Malta diving

The Maltese Islands

Malta

HMS Maori is located in St Elmo's Bay just off Valletta Bastions facing Sliema. A shore dive to a max. depth of about 17meters. The dive is easily accessed along the a keyside with a Cafe nearby. A number of steps lead down to a walk off jetty down the stairs from road level although the rocks at the waters edge are very slippy. What's left of the Maori is lying upright on the sand with the depth on her starboard side being approximately 16 meters deep and on her port side about 12 meters deep. Once you navigate out about 120 metres from the entry point you will come across a drop-off following the contours of the bay. On the seaward side the bottom is sand. Following the drop off to the west and you will eventually arrive on the Maori. The first thing you will notice is the hole in her starboard bow, close to her winches. As you travel down her length you will notice large round "hatches" with brass rims. These were her gun mountings. Next come the remains of her super structure with another gun mount on top. After this you will only find debris. This is because she was actually broken in two and only her forward section remains! This has the advantage that entry is possible without the possibility of getting lost. Plenty of light comes in through some missing side panels as well as through various hatches leading to her deck.

We dived the Maori on two separate occasions during our stay in Malta. Although its by no means the best dive in Malta, its probably one of the most famous dives with historic links back to the countries past. Even with the wreck sitting somewhat away from the main Valetta harbour, the visibility is very poor by Maltese standards with viz ranging from 3-6metres. In some ways this is a shame, but it certainly gives a eerie feel to the dive and adds to the buzz. Our crew were all quite experienced divers and we penetrated the wreck on both dives swimming through what remains of the superstructure. Kay and I were the last pair in the procession with myself tailgating the single-file through the wreck with my torch. Being last through meant 1m viz for me as the silt was kicked up by the leading divers; so the torch was pretty essential. Only one slightly hairy moment occurred when Kay's tank valve caught a low doorway but I spotted it as it happened and easily coached her tank under the hanging metal.

When you see the junk on the seabed as you fin out the 100m's to the Maori you may start to get disappointed, however, there is more sealife on the site than you may imagine. One memorable moment on the Maori was shining the old torch into a 2-3 inch metal tube protruding from the starboard side of the bow. A small squat lobster peered curiously at me as I peeked into his home. As always, the rest of the divers had moved on and I had to leave my discovery and catch up with the others. But its always something to relate in the post-dive banter!