Malta is always described as a country you either love or hate!  Well our family love it so much we have visited it twice a year for the last 4 years.  The reason for our persistent return to Malta is the diving, the climate, the people, and because we are confident our children Sarah 11 and Thomas 12 are safe up top when we are diving.  The Maltese are a religious family orientated people who love children.  Did I also mention that the diving is great?

The best diving centre in Malta is Dive Deep Blue Scuba Diving Centre in Bugibba.  The Directors are very professional but also friendly and welcoming and have become good friends. A BSAC dive school, which feels just, like a dive club.  Every visit we meet divers we have dived with previously.  This year’s holiday was extra special because it included my 500th dive and our 100th dive together in Malta.  During our fortnights holiday Thomas our Son passed his PADI Junior Open Water Diver, as he later explains. 

Over the years we have dived all of the popular sites in Malta and Gozo many times.  This summer we dived some new and old sites. Our favourites were Billinghurst cave on Gozo. This involved a stride entry above the cave entrance, a descent into a huge cavern with lovely lace and golden cup corals. On exit we descended to the seabed, home to groupers and stingrays.  It was absolutely stunning with crystal clear water in the region of 40 metres visibility. 

L’Ahrax cave was a new dive site to us, normally a boat dive.  We did it from the shore, which necessitated a very interesting trip in a Land Rover across very rocky terrain.  Entry was the north side of a rocky headland, on decent we drifted nice and leisurely around to a gully which we followed into the most wonderful arch and cave which was open to the sky.  The visibility was crystal clear with the sun penetrating the water.  The amount of fish was fantastic, we spent so long exploring this cave it was timeless, we didn’t want to leave.  As we finned our way back to the exit point we found the usual array of creatures such as Octopus and Moray eels amongst others, superb.

Migrah Ferha (Happy Welcome) was our one hundredth dive in Malta and involved a steep climb down stone steps cut out of Dingli Cliffs to the entrance point.  After a gradual descent to the right side of the wall reaching the seabed at 40 plus metres were various cars- Mercedes & Porches! which littered the rocks after being pushed over the cliffs, for insurance claims.  After is an easy ascent up to a cave entrance where at 20 metres this cave has a fresh water halocline.  We then had to climb back up the cliff side, good job we are fit.  These are just a few favourites out of the twenty-four excellent dives we had on this visit.   

While we were enjoying ourselves diving a friend was putting Thomas through his PADI Junior Open Water Diver course.  Which he found fairly easy as my husband who is a BSAC Open Water Instructor had already put him through the BSAC Club diver course both theory and practical. This was in preparation for the anticipated reduction of age for club diver training, which unfortunately did not happen.

So here is Toms story.  

My Dad and I had been told by a BSAC regional coach that he thought the age limit for Club Diver training was coming down to 12 years.  Therefore I went through all the club diver lectures with a group of students in my parent’s branch; my Dad did all the pool lessons with me.  Just before we went on holiday Dad told me that the BSAC had not lowered the age limit, I was gutted.   

While we were in Malta a friend of ours who just happened to be a PADI instructor offered to put me through my PADI Junior Open Water Course for free. As you can imagine I jumped at the chance. At first I felt a bit iffy about doing a PADI course because of being around a BSAC branch for the last 6 years. 

The theory and pool lessons were a bit boring due to them just being a repetition of what I’d already done, but the highlight for me was the five open water dives I did, they were fantastic. The sea was crystal clear, there was tons of life, and it was so easy.  But eventually the theory test day had to come; I was petrified, but like most things once I started it was fine.  I flew through it, passing it with flying colours, getting 49 out of 50 - I was chuffed.  Now I am as much of a diver as any one else, just three weeks later I was diving on the Yewglen, Coryton and Kniveston back at the Farnes in the North East of England.