Gozo, 1999
Author: Dave Roberts

I've been lurking in UKRS for a while, coming-out recently to Keith L & Jason by booking on the UKRS dives for next May. I told Keith I'd post a trip report for a recent trip to Gozo, so here goeso (sorry!).

The wife (hereinafter referred to as the NDO - non-diving other) & I decided to make a return trip to Gozo at fairly short notice, booking directly with the Hotel Atlantis in Marsalforn. We discovered the hotel and the Atlantis Dive Centre three years ago when we met the owners at the London dive show and went out in both '97 and last year.

We booked flight only with Britannia so I was interested in the thread earlier in the year about supplements. We took nearly 58Kg between us - well video housings *are* heavy - and got there & back without any probs. Although living near Birmingham we flew from Luton (the pits) as this was the only airport with half-decent flight times. The flight out left & arrived on time and was reasonably comfortable even for my well-padded 6' 5" frame; the flight back didn't and wasn't. Having experienced the helicopter transfer once, we took the ferry, the hotel having arranged transfers at each end.

Atlantis is situated on the west side of Marsalforn Bay on the north side of Gozo about 10mins walk from the harbour & centre. It's family owned & run and very friendly but quiet. We see the absence of evening entertainment as one of its strong points, but it might not suit everyone. Pool view rooms in the older part of the hotel also have a sea-view, so you can see early in the morning whether or not diving is blown-out or not!

The diving centre is just across the road from the hotel and is run by Brian Azzorpardi, son-in law of the owners, with help over the last two years from Jack Dabill, a Brit. who has recently taken up residence on the island. The centre operates new, good quality equipment, mainly Scubapro regs, suits & BCDs, and ferries clients to the dive sites or harbour in one or two Land Rovers, also in good condition (in fact for those of you who know the typical condition of Land Rovers in Malta & Gozo, they're like new!).

The centre caters for accompanied and unaccompanied divers (Maltese diving permit required for both) and runs PADI courses up to and including Divemaster. Although most of the diving is shore-based, the centre has an 8m speedboat powered by twin Volvo Pentas, which can accomodate up to 16 divers and as we left was just commissioning a 5m RIB with a 90hp Evinrude for up to 5 divers.

Gozo, like Malta, has very few sandy beaches and the dive sites tend to echo the topography: walls, tunnels, caves and drop-offs. Many of the best sites can be dived from the shore but a number of sites along the north and west sides of the island are best reached by boat. Unlike Malta, Gozo has retained much of its marine life and although I'd dived on Gozo in June & July, I was impressed by the large number of big fish (grouper, amberjack and the odd tuna) and the shoals of smaller fish - bream, wrasse etc. present at this time.

The weather was OK but not settled, heralding the onset of the autumn weather patterns. Sea temperatures were typically 22-25 degrees but noticeable thermoclines took it down to as low as 18 degrees. I dived with a 3mm suit and was perfectly comfortable but a couple of people using 5mm shorties found it cold on the longer dives. Currents, often absent around the island, were unpredictable and although most were lateral, a couple of dives encountered downward and upward currents.

The NDO is amazingly patient and fortunately likes to do nothing more than stroll around Marsalforn or sit by the pool which is just as well as I managed to pack in 20 dives during the two weeks. Weather meant that some were repeats but even so it was nearly always possible to take a different route from a site. For example from Dwerja, depending on conditions, you can do Inland Sea (left & right along wall) Blue Hole (left along wall or right around pillar), Coral Cave, Crocodile Rock etc.

Depths varied from about 9m on the dive-site clean-up (see below) to 43m in Reqqa Cave but were typically in the 20 - 30m range and on a 12l cylinder gave dive times of up to 63 minutes.

The Gozo Dive Centres Association is becoming quite active on the island and had organised a dive-site clean up for one day during our trip. Each centre was allocated a site and clients were invited to clean up the dive sites by removing as much rubbish from the sites as possible - air & transport was provided free. Atlantis was allocated Xweini Bay, a shallow bay to the west of Marsalforn often used for open water dives. It must be one of the cleanest sites on the island as 8 of us managed to find only 28Kg. The total for the day was something over 800Kg, so it was time well spent.

The Association has recently purchased one of the old Valletta - Gozo ferries which had been condemned, and has arranged for it to be cleaned and sunk on the south coast at Xatt L'Ahmar in about 35m of water. This will provide some interest on the south coast which generally has poorer sites than the north & west. (And will make a change from the Rowzi on Malta!) It was due to be sunk on 26th Sept, 5 days after we left, but was delayed for 3/4 weeks as not all the necessary paperwork had been completed - so, any time now.

Highlights of the trip? The friendliness of the Gozitan people in general and the family and staff at Atlantis in particular. The presence of big fish; the iridescent blue patches seen on the 'wings' of a flying fish on a night dive; a giant sea-snail seen on the same dive and a sea-horse at Ta Cenc - you know, the site with the hundred & three steps down to the water! Oh yes, the visibility - 15m at worst, about 40m at best and the temperature.

I've no connection with the Atlantis but can thoroughly recommend it for diver and non-diver. Having been to the island before, we have got to know it quite well and can ignore the 'sights' if we want to but there's plenty of interest to see on non-diving days. It is quietbut then so is then island - if you want night life then Buggiba or Sliema / St Julians in Malta are better bets.

If anyone wants any information, reply to UKRS or e-mail me

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