Recreational wrecks

General information

Recreational wrecks are mostly shipwrecks that sit on or below 40 meters underwater. These wrecks are suitable for divers with the PADI Deep Advanced Open Water or Deep diver specialties. There are plenty of them scuttled for the divers around Malta, Gozo and Comino.

Recreational wrecks

The most famous are the Um El Faroud (the biggest wreck in Maltese waters, being 115 meters in length) wreck located in Zurrieq, P29 in Cirkewwa, Tugboat 2 in Sliema, Imperial eagle off the coast of Qawra, MV Karwela famous for it’s staircase in Gozo and the P31 in Comino. P31 is also suitable for Open Water divers since it sits on a 20 meters on a sandy bottom. The stern is at approximately 18 meters. The wreck is also popular with freedivers. There are some also airplane wrecks. The most popular are Bristol Beaufighter that lies next to St. Julians and Bristol Blenheim Bomber located 500 meters off the Xrobb l-Ghagin.

Penetration

Most of the recreational wrecks allow penetration. The only exception would be the MV Xlendi in Gozo. The wreck lies upside down and is in very unstable condition. Remaining wrecks are open for penetration and offer great opportunities to explore the wreck from the inside.

Safety

Recreational wreck diving can be very exciting and dangerous at the same time. Having no immediate access to the surface due to the overhead environment when inside the wreck might cause some complications. This might not sound like an issue since most, if not all wrecks in Maltese waters have been cleaned and are considered safe. Yet there is still a number of rusty and sharp parts a diver can find inside the wreck, so taking great care on your dive trip is a must.