We would like to welcome you to ourPADI 5 Star IDC Dive
Center. Buddies is the premier centre for scuba diving in
Malta, Gozo and Comino.
Buddiesis a family run dive school
& shop on the northern coast of Malta, with the islands of Gozo
and Comino just minutes away by boat. Together with our team of
highly qualified Padi Instructors we pride ourselves in giving you
our personal attention to ensure that your scuba diving Malta
experience is a total success.
Whether you are interested in
a Discover Scuba Diving session, joining one of our Padi Open Water
Diver courses or becoming a Padi Open Water Scuba Instructor, you
are assured that we will meet your expectations while maintaining
the highest possible standards of diver safety and
education.
If you just want
to dive the jewel of the Mediterranean on your vacation in Malta, we
run daily boat and shore dives around the three islands. While we
are taking care of all the logistics, you can go ahead and
enjoy wrecks, caverns, reefs and the spectacular underwater
landscape that the Maltese islands are famous for. For the more
Technical-Diving minded, we offer internationally recognised tek
diver training and Nitrox / Trimix facilities.
Check
out our scuba diving in Malta special offers page for
escorted diving & course prices for Summer 2007 and contact
us
Malta's best diving club, situated at Bugibba, Malta's
premier dive site. Easy access to Gozo, Comino. Whether you are a
complete beginner or an expert diver, we can supply the diving
program you need. Offering diving courses from beginner level to
professional and guided dives for every level of scuba diving
experience. As a PADI Resort we can provide a wide range of PADI
courses and specialties. We offer accompanied diving
and gear hire facilities, providing everything you need from an air
fill to the sale of a drysuit, - 7 days a week, all year round.
(During the winter season just give one day’s notice of your
requirements.) Our aim is to make your scuba diving
holiday in Malta memorable for all the right reasons! Scuba diving
in Maltais easy. The lack of tides and currents
combined with exceptional underwater visibility and warm
water make for ideal conditions. Whatever your level of
experience you will find top quality dive sites in
Malta.Scuba diving equipment is cheaper
in Malta. Masks, snorkels and fins are typically one third
less than the identical items in UK dive shops. So if you are
about to buy diving equipment, wait until you get
here. Our instructors are happy to advise you on your
purchases. If we don't have what you are looking for just ask,
and we will endeavour to get it within 24 hours for
you.
We are the best diving club with a
lot of returning Clients.Our Instructors will talk to you in YOUR
language.We will meet all your needs with traditional Maltese warmth
and hospitality.Dive with Buddies,and get your pleasant memories of
safety,smoothness and lots of fun!!
Reviews:
"From
the moment I first dived the Blue Hole, Azure Window and Inland Sea
in 1980, I had also marvelled at the diving sites of Malta's
neighbouring island, Gozo. Many thousands of dives later, I still
find them as good.
In Malta a dive is of exceptional quality
- at 20, 30, 40m, every ripple could be spotted on the surface, and
underwater life went on. Octopuses scurried over the reef. Morays
with their ever-opening and closing jaws eyed us with suspicion, and
grouper floated motionless, always about 4m away, and considered us
with shy inquisitiveness.
As shoals of damselfish moved to
and fro in an hypnotic dance around us, I was moved to a state close
to drunken euphoria. Then, in seconds, all life was gone. Too soon,
the dive was over. It seemed as if only a few minutes had elapsed
since we had left the confines of the Blue Hole, but my computer
indicated that we had spent 50 minutes down below.
For many
years the Maltese islands have enjoyed a vast influx of divers from
all over Europe. With shore-diving giving immediate access into
30m-plus depths with drop-offs, caves, natural arches, reefs and of
course wrecks at a number of locations, it's easy to see
why.
A number of World War Two wrecks lie in deep water (the
S-class British submarine HMS Stubborn in 60m, a Blenheim bomber in
42m, a Spitfire in 50m and the "Freighter" wreck in 65m) and they
are dived only infrequently, but there is still much wreckage from
this period to dive at less demanding depths.
The Maltese
government has initiated an artificial reef programme which to date
has scuttled six ships, including two car ferries, an ocean-going
tug and the 5390 tonne, 109m-long merchant tanker Um el Faroud, a
shore dive from Wied iz-Zurrieq.
Malta and Gozo offer good
diving suitable for all grades of qualification and experience,
while the non-diver should never feel neglected, as there is much to
see and do around the islands.
What Malta can offer is some
of the best diving available in the Mediterranean, in a safe
location, within three hours' flight-time of the UK. It's
comparatively cheap, and divers are warmly welcomed everywhere. Wish
you were there? info@buddiesmalta.com
(Buddies Divecove is the best diving club in Malta!! The owner is
Rupert and his charming wife Audrey, they have English, French and
German-Speaking instructors)"
"After
we had settled ourselves in we made our way to the dive shop to sort
out the diving. I can honestly say that during my travels I have
never been in such an efficiently run and friendly dive centre. The
staff were excellent. Once they had checked our medicals (something
that is very important in Malta) and our diving qualifications, we
were able to book whatever diving we wanted to do. The party was
split into different groups depending on ability, and the each had
instructors / guides appointed to them. I had decided to get some
PADI qualifications to run alongside my SAA qualifications during my
stay, and I had a PADI Course Director looking after me all week.
All the staff were brilliant, extremely friendly, very professional
(but fun), and excellent at their jobs. As you probably know,
Malta is mainly shore based diving, and Buddies Divecove have a
fleet of very well maintained open back vehicles which take divers
to the dive sites. There was plenty of room in these for all the
equipment, divers and non-divers if they wanted to come along for
the ride. It is also worth mentioning that these vehicles are kept
spotlessly clean.The diving itself was brilliant, the waters were
clear and warm (compared to what we are use to in England). As well
as some interesting reefs, Malta has some excellent wrecks. I
visited the Rozi which is a tug boat in approx 30m and El Faroud
which is 110m tanker in about the same depth. Both can only be
described as awesome. The dive centre also arranged trips to Gozo
and Comino which I did not go on myself due to my heavy course
schedule, but I understand from other club members that the diving
was excellent with lots of marine life. Also arranged were 3 night
dives a week all of which I went on, these were also very well run
and fun diving. The week went too quickly for everyone. But
throughout our stay, Rupert and his superb team catered for our
every need. They could not do enough for us and everyone had a
brilliant time. I would unreservedly recommend Buddies Divecove to
anyone. The whole holiday was a 100% enjoyable experience thanks to
Buddies Malta"
"Malta and Gozo are
real treasure troves for scuba divers, with plenty of wrecks to
explore and, as the Mediterranean goes, rich marine life. It has
good water clarity and, in summer, sea temperature means you can
dive wearing only a shortie wetsuit in the caves, grottos, holes and
crevices. Some of the most accessible wrecks are concentrated in
Malta. We saw the sunken oil tanker El Faroud tanker off Zurrieq and
the British destroyer HMS Maori in Marsamxett Harbour. Part of the
fleet which sank The Bismarck, The Maori was hit by a torpedo during
World World II and broke in two while it was being towed out to
sea.
Impressive as it was,
the wreck was outdone by the intriguing underwater landscape of
Gozo, where we dived its famous Blue Hole - a natural chimney in the
limestone which connects with the open sea through an underwater
arch. We saw some spectacular, brightly-coloured sea anemones and
sponges, hiding in crevices and caves, alongside octopus, lobsters
and moray eels.
Other fish life
includes grouper, wrasse, dogfish and stingrays.
Maltese waters are
also known for their seahorses which feed on plankton and tiny
shrimps, but they seemed to be hiding the day we were out. Rather
surprisingly, the area is also one of the most popular with sharks
in the Med. Sightings are rare so swimmers shouldn't be alarmed.
Having said that, in 1987, a Maltese fisherman caught a Great White
measuring a scary 5.3 metres in length.
BTW, we dived with
Buddies Malta!! Hey,Buddies,come and dive for
yourselves!!"
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"Dive sites in Malta, Gozo and Comino"
Index
Diving in Malta
Sea creatures
Climate
About malta
The seacard
Wreck dives
Um El Faroud
HMS Maori
Carolita
Imperial Eagle
Blenheim bomber
The Xlendi(gozo)
Odile
The Rosi
Cave dives
Ghar Lapsi
Ghar Lapsi east
Mousehole cave
Anchorbay/Scorpioncave
Inland Sea (Dwejra gozo)
Blue Hole (Dwejra gozo)
Imgarr ix Xini (Gozo)
Lathern point (Comino)
Maria caves(Comino)
Divesites in Malta
Ghar Lapsi
Ghar Lapsi east
The Crib
Blue Grotto
Um El Faroud
Mousehole cave
HMS Maori
Carolita
Qawra point
Imperial Eagle
Anchorbay/Scorpioncave
Im Thaleb
Ahrax point
Blenheim bomber
Marfa point
The Rosi
Odile
Divesites in Gozo
Inland Sea (Dwejra gozo)
Blue Hole (Dwejra gozo)
The Xlendi (Gozo)
Imgarr ix Xini
The climate in Malta is warm and healthy. There are no biting winds,
fog, snow, or frost. Rain falls for only short periods and averages
about 578 mm in a whole year. The temperature averages 14.1° C in
winter (Nov-April) and 32° C in summer (May-Oct). The sun shines
for an average of 6.46 hrs each day in winter and 10.11 hrs in
summer. The hottest period is from mid July to mid September. The
following table gives the monthly averages taken over a 30 year
period for hours of bright sunshine, temperatures and rainfall:
With a view on Popey village and the
cliffs surrounding this location is something special.
Maximum depth is 12 meter. Dive with the cliffs on your left
shoulder and you get to the entrance of a cave. The cave is
half above, half under water, only the first 5 meter of the
entrance is completely submersed. In case snorkelers are
coming along, there is another entrance above water. Inside
you find yourself in a dome. Many divers get spiritual
feelings being in the dome. Spontaneously they start
meditating including the humming and everything. In the back
of the dome there is a small tunnel leading to a second
chamber, in here you can stand up. Now it's only last year
that I discovered personally that there is a Scorpion living
on the ceiling of the airspace, later I found out it's not
just one scorpion. My biggest count till now has been 13
scorpions. I did check on Internet about those scorpions.
They are not really dangerous, they have enough poison to
kill a pray of their own size….they are 2 cm long.
Swimming out of the cave is easy, the big entrance gives a
lot of light, it's quite impossible to get forever lost in
a Maltese cave.
Swimming back to the exit you cross a sand plate, nice to
chill out, lay on the bottom watching at the service,
playing with flat fish and organise under water running
competitions.
This location is the easiest when
you dive it from a boat, but also from the shore you can
reach it. In the point of Ahrax there is a 40 meter wide
lake within the about 15 meter high cliffs. A tunnel makes
it possible to enter the lake from the seaside. The tunnel
is half under water and half above so also snorkelers can
take the same route as the divers. If you would like to do
this dive from the shore than you have 2 possibilities. A:
You start from the beach 600 meter away from the tunnel and
swim all the way and all the way back. This will easily
become a 70 minute dive on which you have to watch your air
consumption. Or if your more adventurous, you jump/climb or
ab-sail 15 meter directly into the lake itself so you have
only got a 600 meter swim to get back to the beach. Just for
the record: It is easier to just lower your diving gear with
a rope than to jump or rope down with it. The light effect
in the little lake is cool, very nice for pictures and oh
yeah, half the way towards the beach there is another cave
that leads to an enclosed airspace.
Marfa point
Malta's most well known dive site. Ideal for beginners since
there is a large 6 meter area to exercise skills. Than a
drop of to 18 meters, a Maria statue for religious people. A
shipwreck at 36 meters and lots of caves and arches. At the
moment this whole area is under construction so I have no
clue what it is going to look like in a few years time. But
during day time there is always a few diving schools active
so if you need to know some directions for the Rosy or one
of the caves, just ask any instructor on location.
Another place to take your family
while you go for a dive yourself. From the inland sea a
long cave (70 meter, half above and half under water) leads
to the sea. Now this is something! Swimming into that big
black hole and than once you are half the way you see the
light on the other side. That's right, the light on the end
of that big black tunnel. To me heaven couldn't look much
better. It swallows me, intimidates me, impresses me and
after 9 years of diving this location, it still gives me
shivers every time I'm down there.
It is BLUE!!!! Lobsters are living in the walls of the tunnel. The
bottom just keeps on going down under a 45 degree angle until it
reaches the sand bottom at 55 meter. Being on the outside you can
follow the wall to the left. On 15 meter there is a cave entrance
leading up to an airspace.
CAUTION!
In the tunnel there is a lot of boat traffic.
Mainly outboard engines. Especially on the beginning of the tunnel,
stay low. The Depth is only 2 meter so you are not far away from
rotating propellers. If you feel need to service in the tunnel, stay
on the left side since the overhang forces boats to stay more off to
the right.