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Xwejni Bay · Marsalforn · Gozo

Double Arch

Two enormous natural arches stacked one above the other on an offshore reef north of Xwejni, with barracuda hanging over the top and the ground falling away to 45 metres and beyond. The best-looking deep reef dive on Gozo's north coast.

Advanced Cave Reef Wall30 to 45 mUsually by Boat · Shore Access: EasyPopularity: HighAlso called Double Arch Reef, Double Arches, Qbajjar Arch, Twin Arches
Plan this dive

Sea conditions

0

Stay dry right now

Sea is up (5.0 m WNW) · Fresh WNW wind (38 km/h) · Gusts to 61 km/h

Done for today. Tomorrow: not looking good. Best it gets is 6 at 17:00: Sea is up (1.9 m WNW)

Forecast for the site, updated 19:45 · Models disagree

Measured at Mġarr, Gozo (9.5 km away, 19:45): 31 km/h from WNW, gusts 37. The next hours lean on it.

Waves
5.0 m
from WNW, biggest 8.3
Wind
38 km/h
WNW, gusts 61
Swell
0.3 m
11 s period
Sea temp
22 °C
air 19 °C

Hour by hour

2005.0 m
38
2105.0 m
44
2205.1 m
49
2305.0 m
54
0004.8 m
51
0104.5 m
51
0204.3 m
50
0304.1 m
49
0403.9 m
45
0503.7 m
43
0603.5 m
41
0703.3 m
39
0803.1 m
36
0903.0 m
35
1002.8 m
33
1102.6 m
30
1202.5 m
30
1302.3 m
30
1402.2 m
29
1522.0 m
28
1652.0 m
26
1761.9 m
25
18191.8 m
24
19201.7 m
23

Next 7 days

TodayShowers0 5.1 m
55 W
TueCloudy0 4.8 m
51 WNW
WedCloudy27 1.2 m
18 WNW
ThuRain94 0.4 m
17 ESE
FriMostly sunny73 0.5 m
17 E
SatCloudy58 0.6 m
23 NE
SunUnknown67 0.5 m
21 ESE

Sunrise 06:26, sunset 17:06

Waves: Copernicus Med-Waves 4 km + MFWAM 8 km + EWAM 5 km + ECMWF WAM 9 km. Wind: ICON-2I 2 km + ECMWF IFS 9 km + ICON-EU 7 km + UKMO 10 km + ARPEGE 11 km. Read a few km out on the side the site is open to, then blended.

Exposed to wind and swell from: NW (315°), N (0°), NE (45°). Offshore on the north coast, so any northerly component rules it out for shore access and makes the boat drop uncomfortable. Current is often noticeable on the reef top even when the surface looks flat. Best in a settled southerly. Best season: May to October, with the cleanest water and calmest north coast in September and October..

The dive

Double Arch is the postcard. A T-shaped reef sits about 200 metres off Xwejni with its crown at 15 to 18 metres, and around the corner the rock has been hollowed twice, one arch sitting directly on top of the other like a window and a doorway cut in the same wall. Swim through the lower opening and the floor beneath you is at 34 metres.

The approach matters. Some divers swim it from the slipway, which is honest work and a big chunk of gas; plenty use a scooter, and most centres simply drop you on it from a boat. However you arrive, drop onto the reef top first, get your bearings, then descend the flank to the arches rather than plunging straight to the sand.

The reef top usually has something moving over it. Big shoals of barracuda are common, dentex and amberjack cruise past, and the deeper ledges at 40 metres hold grouper that have clearly been there a while. Small caves pit the rock near the arches, with a larger cavern around 35 metres a little further out for divers with the training to use it.

Past the arches the outer wall keeps going beyond 50 metres. That is technical ground. For a recreational diver, the arch at 20 to 34 metres is already the whole point of the trip.

  • Two natural arches stacked vertically, unusual anywhere in the Med
  • Barracuda shoals over the reef top most of the season
  • Grouper on the ledges at 40 metres
  • A 35 metre cavern nearby for suitably trained divers
  • Wall continuing past 50 metres for technical teams

Typical plan

Boat drop or a ten minute swim from Xwejni. Descend onto the reef top at 16 metres, head around the corner and drop through the upper arch, spending a few minutes at 30 to 34 metres beneath the spans. Work back up the flank, tour the reef top at 16 to 18 metres and keep a decent shallow phase before ascending. Nitrox 28 to 32 suits it well; keep it inside no-decompression limits at around 35 to 40 minutes, or plan it properly with staged deco if you want the 45 metre end of the reef. Carry an SMB and a torch for the small caves.

What the bottom looks like

0193852m1234567480 m from entry
  1. 1T-shaped reef top16 m deep · 220 m out · under the boat
  2. 2Upper arch, springing from about 20 metres20 m deep · 300 m out · 80 m from the boat
  3. 3Lower arch directly beneath the upper one28 m deep · 315 m out · 95 m from the boat
  4. 4Floor under the arches34 m deep · 322 m out · 102 m from the boat
  5. 5Small caves pitting the rock near the arches30 m deep · 345 m out · 125 m from the boat
  6. 6Larger cavern further out along the wall35 m deep · 380 m out · 160 m from the boat
  7. 7End of the reef, wall dropping past 50 metres45 m deep · 420 m out · 200 m from the boat
Cartoon cross-section along the route from Xwejni Bay slipway, then a swim northwest to the reef. Most divers come by boat, which stops where the luzzu is. Depths are approximate.

Hard limestone reef and rubble slopes, with coarse sand collecting in the gullies and beneath the arches.

Who you might meet

Marked ones can hurt you. What they do and what to do about it is under Getting in and staying safe.

Getting in and staying safe

Shore divers park on the coast road at Xwejni, enter at the slipway, and swim roughly ten minutes northwest on the surface or on a compass bearing underwater. It is a genuinely long haul with twin sets and a reason many people use a scooter or book a boat. Boat drops are straightforward and are the usual way dive centres run it. Facilities are the Xwejni kiosk and, a few minutes away, Marsalforn.

  • Depth: easy to end up in the high 30s or 40s without noticing
  • Long surface swim from shore, with fatigue on the return
  • Current over the reef top and around the arches
  • Offshore position with boat traffic overhead; carry an SMB
  • Narcosis in the arch and at the deeper cavern
  • Getting separated in low light under the arches

Marine life to respect

  • Mediterranean moray · Morina Can hurt you

    Bites hard if a hand goes into its hole. Keep hands out of cracks and never feed one.

  • Red scorpionfish · Ċippullazza Can hurt you

    Venomous spines, and it sits still on the rock. Look before you kneel or hold on; hot water if stung.

A bit of history

The arches are erosional, formed where the sea exploited bedding planes and joints in the Upper Coralline limestone of this offshore reef, cutting through and leaving two spans of rock stacked vertically. Gozo lost its most famous rock arch when the Azure Window at Dwejra collapsed in March 2017, which sharpened local appreciation for the ones that remain underwater and out of the weather.

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Further reading: Malta Dives, Double Arch · Dive Systems Malta, Double Arch Marsalforn · Gozo Dive, Double Arch Reef · Blue Waters Dive Cove, Double Arch · Blue Hole Diving Gozo, Double Arch