Over an Easter weekend which finally brought some much missed sunshine and calmish sea, the Easter holiday crowd was heading to many dive sites around Malta & Gozo for some relaxation and underwater bubbles.
What they found at some of the sites triggered a few reports to our dive site issue reporting page, many of them raising repeat issues which have already been reported and passed on months ago, whilst some noted new issues which added discomfort/increased dangers.
As many of you know, we pass on promptly any reports received to authorities to act upon as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we do appreciate weather may prevent some works from being carried out, but on the other hand these islands need to keep up appearances with holidaymakers and why not, also the local recreational taxpayer/diver.
So late on Easter Sunday, after a flurry of reports of infrastructure and basic necessities issues, we sent the following email to the persons responsible for Maintenance of Diving Ladders/Equipment at the Ministry for Gozo, the Malta Tourism Authority Director for Product Development, and copied in the Permanent Secretary for Tourism, PDSA Secretary and Gozo Representative, the CEO of the Gozo Tourism Association and the CEO of the MTA.
Three weeks have passed since the last reminder regarding the missing Xatt l-Aħmar Ladders. These still missing ladders have frequently appeared on diving social media with diving schools and independent divers asking if and when they will be replaced.
Over this weekend and into the coming week it is the “season opener” for most Gozitan and Maltese Dive Centres, as European divers flock to these shores for Easter holidays. (Some dive centres dislike that terminology because they operate year-round to earn a living so their season never ends).
Despite the reports and replies, I was informed that over the weekend some adventureous divers ended pulling themselves up at Xatt l-Aħmar using ropes whilst climbing over rocks to access the wrecks from the most reasonable point. This is a perfect way to end up visiting Gozo Hospital A&E or the new Hyperbaric chamber due to the effort required after a deep dive!
Over the weekend, additional multiple reports arrived on our reporting form at https://www.divinginfo.mt/dive-site-report/, reporting of ladder/handrail issues at other sites, such as Billinghurst Cave, Catheral Cavern, Ras il-Hobz, Reqqa Point – most of which have been reported for months, as seen in the list in the same page. To add insult to injury, it seems the Dwejra Inland Sea steps have been removed (probably for annual maintenance) right before this busy holiday period!!!!
Although Joe Muscat of GTA (in copy) wrote in last Saturday’s Times of Malta that GTA considers Diving as a pillar of quality tourism in Gozo, and was quite diplomatic in his article, the infrastructure is far below any quality standard! Instead, dive centres must send people to relieve themselves in trees and bushes at most diving sites. Even though tourists will probably be there for four-plus hours, portable toilets only appear in midsummer! Ladies in particular are not big fans of these bush or tree options, as neither are farmers and saltpan owners in the relative areas.
Since I’m copying also MTA and other Malta based individuals, it’s ridiculous that key sites like Zonqor Point, Exiles and others still haven’t had basic handrail and ladder repairs almost three months after Storm Harry! At Ċirkewwa we’re hoping to see the start of works next week as announced by the park management (expecting some fixing of fences and signs broken for over two years + some issues previously reported), and Wied iz-Zurrieq (which already looks like a warzone) will soon end up inaccessible, either because the last ladder will finally fall off (as it’s partly broken) or maybe because the works will start to accomodate the blue grotto boats storage construction project if approved the following week (please stop saying it’s a project for divers too as we’re not seeing anything that will improve the divers’ experience there).
Same thing applies: if we want a quality tourist how can we serve them with this utterly low-quality service??? Would you expect Sliema promenade or Valletta’s City Gate to be a complete shambles if you want to attract a quality diving tourist? Should I file another FOI to ask how much is being invested in diving-related infrastructure? The last figures I had in hand (excluding Ċirkewwa Marine Park outlays) were pretty ridiculous and much less than the eco-taxes that 150,000 tourists annually or more should be paying.
Yes fine, a new hyperbaric chamber was inaugurated recently in Gozo, funded from eco-tax. Well done. Are there a few more thousands euros to invest in these sites over direct basics: Access Ladders/stairs, a few kitting up benches & Toilet facilities???? The quality tourist is not receiving equivalent quality treatment; quite the opposite! Quality tourists bring with them thousands of Euros in gear but can’t find at some sites a bench to be able to put it on, after having to wee behind bushes full already of other types of filth I’m not going to mention here, then do rock climbing to get in/out of what should be a key diving site. In a third world country maybe this could be accepted, but we aspire to be better, I hope!
As a Maltese recreational diver—and I have no personal commercial interest in the diving industry—I feel ashamed to see visiting foreign buddies and divers treated this way. Is this the famous Maltese Hospitality to incoming divers???
Furthermore because local divers are also taxpayers, they would also love to see some taxes invested in these facilities. Many view diving as their personal equivalent of band clubs, football pitches, swimming pools, racing tracks, village festivals, concerts, or fireworks shows—all the other fun activities taxes also fund that benefit others but in which they have minimal or no interest.
Please don’t use the weather as an excuse. Tourism officials and affiliates market Malta as a year-round diving destination at the industry conferences abroad because our coldest water temperatures are warmer than those in most Northern European countries during summer. We can’t have infrastructure available only half the time!
Can both Gozo Ministry & MTA sides please push for accessible and reasonable diving facilities that cater to quality tourists and the Maltese taxpayer?
Apologies for the long rant (if you’ve read this far – we feel ignored enough, so it would not be surprising if you didn’t, as happened after we complained on Ċirkewwa last year and we got 0 responses).
I’ll also publish this email on the blog, news site, and social media to show everyone we’re trying our best to ask for these issues to be resolved.
We encourage you to keep reporting dive site issues through the reporting form. Normally within 24 hours from receipt we would have forwarded the report.
Feedback received (07/04/2026)
In response to our communication, the PDSA acknowledged it was aware and trying to bring attention to issues in Gozo but could not do furthermore as this is dependent on the Ministry for Gozo, whilst for Malta works identified after Storm Harry and are in progress and infrastructure should be installed in the coming days.
Our Gozo Ministry contact responsible for the department which maintains the Infrastructe has replied as following:
“I have been informed that until today, weather conditions were not favourable to install these ladders in various bays around Gozo. We will install once the weather permits.”
So it’s a wait and see… and not hold our breath! We are replying with additional suggestions and comments.
