Diving in Marsaskala
15 dive sites around Marsaskala: 12 wrecks (2 of them aircraft), 2 caves and 5 reefs. The stretch takes in Wied il-Għajn, Żonqor Point and St Thomas Bay.
Depths run from 5 to 106 m. 2 suit Open Water divers and 9 are technical dives. 5 are shore dives and 10 need a boat. Marsaskala is a locality with several dives of its own.
Most of these sites close when the wind or swell comes from the N, NE, E, SE and S, and almost all are sheltered in a wind from the SW, W and NW.
The most dived: Le Polynesien, P33 (Marsaskala), St. Michael and Tugboat 10. Every site below has live sea conditions, a seabed sketch and the marine life to look for.
Best right now
- P33Marsaskala73Good
- St. MichaelMarsaskala73Good
- Tugboat 10Marsaskala73Good
Scores blend the wave, swell and wind forecasts for each site against the directions it is open to. Check the site page before you go.
Localities
Dive sites around Marsaskala
Digital Render
Le Polynesien
Marsaskala, Malta
A hundred and fifty metres of French ocean liner lying on her port side east of Marsaskala, torpedoed in the last summer of the First World War. Deck structures start at forty five metres and the sand is at sixty five.
Digital RenderP33
Marsaskala, Malta
A former Cold War patrol boat sunk between the Marsaskala tugs in 2021, now broken into pieces by winter storms and dived as a scattered wreckage field at around 20 metres.
Digital Render
St. Michael
Marsaskala, Malta
A Canadian-built wartime Tanac tug scuttled off Żonqor Point in 1998, lying upright in 22 metres and reached on the same shore dive as Tugboat 10.
Digital RenderTugboat 10
Marsaskala, Malta
A little Grand Harbour tug sunk on purpose in 1998, sitting upright in about 21 metres of water a short swim from the Marsaskala shore, and usually dived back to back with her neighbour St. Michael.
Digital RenderHMS Southwold
Marsaskala, Malta
A Hunt-class destroyer broken cleanly into two off Marsaskala, the bow on her starboard side around sixty eight to seventy two metres and the stern sitting upright at seventy three. Two very different dives on one ship, and probably the most dived of Malta's permitted deep wrecks.
Digital RenderHMS Nasturtium
Marsaskala, Malta
A First World War sloop that went minesweeping and found a mine the hard way off Valletta in April 1916. She lies at around sixty seven metres, big, coherent and one of the friendlier of Malta's permitted historic wrecks.
Digital RenderItalian E-boat
Marsaskala, Malta
A broken up fast attack craft from the siege years lying at 45 metres north of Zonqor Point, mixed in with a Corsair wing, a barge and assorted war debris. More of a treasure hunt than a wreck dive.
Digital Render
Junkers Ju 88 (South)
Marsaskala, Malta
The deeper of Malta's two Ju 88 bombers, sitting upright and almost complete on sand at 106 metres off Marsaskala. Trimix only, permit only, and one of the finest preserved aircraft wrecks in the Mediterranean.
Digital Render
Mini Blue Hole
Marsaskala, Malta
A collapsed sea cave on the Marsaskala coast joined to the open sea by a short swim-through, easy enough for new divers and irresistible for anyone with a camera.
Digital RenderMunxar Cave & Reef
Marsaskala, Malta
A long finger of rock running out from the Munxar headland with caves cut into its flanks, an arch at around 35 metres and walls dropping into the blue on both sides. Boat only, exposed, and worth timing properly.
Digital RenderORP Kujawiak
Marsaskala, Malta
A Hunt class escort destroyer lying on her port side at around 97 metres, six kilometres offshore, found in 2014 and opened to permitted technical divers in 2019. Intact bow, twin 102mm guns, and a stern crushed by the landing.
Digital RenderŻonqor Point
Marsaskala, Malta
The low limestone headland guarding the north side of Marsaskala Bay, with easy shore-diveable reef on both flanks and a maximum depth of about twenty metres.
Digital RenderHMT Crownsin
Marsaskala, Malta
A 137 ton requisitioned trawler, German built and taken as a prize in 1915, mined east of the Grand Harbour on 4 May 1916 with eleven of her crew. She was the fourth and last ship killed by the same U 73 minefield that took HMS Russell, and unlike the other three she has never been found.
Digital RenderHMY Aegusa
Marsaskala, Malta
A Victorian steam yacht of real pedigree, once owned by the tea magnate Thomas Lipton, sunk by a mine off Malta in April 1916 and now lying at about 76 metres. Technical, boat only, and rarely visited.
Digital RenderMartin Maryland
Marsaskala, Malta
A wartime reconnaissance bomber lying inverted on sand at seventy metres off Marsaskala, located by sonar in 2020 and firmly in the realm of permitted technical diving.