Between 5 and 9 June 2017 a European Divers’ Meeting was held. Among the participants the Divers24 team were, too. Monday was the day of arrivals and accommodation. We were assigned to Atlantis Dive Center on Gozo. After arrival, we were welcomed by the owners of this large and professional center, Stephanie and Brian Azzopardi. We left our equipment in the base, chose the missing one and with keys to our rooms we followed Stephania to our place in the Atlantis apartment block (rooms). Clean, with air conditioning and balcony, recently completed.
We came back after 20 minutes. The last divers had already left the center and the staff had finished arranging everything so that they could leave the next day and dive in new places. It was some minutes past 5 pm, when after assertive requests that we would like to dive today, we got a car and packed we went to our „diver”. We chose a close destination. Martin complained that he had to dive on a single tank, but the Czechs took all the free twins. Such a life…
Diving in Xwejni Bay was shallow, long and full of interesting experiences connected with the formation of terrain, which is really interesting here. There was lack of animals, those little bigger than five centimeters.
Next day we could choose dive sites. Firstly we went to the famous Azzure Window, which is without Azzure Window. The more we wanted to dive there. The impression of getting to the place (for those who saw the miracle of nature collapsed during the March storm) is such: „terribly bald”. At the well where the dive begins, there is only the sea …
When we reached underwater we found that the visibility oscillates at 20 m. The water is nice warm because it got warmed up to 20-22 C. Brian led calmly. We swam through the rubble that formed after the collapse of the rocks. They are still white, but they are already beginning to cover with the tiny creatures. In my opinion, diving here is much more interesting than it was before. Now there are many more nooks, caves, tunnels. There are fish everywhere. I counted about 10 small groupers, which is rare in Malta.
For the second place we chose „Cathedral”. Very interesting diving. Access to the dive site on the rocks. Next jump into the water from the escarpment or descend on the ladder. Brian took us deep into the water, over 40 m, where we saw several pieces of dentex (dentex dentex) and at the limit of visibility large, about a meter long, grouper. There were mussels, conger, crabs and many smaller fish typical of the Mediterranean Sea. We reached the „cathedral” and after a safe wait at the safety stop, we swam into the cave. Resting and admiring took us so long that computers counted our next dive.
After returning and getting ready we went by a supllied car, gathering other participants of this European meeting, to the port. We took a ferry to get to the island of Malta and reach the meeting place „Popeye Village”. Here was a joint meeting of all the guests. There were lectures, talks and BBQ sponsored by the MTA. Details – here.
Next day it was a treat for divers. Early in the morning, Armin (Taucher.net), Peter and others hanged on the wreck of Karwela flags of European countries. After eight o’clock the participants started to come. DAN spread his tents and performed otolaryngology tests and immediately after diving for bubbles of gas, based on device readings (heart study) and diving profile taken from the computers. They were very well prepared because they had all the cables for every brand of diving computer.
From the morning until 3 pm it was possible to dive, check yourself, sunbathe, talk and eat prepared sandwiches. Together with Marcin and Denis – a guide from Atlantis, we made two dives. First of course on MV Karwela’s to see how the Polish flag is presented. After a surface break we went down to the MV Cominoland, which is on the left side of Karwela.
Late afternoon and evening we spent in Malta visiting the Polish Diving Center “Dive on Malta” located in Bugibba and dinning with Isia and Rysiu in the center of the town. A visit in the building of the center made a very positive impression on us. Clean, neat, cozy, modern. We will visit “Dive on Malta” later this year and then we will write a report on how it is with them and diving with them.
The next day is a guided tour of Gozo Island, which includes, among others, one of the oldest in the world (3600 B.C.), a hand-made human construction called Ġgantija. At 6pm we had a press meeting at the Ta’Rikardu restaurant in Victoria. The famous Gozo plater was here – a plate full of several kinds of cheese, tomatoes, onions, capers and olives. Of course, wine, too. We had to our disposal a two-storey building with a roof over which we could see an incredible view, and in the evening we could admire the sunset. During the meeting, we had chance to see a film about the problem of rubbish in the water, in the oceans and seas, where because of that (of us) thousands of animals die per day.
We find the meeting very successful. Malta seems to be a great place to dive and talk about scuba diving in Europe and around the world. We could exchange opinions and experiences with both divers and the biggest diving media on our continent. On the occasion we greet our old and new friends.
The organizers of the meeting were: MTA Malta & Gozo & Comino and Taucher.net
MV Karwela – passenger ship built in West Germany in 1957 by Jos. L. Meyer of Pepenburg. 497 tons displacement, 48 m long, 8 m wide. Arrived in Malta in 1986, purchased and registered in 1992 by Capitan Morgan Cruises. Immersed as a diving attraction on August 12, 2006.
Foto: Wojciech Zgoła, Marcin Pawełczyk
