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Reqqa Point · Gozo

Anchor Reef

A long submerged ledge running east from Reqqa Point towards Double Arch: an easy plateau on top, a serious drop-off on the outside, and a namesake anchor that has gone missing.

Advanced🪸 Reef15 to 40 mShore access: mediumPopularity: lowAlso called Landslide Reef
Plan this dive

Sea conditions

79

Good right now

Some chop (0.4 m ESE)

Forecast for the site, updated 01:33 AM

Waves
0.4 m
from ESE
Wind
7 km/h
SSW, gusts 14
Swell
0.3 m
5 s period
Sea temp
28 °C
air 27 °C

Next 7 days

Today🌦️100 0.6 m
13 SW
Sat☁️100 0.4 m
14 SSW
Sun🌦️92 0.3 m
8 ENE
Mon☁️100 0.2 m
14 WNW
Tue☁️56 0.5 m
24 NW
Wed🌦️7 0.8 m
35 E
Thu🌤️46 0.8 m
19 WNW

Sunrise 06:47, sunset 19:06

Exposed to wind and swell from: NW (315°), N (0°), NE (45°), E (90°). North coast site, so it needs the same settled weather as Reqqa. Diveable at both levels when calm, and the shallow plateau option makes it a reasonable choice on a day with a small ripple, as long as the entry is manageable. Best season: June to October, with the best visibility in late summer..

The dive

Anchor Reef is the quiet middle child of this coast. It is the stretch of reef between Reqqa Point and Double Arch, a rocky shelf that starts narrow and widens out to well over a hundred metres as you head east. On top it is gentle, five metres near shore dropping to around fifteen at its outer edge, with sunlight, sand pockets and a couple of small swimthroughs that less experienced divers love. On the seaward side it simply stops, and the wall beneath falls away past forty metres and keeps going.

That gives you two completely different dives from the same entry. Stay shallow and it is a relaxed potter along a drop-off edge with the blue on one side and the reef on the other. Drop over the lip and you get a proper wall dive, big boulders stacked against the rock, grouper wedged underneath them and barracuda strung out in the current above.

About that anchor. The site is named for a substantial old anchor that used to lie in the deeper section, and it is no longer there. Stories vary: taken illegally, moved to a museum, or dragged east by winter storms towards Double Arch and broken up on the way. Nobody seems entirely sure, so if you go looking for it, manage your expectations.

Access is the other thing to get right. Some operators run it as a boat dive from Marsalforn, which is the easy option, while others shore dive it from the rocky coast using steps cut by fishermen. Neither is dramatic in calm weather and both are unpleasant in swell.

  • Two dives in one site: easy plateau or proper wall
  • Small swimthroughs that suit newer divers
  • Grouper under the boulders and barracuda along the edge
  • Links naturally with Double Arch to the east

Typical plan

For the easy version, enter, drop onto the plateau at 6 to 8 metres, and follow the edge of the drop-off east with the blue on your right, turning around 15 metres and picking up the swimthroughs on the way back. For the wall version, cross the plateau, go over the lip and settle at 28 to 30 metres along the boulder line, turning on a third and climbing back onto the plateau for the last twenty minutes and a long safety stop. Forty five to fifty five minutes on a 12 litre, air is fine for the shallow plan and nitrox 32 for the wall, SMB on the belt either way.

What the bottom looks like

0183750m🤿123456240 m from entry
  1. 1Shallow inner plateau6 m deep · 30 m out
  2. 2Small swimthroughs suitable for less experienced divers10 m deep · 70 m out
  3. 3Sand pockets on the outer plateau15 m deep · 120 m out
  4. 4Edge of the drop-off20 m deep · 155 m out
  5. 5Tumbled boulder ground below the wall34 m deep · 190 m out
  6. 6Ledged wall running east towards Double Arch40 m deep · 210 m out
Cartoon cross-section along the usual route from Fishermen's cut steps on the rocky shore east of Reqqa Point. Depths are approximate.

Flat coralline limestone ledge scattered with sand pockets on top, giving way to a ledged wall and boulder debris below.

Who you might meet

Getting in and staying safe

Two options. By boat is simplest: a short run east from Marsalforn or from Xwejni. By shore, follow the coast road past the salt pans towards Reqqa and continue east to the rocky stretch, where small steps cut by fishermen give access to the water. The entry needs calm conditions and a careful look before you commit, because there is no ladder and the rock is sharp and uneven. Parking is informal on the open limestone. No facilities anywhere along this coast, so sort out water, shade and toilets in Marsalforn before you drive out.

  • Awkward rock entry over fishermen's steps with no ladder
  • Drop-off runs past 40 m with no shelf, easy to overshoot a plan
  • Current along this coast, particularly near the point
  • Fully exposed to northerly wind and swell
  • Boat traffic in summer, carry an SMB
  • Fishing line and tackle on the shallow plateau
  • Long shore swim back if you drift east past the entry

A bit of history

The reef takes its name from a large anchor that once lay in the deeper part of the site. It has since disappeared, with local accounts split between removal by souvenir hunters, relocation to a museum and destruction by storm action as it was dragged east towards Double Arch. The alternative name Landslide Reef refers to the tumbled boulder ground beneath the drop-off, the debris of cliff collapse along this Lower Coralline Limestone coast.

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Further reading: Blue Waters Dive Cove, Anchor Reef · SSI MyDiveGuide, Anchor Reef · Divers Guide, Anchor Reef Gozo · Visit Gozo, Anchor Reef · Dive Shack Malta, Reqqa Point