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Scuba Diving in Malta, Europe
Dive Site: Inland Sea / Blue Hole
Location: San Lawrenz, Gozo
Description: Reef
Depth: 60 metres max (200 feet)
Visibility: 30 metres (100 feet)
Rating: *****
Entering the water at the Inland Sea, the first part of the dive passes though an arch in the rock where the deep blue, clear water is the attraction. After this you follow the reef round, which is on a steep wall that falls away to the sea floor at 60 metres. The reef is covered in life, including some larger fish, such as tuna. Further around the wall there is a small cavern. You then come to the Blue Hole, a sink hole in the limestone, through which you can enter to do a safety stop then surface from. The walk back is hard work across rough limestone and back to the Inland Sea, but well worth it as the dive is awesome.
Reader Reviews:
I've lost track of the number of times I've dived here simply because you can never do it enough. For 2005 the new attraction was a huge and pristine lump of limestone that had dropped out of the Azure Window into the abyss below. This is a huge pyramidical naked lump of rock quite different from the others since it is yet to be colonised. I think I saw someone, somewhat slimmer than me, swim through a gap underneath it. I couldn't begin to describe this area in 200 words. Sufficient to say this is easily the best dive site anywhere in Malta.
Jef Proudfoot, SAA Dive Leader
I entered the large inland sea pool which leads into a large crevice and through to the open sea. The wonderful sloping sides make for great azure blue silhouette photos. The life was a bit limited until further around the reef where there were starfish, sea urchins and centipedes. There is quite a cave overhang just around from the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole itself begins at 20 metres and the water is a wonderful azure colour.
Rik Vercoe, BSAC Advanced Instructor
We dived the Blue Hole and Inland Sea as two separate dives. A very scenic entry into the Blue Hole in front of the Azure Window. The Blue Hole itself is small and there is a cave at around 8m. I descended down the reef until I came to the best part of this dive which is known as the Chimney. Here two adjacent rock faces meet to provide a chimney like formation. As you go up the Chimney there are lots of cervices, arches and swim throughs to explore as and when you find them. Unfortunately there was not a lot of fish life but the rock formations made up for this. We then continued back the way we came along the reef but at a shallower level to the cave for lots of photos and exited out of the Blue Hole.
The Inland Sea is a great dive and I enjoyed spending an hour in the crevice. It was a very atmospheric dive watching the sunlight coming through, the water was really still and a brilliant deep blue colour. A few small fish making silhouettes as they swam past us added to the eeriness.
Carina Hall, PADI Divemaster
The Inland Sea is the best dive site for underwater meditation... hovering in the middle of this large blue tunnel... diving from an inland sea to the ocean... perfect fauna... the Inland Sea dive is better than yoga.
Tamer Durak, PADI MSDT
Absolutely awesome dive entered from the Inland Sea into the beautiful canyon - overwhelming. My buddy thought that the entrance from the Inland Sea into the canyon was not for the faint hearted, but I'd been through the canyon before and knew it to be safe and a great experience, my buddy later agreed it was awesome.
Davey D
I dived the Blue Hole as my first qualified open water dive.
We went down the Blue Hole to the entrance to the open water following the many levels of rock formations, swimming round the azure window to an amazing drop off and a luscious carpet filled with marine life! The swim back watching all the life on the walls of the rock face was amazing.
Glen Dickson, PADI Open Water
I dived the Inland Sea and Blue Hole as two separate dives, doing the Inland Sea first. I was a little nervous entering the crevice as it was very dark and murky but the view as the azure blue comes into light is amazing! A nice wall dive followed and a murky safety stop on the way back. The Blue Hole was incredible! Descending into a hole of beautiful blue water and swimming through the rock formations was definitely better than yoga! Loved this dive!
Paul Beach, PADI Advanced Diver
Dived this after Xmas 2006 and did the Blue Hole and Inland Sea as two separate dives. Both dives were quite dramatic, the views are lovely. As you swim out of the Inland Sea you see a beautiful tall column of blue, the entrance to the outside sea. We turned the corner to the right and went along the reef wall and immediately spotted two lovely nudibranchs. On the way back we noticed two groupers at the wall and found they were looking at an octopus. The Blue Hole had a great chimney to go through, although my mask managed to fill up as we went up it. At the end the views from the safety stop of the rocks round a circle of blue were beautiful.
Anna Wright, PADI Advanced Diver
Dived this site numerous times and it's brilliant. So much to see and so easy.
Dave Ward, BSAC Avanced Diver/Inst | 31/7/2009
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