Diving in St Paul's Bay
12 dive sites around St Paul's Bay: 4 wrecks, 2 caves, 7 reefs and 1 wall. The stretch takes in San Pawl il-Baħar, Buġibba, Qawra, Xemxija and St Paul's Islands.
Depths run from 2 to 56 m. 5 suit Open Water divers and 1 is a technical dive. 7 are shore dives and 5 need a boat. Qawra Point 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 and NW, and almost all are sheltered in a wind from the S, SW and W.
The most dived: Fra Ben Cave and Qawra Bay. Every site below has live sea conditions, a seabed sketch and the marine life to look for.
Best right now
- Qawra BayQawra Point55Marginal
- Fra Ben CaveQawra Point0Stay dry
- HMS Stubborn0Stay dry
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 St Paul's Bay
Digital Render
Fra Ben Cave
Qawra Point, Malta
A short, shallow cavern with an open ceiling on the north side of Qawra Point, complete with a rock in the middle to swim around and a blowhole to surface in. Perfect on a sunny day and genuinely beginner friendly.
Digital RenderQawra Bay
Qawra Point, Malta
The sheltered shallow bay on the south side of Qawra Point, two to ten metres of sand and seagrass, and the place half of Malta learns to dive. Unglamorous, dependable, and better on fish than it has any right to be.
Digital Render
HMS Stubborn
St Paul's Bay, Malta
A sixty six metre S-class submarine sitting upright and beautifully intact on sand northeast of Qawra, top of the conning tower around forty five metres and the sand at fifty six. The best submarine dive in Malta and a rite of passage for local tech divers.
Digital RenderMV Imperial Eagle
St Paul's Bay, Malta
The old Malta to Gozo ferry, sunk deliberately off Qawra Point in 1999 and sitting dead upright on sand at forty two metres. Nearby, an arch, a seventeenth century anchor and a bronze Christ with his arms out.
Digital RenderNorth Reef & Arch
Qawra Point, Malta
Swim straight out north from Qawra Point and the rock slopes to ten metres before stepping down over a small reef, with a proper little arch at around 18 metres that divers can fly through. Seagrass, sand and good navigation practice.
Digital Render
Sirens
St Paul's Bay, Malta
The shallow training reef of St Paul's Bay: a rock-cut pool, a channel out to open water, and a mixed bottom of boulders, sand and seagrass that never passes 12 to 15 metres.
Digital RenderStatue of Christ
St Paul's Bay, Malta
A three metre concrete Christ standing on white sand at 35 m off Qawra Point, arms open and face tilted to the surface, with a rock arch, a seventeenth century anchor and the bow of the Imperial Eagle all within a few fin kicks.
Digital RenderHMS Kingston
St Paul's Bay, Malta
A shallow scatter of steel in the channel between Selmun and St Paul's Island, all that is left of a K-class destroyer that survived a battleship's shell and then died in dry dock. Think easy scenic dive with a very good story rather than a wreck dive.
Digital Render
L-Cave
Qawra Point, Malta
A tight L-shaped tunnel at 33 metres off Qawra Point, dark for the first ten metres and then opening up towards a lit exit at 36. Beautiful if you are calm and experienced, deeply unpleasant if you are not.
Digital RenderQawra Reef
Qawra Point, Malta
The big one off Qawra: a reef top at 15 to 20 metres, a steep drop-off to 30 or 40, and a row of wide caverns cut back under the rock. Barracuda, amberjack and dentex patrol it and the visibility is usually superb.
Digital RenderSt Paul's Reef
St Paul's Bay, Malta
A long rocky reef running seaward from St Paul's Islands, with a shallow inner shoulder, a stepped outer edge down to about 25 m and a narrow canyon cut into it. Boat only, and rarely busy.
Digital RenderSt Paul's Channel
St Paul's Bay, Malta
The shallow gap between Malta and St Paul's Islands, a pale rocky trench a few metres deep that slides away towards 25 m where it opens to the sea. Easy, scruffy and almost never on a dive centre schedule.