Location of Site:
St Julian’s Tower where the Exiles Waterpolo Club is situated
Type of Dive: Shore Dive
Condition:
Ideally diveable with southerly winds or south westerly winds
Average Depth: 14 metres
Maximum Depth: 25 metres
Certification Required:
BSAC Ocean Diver, PADI Open Water or equivalent.
The Dive:
Once in the water, you commence the dive by taking a northerly direction swimming for about 5 minutes over the rocky seabed until you reach the Posedonia fields, you keep on swimming until you reach the sand at a depth of approximately 10 metres. From here you swim in an Easterly direction keeping the sand to your left and the rocky bottom on your right. You continue the dive swimming along the wall until you get to a depth of 25 metres.
Depending on your air supply you than head back either by swimming back along the wall or else you cut diagonally swimming in a south easterly direction. This route is less interesting as you will be cutting across Posedonia fields. This site is profuse with fish life. The wide eyed Flounder is common on the sand, also Cuttle Fish can be spotted, and along the wall it is normal for one to see the Dusky Grouper. Dentex are also sometimes seen hunting for small fish. Common and Red Spotted Octopus are frequently seen at night.
A wreck was also scuttled in 2013 at the 20m mark next to the sand. A few years later it moved during a storm and is now touching the rocky reef with its back pointing roughly North. To arrive to it, keep at a depth of 10 to 15 metres heading out along the ridge looking at the line between the sand and the rocky reef. Once the sand depth reaches circa 20m you should literally bump into it. This will be a 20 minute swim out and an easy 15minutes back if you return in the same direction but slightly shallower, so watch your cylinder pressure gauge and spend time on the wreck wisely. For men, it’s recommended you use a 15Litre cylinder.
At the end of the dive before you exit the water you can enjoy the shallow water close to the shore where you will see Scorpion Fish, different species of Blennies, together with Octopus.
Going up the steel ladder you’ll notice the odd bunch of kids that are ready to jump at the occasion of asking a few questions about the dive…Kids will be kids!
