Qawra Point · Malta
Qawra Point
The all-purpose headland at the top of Qawra, with a sheltered training bay on one side, a cave and reef system on the other, and a serious offshore reef further out. Parking, cafes and toilets right there.
Sea conditions
Good right now
Some chop (0.4 m ESE)
Forecast for the site, updated 01:45 AM
- Waves
- 0.4 m
- from ESE
- Wind
- n/a
- Swell
- 0.4 m
- 5 s period
- Sea temp
- 29 °C
Next 7 days
Exposed to wind and swell from: NW (315°), N (0°), NE (45°), E (90°). A headland, so it is rarely sheltered on all sides at once, which is the point of it. Northwest and north winds shut the north side down but leave the south bay usable. Easterlies do the reverse. Summer southwesterlies leave the whole thing glassy. Visibility is typically 15 to 25 metres inshore and better offshore on the reef. Best season: April to November for water temperature, with May, June and September giving the calmest and clearest conditions. The south bay works most of the year..
Dives at Qawra Point
Fra Ben Cave
Qawra Point, Malta
North Reef & Arch
Qawra Point, Malta
Qawra Bay
Qawra Point, Malta
L-Cave
Qawra Point, Malta
Qawra Reef
Qawra Point, Malta
The dive
Qawra Point is the blunt nose of land at the northern end of St Paul's Bay, and it is one of the most useful pieces of coastline on the island for divers because it offers about five different dives from one car park. On the south side there is a shallow, sheltered bay with sand and seagrass, perfect for skills, try dives and anyone still working out which way round the mask goes. Between the two sides sits a shallow rock-cut pool that makes kitting up and entering far less dramatic than it could be.
The north side is where it gets interesting. Fra Ben Cave is a short swim along the shore, a cavern with an open ceiling that lights up beautifully when the sun is right. Beyond it the rocky bottom slopes out and steps down over a small reef with a little arch nearby.
Further out, generally from a boat, lie L-Cave, the long Qawra Reef drop-off with its caverns, and the Imperial Eagle wreck with the Statue of Christ close by. That is a whole week of diving within a few hundred metres of each other.
Topside is unusually civilised. Restaurants, cafes, public toilets, proper parking and the national aquarium next door, so non-diving company is easily entertained while you argue about gas planning.
- Five or six distinct dives from a single car park
- Fra Ben Cave with its open ceiling and shafts of light
- A sheltered shallow bay that works when everywhere else is blown out
- Little arch on the north reef at around 18 metres
- Cafes, toilets, parking and the aquarium right on the doorstep
Typical plan
Pick your side by the wind. North side: in at the pool, along the shore to Fra Ben Cave, out over the reef to the arch at 18 metres, back inshore for a long shallow finish among the rocks, around 50 minutes with 12 to 18 metres as the working depth. South side: a gentle 30 to 45 minutes between 2 and 10 metres on sand and seagrass, ideal for training. Air is fine for both, nitrox 32 helps if you plan to push out towards the deeper reef.
What the bottom looks like
- 1Rock-cut pool entry between north and south sides1 m deep · 10 m out
- 2Fra Ben Cave entrance6 m deep · 100 m out
- 3North reef top10 m deep · 230 m out
- 4Sand pocket at the foot of the small wall15 m deep · 300 m out
- 5Little arch at the west end of the reef18 m deep · 350 m out
- 6Posidonia meadow heading offshore22 m deep · 420 m out
- 7Qawra Reef drop-off30 m deep · 520 m out
- 8Caverns under the outer reef33 m deep · 600 m out
Rocky shelf and small reef on the north side, sand and Posidonia seagrass in the southern bay and out towards the offshore reef.
Who you might meet
Damselfish
Almost always · Ċawl
Two-banded bream
Almost always · Sargu
Mediterranean parrotfish
Almost always · Marzpan
Fireworm
Almost always · Busuf · Summer
Common octopus
Often · Qarnit
Common cuttlefish
Often · Siċċa · Spring
Pipefish
Often · Gremxula tal-baħar
Cardinalfish
Often · Re tat-trilji
Mediterranean moray
Sometimes · Morina
Dusky grouper
Sometimes · Ċerna
Barracuda
Sometimes · Lizz
Nudibranchs
Sometimes · Spring
Getting in and staying safe
As easy as Maltese shore diving gets. Drive out to the point, park on the promenade or in the lots around the aquarium, then walk roughly 150 metres to the water. On the north side the entry is the rock-cut pool and shelf below the tower, with the swell occasionally making the step out of the basin into open sea more exciting than you want. On the south side the bay shelves gently and you can wade. Public toilets, cafes and restaurants are all within a couple of minutes, and the Malta National Aquarium is next door. Kit up at the car, it is not a long carry.
- Swell on the north side can make the step from the pool into open sea awkward
- Slippery rock and weed at the entry points
- Boat and jet ski traffic around the point in summer, carry a DSMB
- Snorkellers and swimmers in the shallows
- Depth on the outer reef and at L-Cave, well beyond the beginner label the headland carries
- Fishing line snagged on the shallow rocks
- Jellyfish drifting in on an onshore breeze in late summer
A bit of history
The stone tower on the headland is Qawra Tower, also called Torri ta' Fra Ben, finished in 1638 as the fourth of the Lascaris towers built by the Order of Saint John to watch the approaches to St Paul's Bay on one side and Salina Bay on the other. An artillery battery was added in 1715. The tower now trades as a restaurant, which is one way of surviving four centuries. The Fra Ben name carries over to the cave on the north side. The Imperial Eagle, a former Gozo ferry, was scuttled offshore in 1999 and the nearby Statue of Christ was moved out to the reef in 2000, giving the outer reef its two best known landmarks.
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Further reading: Malta Dive Sites: Qawra Point · New Dimension Scuba: Qawra Point · Divers Guide: Qawra Point North · Wikipedia: Qawra Tower · Malta Tourism Authority Dive Site Report 17: Qawra Point North