The Blue Hole is a natural rock formation carved out over the centuries by wind and wave power. Offering a sheltered entry for a number of dives, this site includes a huge archway which starts at 8 metres and has a flat top, almost square in shape, and covered in golden cup coral (parazoanthus axinellae). A large cavern is also worth exploring and can be found at the bottom of the hole to the left of the entry point.
Coral Cave is actual a cavern dive and its huge, semi-circular opening has a sandy bottom inside and a tumble of boulders under the entrance. The silty sand slopes up to around 21 m, where the spectacular large burrowing firework anemones (Cerianthus membranaceus) can be found. The entrance to the cavern also has large numbers of quite rare marine goldfish (Anthias anthias). Should the bottom get stirred up during the dive, it is easy to swim to either side of the cavern and follow it around until you come to the exit.
There is prolific fish life around this extended rocky headland carved by two large archways. The entry point is over very shallow water, dotted with hundreds of sea urchins. Passing over the large areas of sea grass here, you can often see cuttlefish, octopus and numerous wrasse. Once you reach the start of the wall around 14 m, keep to your right and follow it around until you reach the double arch. The first, smaller archway starts at 20 m (66 ft) and directly beneath it is the larger of the two, stretching to the seabed 45 m (150 ft) below.
HMS Maori was a Tribal-class destroyer named after the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand. She served with the Mediterranean Fleet until she was bombed by German aircraft while at Malta in 1942 causing her to sink. Her wreck was later raised and scuttled outside the Grand Harbour, and it is now a dive site.
The bottom of the Inland Sea lagoon is mostly pebbles and rocks and is fairly shallow. As you exit through the tunnel towards open sea, the floor drops away in a series of shelves to a depth of up to 35 metres on the outside.
The Imperial Eagle carried about 70 passengers and 10 cars. It made its maiden voyage in 1958 and was taken out of commission in 1968, her claim to fame being the sister ship to Jacques Cousteau's 'Calypso'. After about a 15 minute boat ride, you reach a buoy. Heading down the shot line to about 25 metres you can leave the line and swim across a valley to the wreck. Like so many of the wrecks in Malta, the Imperial Eagle sits upright on the sand looking absolutely fantastic. We toured right the way round her and through her corridors, ending up in what was the wheelhouse, of which only the wheel remains.
Tugboat Rozi is one of the two wrecks in Cirkewwa and one of the most popular dive sites in Malta. Rozi was around 40 meter long tug boat that was sunk in 1992 as an underwater tourist attraction by a company offering submarine trips. The submarine trips fizzled out but the wreck remains offering an outstanding dive with penetration possibilities. Rozi rests on a sandy bottom with a maximum depth around 34 meters off shore from Cirkewwa.
The wreck now lies at a depth of around 35 metres but the entire dive may be done at 25 metres. The highest point is situated only 12 metres deep from the surface.
Pasewalk (GS05) was a Kondor I-class minesweeper built in East Germany. After the Volksmarine was disbanded just before the reunification of Germany, she was sold to Malta in 1992 and renamed P31 and was used as a patrol boat. After being decommissioned, she was scuttled as a dive site in 2009 off Comino.
Um El Faroud was a 10,000 ton Libyan owned single screw motor tanker. Following a gas explosion during maintenance work in 1995, she was scuttled off the coast of Malta as an artificial reef and diving attraction.
