Mgarr ix-Xini · Gozo
Mgarr ix-Xini
A narrow, cliff-walled inlet on Gozo's south coast with a pebble beach at its head, a friendly cavern on the right-hand wall and fifteen metres of very forgiving water. The island's default plan when the north coast is unusable.
Sea conditions
Good right now
Some chop (0.4 m SSW)
Diveable for the rest of the day. Lowest point 77 around 17:00.
Forecast for the site, updated 12:44 PM · Models agree
Measured at Mġarr, Gozo (3.4 km away, 01:50 PM): 4 km/h from SSE, gusts 5. The next hours lean on it.
- Waves
- 0.4 m
- from SSW, biggest 0.7
- Wind
- 7 km/h
- N, gusts 13
- Swell
- 0.4 m
- 4 s period
- Sea temp
- 28 °C
- air 25 °C
Hour by hour
Next 7 days
Sunrise 06:48, sunset 19:04
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: S (180°), SE (135°). The inlet faces roughly south and southeast, so those are the only directions that push swell inside. It is famously one of the handful of Gozitan sites that stay diveable in a strong northwesterly, which is why dive centres head here when Dwejra and the north coast are closed. Best season: Year round. Best visibility from late summer into autumn; the shelter makes it a reliable winter option when northerly systems dominate..
Dives at Mgarr ix-Xini
The dive
Mgarr ix-Xini is a slot cut into the southern cliffs, so narrow that the sun only reaches the water properly in the middle of the day. That geometry is the whole point: high rock on both sides means the bay stays flat when a northwesterly is wrecking everywhere else, and the shallow, protected water makes it one of the most used training and night-dive sites on Gozo.
The dive itself is a simple out-and-back. Walk into ankle-deep water at the beach, drop onto a mix of sand, small boulders and Neptune grass, then follow the right-hand wall seawards. The bottom steps down politely: six metres, then ten, then fourteen or so as you approach the open sea. Along the way the cliff throws out overhangs and a couple of small caverns, big enough to be genuinely fun and short enough that you never lose sight of daylight. It is the perfect place to find out whether you actually enjoy overhead environments.
The sand is where the good stuff hides. Flying gurnards fan out those absurd electric-blue wings when you get too close, lizardfish sit like discarded cigars, and there are enough octopus and cuttlefish here to keep any camera busy. Seahorses and pipefish turn up in the grass for people patient enough to hover and stare. Nobody promises them, but they are there.
Swim far enough out and the bay opens towards the blue, with Ta' Ċenċ's cliffs on one side and the route towards Blat ta' Bologna beyond. Most divers turn well before that. This is a slow dive, not a big one, and it rewards being unhurried.
- Reliable shelter when a northwesterly closes the rest of the island
- Two easy caverns, perfect for a first taste of overhead
- Flying gurnards, cuttlefish and octopus on the sand
- Short carry from the car to the water
- Excellent, safe night dive
Typical plan
Walk in at the beach, descend in three metres and follow the right-hand wall out, keeping the cliff on your shoulder. Visit the first cavern at around six metres, carry on to the second at twelve to fourteen, and turn at half your gas or thirty minutes, whichever comes first. Return across the sandy middle of the inlet looking for gurnards and flatfish, then finish shallow in the seagrass. A single twelve litre on air gives an easy sixty to seventy minutes at these depths. No deco planning needed, just watch the boat traffic on ascent and send up a marker if you surface away from the beach.
What the bottom looks like
- 1Posidonia patches down the middle of the inlet5 m deep · 50 m out
- 2First cavern in the right-hand wall6 m deep · 120 m out
- 3Fallen blocks along the base of the cliff9 m deep · 200 m out
- 4Second, smaller cavern12 m deep · 260 m out
- 5Open sand towards the mouth14 m deep · 340 m out
Sand and shingle with small boulders along the cliff bases and long ribbons of Posidonia meadow down the centre of the inlet.
Who you might meet
Often
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
Follow the signs down the long, narrow valley road from Sannat or Xewkija. The road is single track in places with passing bays, so take it slowly and be ready to reverse. Parking is on the flat ground behind the small pebble beach and fills up early on summer weekends. From the car it is a very short carry to the water, and entry is a straightforward walk in over pebbles and shingle on the right-hand side. There is a seasonal kiosk and a small restaurant, and boats moor along the eastern side of the inlet. No showers or proper toilets, so plan accordingly.
- Boat traffic in the narrow channel, particularly moored and manoeuvring craft in summer
- Swimmers and snorkellers across the entry area
- Mild surge inside the caverns when there is any south or southeast swell
- Silt stirs up quickly in the caverns if fins are careless
- Narrow access road and limited parking
- Slippery pebbles on entry and exit
Marine life to respect
Common stingray · Boll Can hurt you
Whips a barbed tail if stepped on or cornered. Stay off the sand and give it room.
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 name translates roughly as harbour of the galleys, and the inlet earned it honestly: it was a favourite landing point for raiders, including the corsair attacks that plagued Gozo in the 1500s, and a small coastal tower was built above it in the 17th century to keep watch. In more recent memory the bay stood in for the Mediterranean of the 1970s when the film By the Sea was shot here in 2014.
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Further reading: Calypso Sub-Aqua Club site notes · Visit Gozo dive site page · Atlantis Gozo dive site page · Divewise reef dive write-up · Wikipedia, Mġarr ix-Xini