is Malta’s (actually located in the Island of Gozo), only cave. It is a sea cave, which goes in around 80 metres, and most times, you can see the daylight from a distance, at the exit, unless going around some corners, so most of it is really a cavern. An air bubble is located at the end of the cave, so a mandatory selfie inside it was taken!
Extra Day
Tec Wreck week was over, but we had booked an extra day in Malta!
Today we did a DPV Dive of 2 hours and 10min out of Inland Sea in Gozo and explored a few km of coastline. Absolutely beautiful underwater cliffs! I used only the GoPro mounted on the DPV to capture some footage.
This was another site to tick off my list, and one that I had attempted several times in my previous trips to Malta, but had never happened, due to “bad weather”.
The trip ended, with a thirst for wanting to do more of the deep Tec Wrecks surrounding Malta’s coastline! There are so many wrecks left to visit from the World Wars! Due to the depths of these wrecks, I am currently considering going for CCR in the future. I hope to be back to Malta very soon!
Below are some video’s I have put together, from our dives in Malta & Gozo during this latest trip:
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