Qawra Reef – Calypso Sub-Aqua Club

Location of Site:
500 metres off the north west tip of Qawra Point

Type of Dive: By boat or shore

Condition: Very exposed and high risks of currents

Average Depth: 25 metres
Maximum Depth: 36 metres

Certification Required:
BSAC Sports Diver, PADI Advanced Open Water or equivalent

The Dive:
This dive can be done from the shore or from a boat. If you decide to do the dive from the shore you will have to walk over rugged sharp pointed rocks and therefore it is recommended that you wear boots with a thick sole. If the sea is slightly choppy beware as it may be difficult to exit the water as the waves will pound you against the rocks. It is recommended that this site is not dived if the wind is Force 4 blowing from the North West, North or North East. Parking the car is not a problem as there is always ample parking space. The bay on the south east side is shallow (a maximum of 5 metres) and covered in posedonia.

The best area to dive is the north west side, here you have a couple of options to choose from. You either remain shallow and dive along the shore until you get to a small cavern which has an open ceiling. A lamp will be quite useful if you want to investigate all the cracks in this cavern. Once in the cavern you can surface. The bottom terrain is interesting with crevices and rock formations, but it is not deeper than 16 metres for quite a distance.

The other option is to take a northerly direction swimming for about 10 minutes on a bearing of 105 degrees and this brings you to a drop-off onto a flat sandy bottom. Swim along the drop off and you will come across a wall of cracks and holes full of colourful sponges and small fish. A couple of caves are found in the area, one is a swim through L shaped cave. Divers need to be very careful when entering this cave as the inexperienced diver will have problems if the fine sand is stirred up whilst swimming and the visibility inside the cave is drastically reduced. The other cave is located on the opposite side of the L shaped curve. The entry point is very narrow and the diver needs to crawl to get for some metres to get inside until one gets to a chamber. This is a very dangerous cave and only very experienced divers with cave diving experience should dare enter this cave. Fatalities occurred a few years back and therefore this cave is strictly out of bounds for the inexperienced. To save on air consumption it is recommended to snorkel for about 10 minutes than make your descent and swim in a north easterly bearing until you reach the drop off.

Please monitor your air consumption because of the depth and the long journey back if you are diving from the shore, also because of the depth involved you will also be required to do decompression stops.