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Anchor Bay · Malta

The Anchor

The feature the bay is named after: a three metre iron anchor lying on sand at eight metres, big enough to swim under and thickly furred with growth, with its chain trailing back toward the head of the inlet.

Open Water🪸 Reef8 mShore access: easyPopularity: mediumAlso called Anchor Bay Anchor, Popeye Anchor
Plan this dive

Sea conditions

100

Excellent right now

Flat, sheltered and calm

Forecast for the site, updated 01:45 AM

Waves
0.3 m
from SE
Wind
n/a
Swell
0.2 m
5 s period
Sea temp
29 °C

Next 7 days

Today🌤️71 0.5 m
0 N
Sat🌤️79 0.4 m
0 N
Sun🌤️92 0.4 m
0 N
Mon🌤️98 0.2 m
0 N
Tue🌤️78 0.4 m
0 N
Wed🌤️90 0.5 m
0 N
Thu🌤️100 0.5 m
0 N

Exposed to wind and swell from: W (270°), NW (315°), SW (225°). Sheltered by high cliffs on both sides and by the jetty acting as a breakwater, which is why Anchor Bay becomes the plan B of choice when a north easterly shuts down Cirkewwa. Westerly wind and swell run straight in and turn the water to soup. Best season: Year round when the wind is off the land, with the best visibility from June to September..

The dive

It is a small thing to build a dive around and yet it works every time. The anchor lies on a clean sand patch on the north side of the bay, upright enough that a diver can duck beneath one arm, and it is old enough that every surface is coated in weed, sponge and tube worms. Scale is the appeal. Put a buddy beside it in a photograph and it suddenly reads as an object that once held a real ship against real weather.

From the anchor the chain runs back toward the inner end of the bay, appearing and disappearing under sand and growth. Following it is the natural route, partly because it leads you gently home and partly because the links are a reliable place to find small life: blennies tucked into the gaps, octopus using the shadow, wrasse fussing along the length of it. Eight metres is the whole story here, so bottom time is effectively unlimited.

Because it is so shallow, nobody sensible dives the anchor on its own. It is one stop on a loop that usually takes in the boulder reef and Scorpion Cave, and it makes a lovely last feature before you drift into the shallows under the jetty and start the slow, pointless, enjoyable business of looking under every rock.

  • A three metre anchor you can swim under, perfect for a scale photograph
  • Follow the chain home, a route even a nervous new diver can hold
  • Eight metres maximum, so no gas or nitrogen pressure at all
  • Pairs naturally with Scorpion Cave and the boulder reef in one dive

Typical plan

Entry down the jetty ladders, cross the bay on the surface or shallow, then work out along the northern side to the anchor at eight metres. Spend a few minutes on photographs, pick up the chain and follow it back toward the inner bay, then finish under and around the jetty in three to five metres. Single cylinder, sixty minutes or more, nothing clever required.

What the bottom looks like

0368m🤿12345215 m from entry
  1. 1Fallen boulders on the northern side6 m deep · 60 m out
  2. 2Three metre iron anchor on sand8 m deep · 95 m out
  3. 3Sand patch under and around the anchor8 m deep · 110 m out
  4. 4Anchor chain running back toward the head of the bay7 m deep · 140 m out
  5. 5Posidonia patches on the way back in5 m deep · 190 m out
Cartoon cross-section along the usual route from Ladders on the inner face of the concrete jetty, south side of the bay. Depths are approximate.

Sand with scattered rock and patchy Posidonia, bordered by boulders fallen from the cliffs.

Who you might meet

Getting in and staying safe

Same as the rest of Anchor Bay. Drive down the dirt road to the concrete jetty opposite Popeye Village and use the ladders on the inner face. The anchor is a short swim across and out toward the far end of the jetty on the northern side, so it is one of the easiest features in the bay to reach. Parking is up on the flat above, and the Popeye Village entrance has toilets and a cafe.

  • Boat traffic, including tourist craft that come into the bay in summer
  • Occasional current across the bay mouth
  • Sharp edges and old growth on the anchor and chain, so gloves and care
  • Poor visibility after westerly weather
  • Snorkellers and swimmers overhead in high season

A bit of history

Local accounts link the anchor and its chain to the maritime work that went on in the bay, including the era when the Popeye film set was built here and the barge Scotscraig was moored and later sunk as part of the construction of the jetty. Some dive centres describe the anchor as nineteenth century Admiralty pattern. Nobody has published a firm provenance, so enjoy it as a handsome old lump of iron rather than a documented artefact.

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Further reading: Dive Shack Malta: Anchor Bay · New Dimension Scuba: Anchor Bay · Malta Dive Sites: Anchor Bay · PADI dive site listing: Anchor Bay