Diving Trip to Malta 2-9 June 2023
David Grimson and David Hopps
We set off in the early hours of Friday 2d June from Gatwick. Flying British Airways Club Europe meant that we had double the normal luggage allowance for the trip. The trip was organised by Dave G the trip for the Club, but sadly the only other taker was David H. The trip, less flights, was organised by Diverse Travel and the BSAC host in Malta were Maltaqua. The flight was uneventful, except that we drank the entire stock of champagne for both the outward and return leg!
On arrival in Malta, we were met by a driver arranged by Maltaqua, who took us directly to our accommodation. We had been allocated a two bedroom apartment. Both rooms were en-suite and there was a small kitchen, living room, dining area and a small balcony. This was perfectly adequate as we spent very little time in the apartment. The basement had an equipment washing area and drying room. 
Soon after we settled into the apartment we went to see Maltaqua who were very helpful and organised our cylinders, weights etc as well as checking over our paperwork. The plan was very simple they would pick us up early the next morning and head to our dive sites. This was a routine that repeated itself each day, they would drop us at the apartment and pick us up the next day with cylinders refilled and our weights etc on the vehicle. 
The dives were diverse and included rock walls, reefs, caves, swim throughs and a number of wrecks. The depths varied between 15m and 35 m. We did two boat dives off the island of Comino and two dives off the island of Gozo, otherwise the remining 8 dives were all off Malta.
There was plenty of sealife including barracuda, John Dory, stonefish, Grouper, anchovies, jellyfish, Bream, Eels as well as many other fish.
Maltaqua was located in St Pauls which is on the Northwest side of the Island. It is a good sized town with plenty of amenities, shops and a vast range of restaurants, bars, and kiosks. Maltaqua stock a range of dive equipment but it did seem to us to be quite expensive. 
The diving was generally good but as we were mixed in with others, it occasionally felt a bit tame. However, the scenery, wrecks, sea life, visibility (20m+) and water and air temperature were all good. If we were to go again, which I am sure we will, we would try and go with a larger group and request more appropriate dives for the skills and qualifications of the divers. This would, in my opinion, have to include diving on some of the WW2 wrecks that are around Malta but in slightly 40-50m. We were well looked after by Maltaqua and the guides knew their stuff, although there were occasional transgressions on what we would have considered safe diving, but nothing serious. Over the course of the week we managed to complete 12 dives.
If anyone is thinking of going please contact me. Dave G or I can also bore anyone with a lot more photo’s.
