Gozo and Malta: A Diver's Guide to the Best Week Underwater

If there is one holiday destination we get asked about more than any other once the summer holidays begin, it is Gozo and Malta. Warm, clear water, genuinely dramatic underwater terrain and a manageable flight time from the UK make this small archipelago one of the most complete diving holidays available to British divers, and for families or groups looking to combine learning to dive with a proper holiday, it is very hard to beat.

Why Gozo And Malta Stand Out

What makes this destination special is not any single dive but the sheer variety packed into a compact area. Gozo, the smaller and quieter of the two main islands, offers dramatic limestone topography underwater, arches, caverns, swim throughs and the famous Blue Hole, while Malta itself brings some of the Mediterranean's most accessible and well preserved wrecks, several of them deliberately sunk as artificial reefs and genuinely spectacular to explore. Comino, the tiny island between the two, adds its own crystal clear lagoon diving into the mix. Very few destinations offer this much genuine variety within such short boat rides of each other.

Marine Life You Can Expect

The Mediterranean will never match a tropical reef for sheer density of colour, but Gozo and Malta reward divers who know what to look for. Grouper are a common and impressive sighting around the wrecks and reef structures, often surprisingly large and unbothered by passing divers. Octopus and cuttlefish are frequently spotted tucked into rocky crevices, and the occasional moray eel makes an appearance around the more structured sites. Seasonal visitors add extra interest through the year, with barracuda schools sometimes passing through open water sites and, less predictably, sightings of larger pelagic species further offshore. The clarity of the water, often exceptional by UK standards, means that even smaller marine life, nudibranchs, cardinal fish and the region's many small reef fish, becomes genuinely rewarding to spend time watching.

Best Time Of Year To Visit

The core diving season runs roughly from April through to November, with water temperatures climbing steadily from a cool early season into genuinely warm conditions by mid to late summer, when a shortie or even swimwear alone becomes comfortable for many divers. July and August bring the warmest water and the busiest crowds, both on land and at the more popular dive sites, while the shoulder months of May, June, September and October often offer a genuinely excellent balance of warm water, good visibility and noticeably fewer other divers at the best known sites. For families planning around school summer holidays, the peak months remain the obvious choice despite the crowds, since warm, comfortable water makes learning to dive together far more enjoyable for less experienced or nervous swimmers.

What A Typical Week Of Diving Looks Like

Gozo Days

A typical Gozo based day usually starts with a short transfer or boat ride to one of the island's celebrated shore or boat sites, the Blue Hole and its adjacent Blue Chimney, the Reqqa Point drop off, or the caverns and swim throughs around Dwejra. Two dives is the usual rhythm for a full diving day, with a proper surface interval built around lunch, and afternoons often left free for exploring the islands themselves, since Gozo's above water scenery is almost as dramatic as what lies beneath it.

Malta Wreck Days

Malta's wreck diving typically fills a day or two of a longer trip, with sites like the deliberately scuttled patrol boats and the well known deeper wrecks offering genuinely different diving from Gozo's natural terrain. Several of Malta's best wrecks sit at depths suited to Advanced Open Water certified divers and beyond, which makes this a great destination for divers looking to build genuinely varied logged experience across a single trip, natural reef, dramatic topography and structured wreck diving all within the same week.

Comino And Lagoon Diving

A day trip out to Comino, often combined with a visit to the famous Blue Lagoon, adds a different pace again, generally calmer, shallower diving well suited to less experienced divers, families diving together, or simply a more relaxed day within a busier week.

Logistics And Getting There

Direct flights from several UK airports reach Malta in around three hours, making it a genuinely realistic option even for a shorter week long trip without losing days to travel. Gozo itself is reached by a short ferry crossing from Malta's north coast, straightforward enough that many visiting divers base themselves on one island and dive both without much difficulty. Water temperatures and generally settled conditions through the core season make dive planning relatively forgiving compared with more current dependent or tide dependent destinations, which is part of why it works so well for mixed ability groups and families learning together.

English is widely spoken throughout Malta and Gozo, a legacy of the islands' history, which removes a layer of complexity that can otherwise make an overseas dive trip feel more daunting for first time travelling divers.

Dive centres across both islands are generally well equipped and used to hosting UK groups, with air and nitrox fills, equipment hire and guided boat diving all straightforward to arrange either in advance or once you have arrived. Many visiting divers choose to bring their own mask, fins and regulator while hiring bulkier items like BCDs and tanks locally, a sensible middle ground that keeps luggage manageable without sacrificing the comfort of familiar personal kit.

What Makes It Special For Families And Newer Divers

Warm, generally calm, exceptionally clear water makes Gozo and Malta a genuinely excellent destination for combining a first taste of open water diving with a proper family holiday. Shallower sites around Comino and parts of Gozo's coastline suit newer or younger divers comfortably, while the deeper wrecks and dramatic Gozo topography give more experienced members of a mixed group plenty to get excited about on the same trip. It is exactly this combination, genuinely excellent diving for experienced divers alongside forgiving, confidence building conditions for newer ones, that keeps bringing our members back to these islands year after year.

Planning Your Own Trip

We keep our holiday listings and trips page updated with genuinely available options for members looking to dive Gozo and Malta with our team, whether joining an organised group trip or getting advice on planning an independent visit around your own dates. Because conditions stay relatively settled through the core season, this is also a genuinely good destination for divers wanting to complete open water training abroad in warm, clear water rather than battling UK conditions for a first certification.

We are also happy to help build a genuinely mixed itinerary for a group with different certification levels and ambitions travelling together, pairing shallower, easier days for newer or younger divers with deeper wreck or drop off diving for more experienced members, so that everyone comes home from the same trip having had a week that actually suited them, rather than compromising on a single itinerary that only really works for one part of the group.

Ready to start planning your own week in Gozo and Malta? Browse our holiday destinations or check our current trips - we're at Bellman Court, Great Knollys Street, Reading, or call the expeditions team on +44 (0) 333 038 9090.