Xlendi Bay · Gozo
Xlendi Bay
A sheltered cliff-walled inlet on Gozo's south-west coast with a seventy-metre daylight tunnel through the headland, a reef and pinnacle, and easy shallow water that has taught half of Malta to dive.
Sea conditions
Good right now
Some chop (0.5 m SSW) · Rain forecast
Diveable for the rest of the day. Lowest point 67 around 16:00.
Forecast for the site, updated 12:44 PM · Models disagree
Measured at Mġarr, Gozo (9.2 km away, 01:50 PM): 4 km/h from SSE, gusts 5. The next hours lean on it.
- Waves
- 0.5 m
- from SSW, biggest 0.8
- Wind
- 9 km/h
- N, gusts 14
- 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: SW (225°), W (270°), S (180°). Sheltered for most of the year and essentially current-free inside the bay, but a south-westerly turns it rough quickly and the tunnel becomes surgy well before the bay looks bad. Rain is the other spoiler: the valley behind the village funnels runoff into the bay and visibility collapses for a day or two afterwards. Best season: May to October for water temperature, the steps being in place and settled weather; spring and late autumn are quieter above water but more prone to rain-driven visibility problems.
Dives at Xlendi Bay
The dive
Xlendi is a village wedged into the end of a steep-sided inlet, with a strip of sand at the head, rock down both sides and cliffs above. For divers that geometry does everything: it keeps the water flat, it gives a shallow sandy middle and rocky flanks, and it puts the two attractions a short swim from the steps.
The tunnel is the famous one. It cuts about seventy metres through the northern headland and comes out in the next bay, which sounds intimidating until you are in it. The entrance from Xlendi is at roughly three to five metres, there is a ledge and some boulders to squeeze past, and it deepens gently towards eight or nine at the far end. Cracks in the roof let daylight down the whole way, and because you can surface in several places it is not a true overhead environment. As introductions to cave diving go, it is about as gentle as they come. Swim it outbound for the arch silhouette against the blue, and back through it for the sunbeams.
The reef is the second act. An inner section wraps around the headland at no more than about twelve metres, good for courses and second dives, while the outer reef runs away from the point with a pinnacle that climbs almost to the surface. Octopus, moray, cornetfish and cuttlefish all work this ground, and the sandy patches are good for flying gurnard. Push further out and the reef keeps falling, which is why technical classes use it too.
One thing to know: outside the bay, at a hundred and ten metres, lies a Phoenician ship from around the seventh century BC. It is an active archaeological site, far beyond sport diving depths, and you will not be going anywhere near it. But it is a nice thing to know is down there while you are hanging on a safety stop.
- A seventy-metre daylight tunnel through the headland, safe enough for a first overhead experience
- The arch silhouette at the seaward exit, a standard Gozo photograph
- A pinnacle on the outer reef that climbs almost to the surface
- Shallow, sheltered, current-free water that makes an excellent night dive
- A 2,700 year old Phoenician wreck lying at 110 metres outside the bay
Typical plan
In off the steps on the south side, drop to five or six metres and cross the bay underwater on a north-westerly bearing, watching for boats. Find the tunnel entrance at three to five, swim through to the seaward side at eight or nine, then turn onto the reef, round the pinnacle and work back along the inner reef at ten to twelve. Return through the tunnel for the light, then finish in the shallows below the platform. Fifty to sixty minutes on a single twelve on air, maximum depth typically twelve to eighteen metres. Carry a torch for the tunnel even at midday, and if you want the outer reef or the deeper drop-off, treat that as a separate, properly planned dive.
What the bottom looks like
- 1Rocky shallows below the entry platform5 m deep · 30 m out
- 2Sandy middle of the bay, the crossing9 m deep · 100 m out
- 3Xlendi Tunnel entrance in the north headland4 m deep · 175 m out
- 4Mid-tunnel section lit by roof cracks6 m deep · 215 m out
- 5Seaward tunnel exit and arch silhouette9 m deep · 245 m out
- 6Inner reef around the headland12 m deep · 300 m out
- 7Pinnacle rising almost to the surface3 m deep · 380 m out
- 8Outer reef, used for technical training25 m deep · 430 m out
- 9Outer drop-off falling away past sixty35 m deep · 470 m out
Sand through the middle of the bay, with rock, boulder and low reef down both flanks and around the headland.
Who you might meet
Almost always
Often
Sometimes
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
Drive into Xlendi village and park, which in high summer is the hardest part of the whole dive: the small car parks fill early and the promenade is busy. Entry and exit for shore dives is a concrete platform with metal steps on the south side of the bay, and those steps are usually taken out over the winter months, so check before you go in November. From the platform you cross the bay to reach the tunnel and reef on the north side, and the crossing puts you in the middle of the boat channel, so go underneath rather than on the surface and listen. Xlendi is one of the better-served dive sites on the island for everything else: cafes, restaurants, toilets and dive centres are all on the promenade within a couple of minutes of the water.
- Boat traffic crossing the bay, including pleasure boats and taxis in summer
- Poor visibility for a day or two after heavy rain, when the valley drains into the bay
- Metal steps removed in winter, making entry and exit awkward
- Surge inside the tunnel when there is any south-westerly swell
- Silt stirred up in the tunnel by a large group
- Depth on the outer reef, which keeps going well past recreational limits
- Swimmers and snorkellers in the shallows
- Jellyfish drifting in during late summer
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 inlet has been a landing place for a very long time, guarded by the seventeenth century Xlendi Tower on the southern headland, one of the small coastal watchtowers built under the Knights. The most important thing in the water here is the Phoenician wreck discovered in 2007 outside the bay at about a hundred and ten metres, carrying a cargo of amphorae and grinding stones and dated to roughly 700 BC; it is among the oldest known shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean and remains under excavation. The cliffs themselves are the usual Gozo sandwich of Globigerina and Coralline limestone, which is why the headland could be tunnelled through by the sea in the first place.
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Further reading: Malta Dives: Xlendi Bay · Atlantis Gozo: Xlendi Cave and Reef · Blue Waters Dive Cove: Xlendi Bay and Tunnel · Malta Dives: Xlendi Tunnel · Malta Dives: Xlendi Reef