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Delimara · Malta

South Reef

The best underwater scenery on the Delimara peninsula: a reef that steps off at 9 metres, cliffs down past 24 and spills into a boulder field the locals call Hell's Edge.

Advanced🕳️ Cave🪸 Reef🧱 Wall12 to 30 mShore access: mediumPopularity: lowAlso called Delimara South Reef
Plan this dive

Sea conditions

71

Good right now

Some chop (0.5 m E)

Forecast for the site, updated 01:46 AM

Waves
0.5 m
from E
Wind
n/a
Swell
0.5 m
5 s period
Sea temp
29 °C

Next 7 days

Today🌤️68 0.5 m
0 N
Sat🌤️79 0.4 m
0 N
Sun🌤️81 0.4 m
0 N
Mon🌤️96 0.2 m
0 N
Tue🌤️100 0.4 m
0 N
Wed🌤️58 1.0 m
0 N
Thu🌤️37 1.0 m
0 N

Exposed to wind and swell from: E (90°), SE (135°), S (180°), SW (225°). Needs a calm forecast with the wind in the west or northwest. The visibility on a good day here is among the best on the island, regularly 25 metres and more, which is exactly why people put up with the drive and the walk. Best season: June to early October for the settled seas, with September often the sweet spot for water clarity and warmth..

The dive

South Reef starts modestly. You drop onto rock at around 9 metres, follow it out as it eases to 12, and then the floor simply stops. The wall below is riddled with cracks and crevices and the water here is often clear enough to take the whole thing in at a glance, which is not something you can say about many Maltese reefs.

At the foot of that first drop the ground runs out to a second edge. This is Hell's Edge, where huge algae covered boulders lie stacked at around 24 metres. Groupers use the gaps under them, dentex patrol the blue side, and stingrays work the sand in between. Further out again there is another ledge for anyone carrying the gas and the certification to go and look.

Hidden among those boulders is the mouth of the chimney, a vertical shaft that runs up through the reef and puts you back on top in the sunlight. It is the signature move of the site and a very satisfying way to start the second half of a dive.

Boats come round this point steadily and the reef is wide open to the south, so a delayed surface marker is not an optional extra here. Carry a cutter too, because old line and netting collect on the edges.

  • Two clean drop-offs in one dive, 12 to 24 metres and beyond
  • Hell's Edge, a field of house sized algae covered boulders
  • A chimney that lets you climb back up inside the reef
  • Groupers and dentex in numbers you rarely see on the busy sites
  • Visibility that regularly beats anywhere else on the island

Typical plan

Drop in off the rocks, settle on the reef top at 9 metres and swim out until the ground eases to 12, then follow the lip south until you find the drop. Go over the edge and work along the base at 22 to 25 metres among the boulders for the first fifteen minutes, keeping an eye on your no-stop time, then find the chimney and climb it back to the reef top. The second half of the dive is shallow and relaxed at 8 to 12 metres, which sorts your ascent out for you. Nitrox 32 is worth having. Fifty minutes total, surface marker up before you leave 10 metres.

What the bottom looks like

0112230m🤿12345330 m from entry
  1. 1First wall, cracks and crevices from 12 down to 24 m15 m deep · 130 m out
  2. 2Hell's Edge boulder field24 m deep · 155 m out
  3. 3Small cave hidden among the boulders22 m deep · 170 m out
  4. 4Vertical shaft leading back up through the reef18 m deep · 180 m out
  5. 5Outer ledge for deeper profiles28 m deep · 265 m out
Cartoon cross-section along the usual route from Rock entry near the tip of Delimara Point, about 150 m walk from the roadside parking. Depths are approximate.

Hard limestone ledges cut by crevices, falling to a rubble and boulder floor with sand pockets between the rocks.

Who you might meet

Getting in and staying safe

Park on the rough roadside near Delimara Lighthouse and walk roughly 150 metres over broken ground to the water on the southern side of the point. A small square rock is the usual marker for the entry. Getting in is a step off low rock and getting out is the same in reverse, so pick your moment between sets. Several local centres prefer to run this as a short boat dive out of Marsaxlokk, which is a great deal kinder on the knees and much easier when the sea is not perfect. No facilities at all at the point.

  • Open to the south, swell builds fast and breaks on the entry rocks
  • Steady boat traffic around the point, a delayed surface marker is essential
  • Depth, the second drop makes it easy to overrun a no-stop limit
  • Old fishing line and netting on the ledges, carry a cutting tool
  • Long carry over uneven rock in full kit
  • No easy bail-out exit anywhere along this stretch of coast

A bit of history

Nothing sank here that anyone has recorded. The interest is in the rock: two clean drops separated by a rubble shelf, the signature of a limestone coast that has been undercut, collapsed and undercut again. The boulders at Hell's Edge are the fallen roof of what used to be an overhang.

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Further reading: Malta Dive Sites, South Reef Delimara · Dive Systems Malta, South Reef of Delimara Point · Calypso Sub-Aqua Club, Delimara Point · Divers Guide, South Reef