May 2011 saw me heading back out to Scubakings, Marsalforn, Gozo, www.divemalta-gozo.com, to complete my Rescue course and then to do my 4 month internship to become a Dive Master.

My Rescue course was a one on one with Instructor Mark Gledhill who took me through all the scenarios making sure I was happy and confident at the end of each one, in and out of the water before continuing. In short I passed and in doing so felt ready and confident to carry on to the next level.

As I knew all the staff it was good to be able to get straight into the learning process of becoming a Dive master. Richie King the Dive Centre Director, took me through all of the presentations and theory whilst instructors, Mark, Nora, Nigel, Miki and Nico took me though my practical lessons thoughout the 4 months. All of who were very professional in their teaching ability and communication skills therefore making my time at Scubakings enjoyable but also felt at ease which in turn made the whole experience an enjoyable one.

My final day of the course came and what better way than to complete my course by doing the navigation, search and recovery scenarios from a boat dive just off the island of Comino

I was now a fully qualified Divemaster and to top it off was offered a position for the 2012 dive season by Richie, which I gladly excepted.

So if any budding divers of whatever level want to dive Gozo I would fully recommend paying Richie and his team a visit at Scubakings. www.divemalta-gozo.com

by John Proffitt-White 295627

Recently come back from a short break in Gozo where we dived with Scuba Kings in Marsalforn, who couldn’t have been more professional and helpful. Here is a quick trip report for those interested:

Day 1
After the short ferry ride across from malta, Richie (Scuba Kings owner) was waiting to whisk us off to the dive centre in Marsalforn to fill in the obligatory paperwork. After being shown our apartment for the trip (big, light and airy with full kitchen, utensils, pots and pans etc), we picked up our cylinders and it was off to the first dive of the trip!

Inland Sea to Blue Hole: As an experienced diver with over 300 dives across the world, I can honestly say this is one of the best dives I have ever done, a truly world class dive. The inland sea is a lagoon of seawater linked to the sea through a huge cavern. Entry was very easy, and we were quickly into the tunnel that drops from 6m down to 26m into the open sea. The view through the tunnel, with the 30m+ visibility and the stunning blue colour of the sea was simply breathtaking. Following the reef on our left hand side we were stunned by the life: shoals of little fish everywhere, lots of nudibranchs, jack hunting, and even a tuna darting through the smaller fish causing mayhem wherever it went! After passing through the azure window, we arrived at the blue hole. Entry to the blue hole from underwater is via an impressive underwater arch at about 10m, with a big cavern to explore at the back, after we did this we surfaced through the blue hole itself, taking in the spectacular views of the azure window from the surface.

Reqqa Point: Again another site with loads of life- who says the Med is dead? You can pick your depth at this site and is a true multilevel dive. We dropped down into about 15m of water, swam across an impressive reef system and dropped down a sheer wall into 50m. The feeling of floating into the abyss with nothing but clear water beneath you is one I will never tire of. Life was similar to the inland sea and blue hole but with just lots more of it, and we were lucky to come across a couple of barracuda also.

Day 2.
Today we were back on the ferry to Malta to Cirkewwa to dive a couple of the many wrecks Malta and Gozo has to offer. The site at Cirkewwa has been specially developed for divers, with special parking and handrails in and out of the water. These sites offer probably the easiest shore diving I have ever experienced.

The P29: After swimming out to the buoy marking the wreck (I told you the diving here was easy! No compass bearings to use or chance of missing the wreck here) we dropped down the line. Due to the fantastic viz the whole of the patrol boat quickly came into view and was a breathtaking sight. Maximum depth of the wreck is 37m but most of the wreck is around 30m and is therefore accessible to most divers. We did a quick swim round the wreck and then did some penetration exploring the whole wreck, inside and out. The wreck has been specially prepared for divers, meaning that the penetration here is very safe. We then swam back to the reef to carry out our deco penalties.

The Rozi: Again there is a buoy marking the wreck, meaning no chance of missing it. This is a wreck I wasn’t particularly excited about doing as it is essentially just an old tug boat, but I couldn’t have been more wrong! The wreck is incredibly atmospheric with loads of character. There are literally thousands of smaller fish swimming round the wreck, and the larger predators such as jack and barracuda darting in to feed, causing mass panic amongst the fish! Again it is a short swim back to the reef to carry about any deco you need to do.

Day 3
Blue Hole to Inland Sea: We enjoyed this dive so much we decided to do it again, but in reverse. Descended through the blue hole was just as breathtaking, and after a nice long dive (including spotting an octopus!) we emerged through the tunnel at the inland sea smiling ear to ear.

Double Arch: Last dive of the holiday was to be the double arch located just minutes from Scuba Kings Dive Centre in Marsalforn. After what seemed like a very long swim we arrived at the double arch, the top of which lies in 18m, with the bottom of the arch dropping into 36m. The arch itself was incredibly impressive with the sun shining through the arches, definitely worth a visit!

Overall we had a fantastic holiday. In my opinion the diving is on par with its rivals such as the Red Sea, and is excellent value for money, with very cheap flights to Malta from the UK with Air Malta, Ryan Air and Easy Jet.

In terms of the dive centre, we couldn’t recommend Scuba Kings enough. They organised the whole package for us (diving, jeep and accommodation) meaning the whole process was very simple and very reasonably priced. The staff (particularly Richie the owner) are great fun, very knowledgeable and most importantly very professional. The centre offers packages with guided or unguided diving (as we did), and offers a full range of PADI courses from Open Water through to Instructor.

The centre is located in Marsalforn which is a lovely little seaside town with lots of great value restaurants and bars. This is our third visit now with Scuba Kings and we are already looking at booking up for the next!