Malta Diving Map: Wrecks, Dive Sites and Freediving

Malta, Gozo and Comino sit on a limestone shelf that drops fast into clear water, which is why divers come here all year. This map puts 146 dive sites on a depth chart of the islands: 26 wrecks for recreational divers, 22 deep historic wrecks for technical divers, and 98 reefs, caves, arches and underwater statues. Every wreck shows its depth under its name. The 52 dive centres where you book a guided dive, take a course or rent gear are on it too, and a "Freediving" switch keeps only the spots and schools for breath-hold diving.

Where to dive in Malta

Ċirkewwa, at the north-west tip by the Gozo ferry, is the best-known shore dive on the islands: from one entry you reach the P29 patrol boat (12–34 m), the tug Rozi (20–34 m), the Ċirkewwa arch and the Madonna statue. In the south, the Um El Faroud, a 110 m tanker scuttled off Wied iż-Żurrieq in 1998, is the largest wreck and still a shore dive. Off Qawra, the Imperial Eagle (32–42 m) lies next to the statue of Christ at 35 m, and in Valletta the WWII destroyer HMS Maori sits at only 9–16 m below Fort St Elmo.

Gozo has 52 of the natural sites here and 16 dive centres, more than enough for a week. Dwejra holds the Blue Hole (0–25 m) and the Inland Sea tunnel (3–26 m), two of the most famous dives in the Mediterranean; the east coast at Xatt l-Aħmar has three ships scuttled side by side, and the south-coast inlets like Mġarr ix-Xini (15 m) shelter you when the north is rough. Comino is a boat trip: the P31 (7–20 m) and the Santa Marija caves are the usual pair. For the swimming spots above the water line, the beaches map covers every bay on the coast.

Wrecks: artificial reefs and war graves

Most of the wrecks recreational divers visit were sunk on purpose. Since the early 1990s, old patrol boats, tugs and ferries have been cleaned and scuttled as artificial reefs at depths chosen for divers, which is why Ċirkewwa, Xatt l-Aħmar and Żonqor Point each have several within a few fins of each other. The other wrecks come from two world wars fought around the Grand Harbour: destroyers, minesweepers, submarines and aircraft, most of them deeper than 50 m. Heritage Malta opened them to divers in 2019 under strict rules: you book through one of the 14 approved centres marked on the map, nobody enters the wrecks and nothing is touched or taken. Several, like HMS Southwold and the submarine HMS Olympus, are war graves.

Freediving in Malta

Deep water a few metres from the rocks makes the islands a natural freediving ground. Dwejra, home of the Blue Hole, hosted an AIDA-listed European freediving festival in 2017, and the Gozo Apnea Games ran off Mġarr ix-Xini in August 2025. The Xatt l-Aħmar coast and Ras il-Ħobż on Gozo, and Ċirkewwa and Wied iż-Żurrieq on Malta, are where schools run depth sessions. Switch the map to Freediving to see the 36 spots that suit breath-hold diving and the 14 schools and dive centres that teach it. Use a buoy with a dive flag: boat traffic close to shore is heavy in summer.

How to read the depth shading

The blues come from the EMODnet Digital Bathymetry, the European seabed model, drawn as bands from shallow turquoise to the 1000 m navy of the open sea, with contour lines at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 m. It is clipped to the OpenStreetMap coastline, so it stops where the basemap's shore does. The model's grid is about 115 m, so close to the cliffs the real seabed can drop faster than the shading shows: trust the depth written on each dive site, which comes from the dive centres and surveys, and never use this map to navigate a boat. Dive sites are placed at their published GPS position (the site centre or the shore entry); dive centres are on their building where it is mapped, and marked approximate where only the street is known.

Every dive site on the map

Dive centres, gear rental and freediving schools

Only licensed dive centres can teach, guide or rent scuba gear in Malta, so the centre is also where you hire equipment: full kit for a guided dive, or tanks and weights for an unaccompanied buddy pair (the "self-guided packages" common on Gozo). For buying gear, The Dive Warehouse is the main standalone dive shop. The 14 centres marked "Heritage Malta deep wrecks" on the map can take technical divers to the historic wrecks.

Dive sites, depths and wreck histories compiled in October 2026 from dive-centre site guides, maltadives.com, Heritage Malta and underwatermalta.org (sources linked on each card); dive centres from the PDSA, PADI and SSI listings and each centre's own site. Depth shading: EMODnet Bathymetry Consortium, EMODnet Digital Bathymetry (DTM), licensed CC BY 4.0. Coastline and centre positions: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Conditions change with the wind and the season: dive within your training and check the day's conditions with a local centre.

Diving in Malta: common questions

What are the best dive sites in Malta? +

On Malta itself, Ċirkewwa is the classic shore dive: the P29 patrol boat (12–34 m), the tug Rozi (20–34 m), an arch and a Madonna statue all from the same entry. The Um El Faroud tanker off Wied iż-Żurrieq (15–36 m) is the biggest wreck. On Gozo, the Blue Hole and the Inland Sea tunnel at Dwejra are the famous ones, and Comino has the P31 patrol boat (7–20 m) and the Santa Marija caves. All of them are on the map with depth, level and the closest dive centres.

How deep are the wrecks in Malta? +

The recreational wrecks run from about 7 m (the top of the P31 off Comino) to just over 40 m: HMS Maori in Valletta sits at 9–16 m, the Um El Faroud at 15–36 m and the Imperial Eagle off Qawra at 32–42 m. The 22 Heritage Malta historic wrecks lie between 55 m and 115 m and are technical dives only. Each wreck on the map shows its depth range under its name.

Can you dive in Malta without a guide? +

Yes, if you are certified for it. Visit Gozo's guidance is that a diver can go without an instructor only if their certification covers dives to 30 m, and the Gozo centres that sell unaccompanied packages (tanks, weights, a site briefing) usually ask for Advanced Open Water or equivalent. You still register at a licensed dive centre, sign a medical questionnaire and show your card and logbook. The dive-centre regulations went through a public consultation in July 2026, so ask your centre what applies when you book.

What is the water temperature for diving in Malta? +

Around 15°C at the end of winter (February and March) and about 26 to 27°C in August, by ten-year averages for Gozo. Diving runs all year: May to October is warm and calm, and from December to March centres recommend a drysuit or a thick semi-dry. Visibility of 20 to 40 m is normal.

Where can you freedive in Malta? +

The deep, clear water close to shore is what makes Malta good for freediving. The Blue Hole at Dwejra, Mġarr ix-Xini (where the Gozo Apnea Games were held in August 2025) and the Xatt l-Aħmar coast on Gozo are the usual training spots, with Ċirkewwa and Wied iż-Żurrieq on Malta. Switch the map to "Freediving" to see only the 36 spots that suit breath-hold diving and the 14 schools and centres that teach it.

Do divers and freedivers need a flag or buoy in Malta? +

Visit Malta says divers must fly the Code A flag or use a surface marker buoy, because boat and ferry traffic is heavy, especially in summer and across the Gozo Channel. A 2024 Transport Malta notice requires boats with divers down to show a rigid Alpha flag at least 1 m high, and asks other boats to keep clear and slow down (100 m is the distance usually quoted). The rules are written for divers, and freedivers use a buoy with a flag for the same reason.

Can you dive the Heritage Malta deep wrecks? +

Yes, as a technical diver and through an approved dive centre. Wrecks over 50 years old are protected under the Cultural Heritage Act, and Heritage Malta manages about 18 historic sites open to divers, from HMS Southwold (65–72 m) to the submarine HMS Olympus (115 m). You book through one of the approved centres, which needs a permit for the dive and for its boat. Penetration, touching the wreck and tying lines to it are forbidden. Malta residents can also join Heritage Malta's Shipwreck Club for €30 a year.

Where is the hyperbaric chamber in Malta? +

Mater Dei Hospital in Msida has the main hyperbaric unit, with two recompression chambers. Gozo General Hospital opened a new six-person chamber in March 2026. In a diving emergency, call 112.