GOZO Dive Trip ~ 22nd to 29th September 2007

Divers prepare to enter the Blue Hole

A Stair case in the Karwalla Wreck at 37m

Ernie explores the entrance to Cathedral Cave

Cathedral Cave

Ernie gets bent ....by blue light!

Meridian Divers added a string of dramatic Mediterranean cave and cavern dives to their log books in an energetic seven day trip to the island of Gozo organised by Newhaven Divers Ltd. In doing so all divers gained their Rock Climbing Diver Specialty as some of the most sought after dives sites are not easily accessed. My personal favourite was the Cathedral Cave a substantial cave with an underwater entrance that divers can surface within to find a huge domed rock ceiling iluminated from underneath by the electric blue light defracted through the sea, fantastic ! Of course to get to it you had to descent about seventy steps cut out of the rock to reach the bottom of a deep gorge that then required a 15 minute surface swim in zero vis water before meeting crystal clear water and a wall leadingto the cave. Climbing back up those steps in dive kit seemed to justify a larger portion of pasta at the following meal!



Other highlights were the Blue Hole (involving a descent through the still waters of the Hole before exiting into the surrounding sea through a submerged arch), the Inland Sea ( a shallow lagoon leading to a deep and long tunnel through the rock to sheers walls on the coast of the island) and the Karwalla Wreck ( allowing a 37m swim through the length of the ship, followed by a long slow ascent along the surrounding reef).



We were guests of Gozo Aqua Sports (that's GAS for short!) and were accommodated in two three bedroom apartments a very short distance from the harbour side in Marsalforn on the North side of the island. With no shortage of harbour side restaurants and a friendly hostelry nearby we managed to replace the calories that the rock climbing burnt off (and a few more besides!).



A tremendous week of dramatic dives all very different from most of those we had done in the past. It's really good to get some variety in your log books but I'll let the pictures do the talking!