Sign in
All sites

Gozo

Tac-Cawla Rocks

A shallow rock and tunnel on the Mgarr side of Gozo, ten metres at most, pretty in the right light and barely written about. Good snorkelling territory as much as a dive.

Open Water🕳️ Cave5 to 10 mShore access: hardPopularity: not divedAlso called Il-Gebla Tac-Cawla, Il-Gebla tac-Cawla, Il-Ġebla taċ-Ċawla, Mgarr Rock, Tac-Cawl Rock
Plan this dive

Sea conditions

88

Excellent right now

Flat, sheltered and calm

Forecast for the site, updated 01:47 AM

Waves
0.3 m
from SE
Wind
n/a
Swell
0.2 m
5 s period
Sea temp
29 °C

Next 7 days

Today🌤️100 0.5 m
0 N
Sat🌤️100 0.4 m
0 N
Sun🌤️95 0.3 m
0 N
Mon🌤️100 0.2 m
0 N
Tue🌤️100 0.4 m
0 N
Wed🌤️60 0.6 m
0 N
Thu🌤️63 0.6 m
0 N

Exposed to wind and swell from: NE (45°), E (90°), SE (135°). This coast faces east across the Gozo Channel towards Comino, so easterlies and north easterlies are what shut it down, and it is reasonably well sheltered from the prevailing north westerly. Shallow water means visibility is more weather-dependent here than at the deep sites, and it drops off quickly after a blow. Best season: June to September, when the water is warm, the sea is often glassy in the mornings and the shallow depth stops being a cold-water problem. Early morning also avoids the worst of the boat traffic..

The dive

Be honest about this one: there is very little reliable published detail on Tac-Cawla Rocks, and the site barely registers on the dive centre circuit. What is out there describes a rock outcrop near Hondoq ir-Rummien with a short tunnel or swim-through cut through it, sitting in five to ten metres of water with sunlight pouring through the gap. It photographs beautifully and it is genuinely shallow.

The seabed around it is the standard Gozo channel mix: broken rock, boulders, sand patches and ragged edges of Posidonia meadow. In that habitat you get the shallow water cast of characters rather than anything dramatic. Damselfish clouds over the rock, bream picking at the algae, an octopus if you are patient, wrasse everywhere, and cuttlefish in spring.

The complication is the entry. The coast here is low rock rather than beach, and the classified shore access is hard, which in practice means a scramble or a decent surface swim from Hondoq ir-Rummien. Most people who visit come off a boat, or simply snorkel it from the beach on a calm day.

Worth a look if you are already at Hondoq and want something different. Not worth a special trip, and not a site to plan around without local advice.

  • A short sunlit swim-through in only a few metres of water
  • Shallow enough to snorkel or to dive for well over an hour
  • Handy add-on if you are already diving Hondoq ir-Rummien
  • Quiet, since almost nobody puts it on a schedule

Typical plan

Treat it as a long, lazy shallow dive or a snorkel. Swim out from Hondoq on the surface, drop in five to seven metres, potter around the outcrop and through the tunnel, then follow the rock line back keeping the shore on your shoulder. Air is the only limit at this depth, so expect sixty to eighty minutes on a single 12 litre with a maximum of about ten metres. No decompression concerns, but do keep a listening ear and a flag up because of the harbour traffic.

What the bottom looks like

04710m🤿1234180 m from entry
  1. 1Rock outcrop rising from the shallows7 m deep · 55 m out
  2. 2Short swim-through cut through the rock8 m deep · 75 m out
  3. 3Sand patches around the base10 m deep · 95 m out
  4. 4Ragged edge of Posidonia meadow7 m deep · 130 m out
Cartoon cross-section along the usual route from Hondoq ir-Rummien beach, then a surface swim west along the rocky shore. Depths are approximate.

Broken rock and boulders sitting on sand, with patchy Posidonia meadow taking over as you move away from the outcrop.

Who you might meet

Getting in and staying safe

The practical route is from Hondoq ir-Rummien: there is a car park above the bay, a small sandy beach, seasonal kiosks, toilets in summer and a ladder or two on the rocks. From there it is a surface swim west along the shore, which is fine on a flat day and tiring in any chop. The direct rocky entry closer to the rock itself is awkward, uneven and slippery, which is why the access rating is hard. A boat drop from Mgarr takes about five minutes and removes the whole problem. Kit up on grass or at the car, not on the rocks.

  • Awkward, slippery low rock entry if you do not swim from the beach
  • Boat traffic, since the Gozo Channel ferry route and the Mgarr harbour approach are close by
  • Summer jet skis and pleasure boats in the Hondoq area
  • Swell wrapping into the channel making the exit unpleasant
  • Surge inside the tunnel when there is any sea running
  • Very little published information, so dive it with someone local the first time

A bit of history

Nothing recorded. The name refers to a rook or jackdaw in Maltese, a common enough naming habit for coastal rocks around the islands. The wider area has plenty of history to borrow from: Mgarr harbour just to the west has been Gozo's gateway for centuries and is guarded by Fort Chambray, built by the Order in the eighteenth century, while Hondoq ir-Rummien is the old quarantine and loading bay that has spent the last two decades at the centre of a development fight.

Divers say

Sign in to rate this site and leave a note for the next diver.

  • No reviews yet. First one gets bragging rights.

Further reading: Endless Oceans Gozo, Tac-Cawl Rock · Malta Dives, Tac-Cawla Rocks · DivingInfo Malta, Gozo dive site list