News
Scubaverse Dive Into Malta 2018
The three islands that form the Maltese archipelago offer some of the finest diving in the Mediterranean. Cosmopolitan Malta, unspoilt Gozo and tiny Comino boast crystal clear waters and a diversity of underwater experiences to satisfy every kind of diver.
The stunning, rugged landscape above water becomes an underwater playground with arches, caves and tunnels just waiting to be explored. Malta also lives up to its reputation as the top wreck diving destination in Europe, it’s fascinating history reflected in a treasure trove of spectacular ship, plane and submarine wrecks.
Malta’s famous wrecks attract legions of Technical Divers but the islands also feature plenty of calm, sheltered coves that make them the perfect learn to dive destination. Underwater Photographers are also spoilt by the exceptional visibility and spectacular topography.
Most dive centres offer a flexible choice of shore or boat diving, allowing more time to discover the many topside attractions. The Maltese islands offer some of the most interesting and exciting diving to be found anywhere, but it is the warm, welcoming culture that will also keep you returning to Malta, year after year.
Let Scubaverse introduce you to Malta’s top dive operators and the special offers that are available from them this year…
Divewise
PHONE: 00356 2135 6441
EMAIL: info@divewise.com.mt
WEBSITE: www.divewise.com.mt
Our team of PADI Staff Instructors are led by 2 Course Directors. We are based in the Westin Dragonara – a 5 Star Resort and have our very own house reef and 2 pools for training right on our doorstep. All the main hot spot dive sites are only max 20 – 30 minutes away for some fabulous diving in clear, blue, warm water with some great ship and plane wrecks to suit all levels.
We can offer Discover Scuba experiences for beginners and can take you to a new career in Scuba Diving, up to Instructor level and beyond. We also have a full Professional Training Program, which includes Management Training, Risk Management, Sales & Marketing, and much more.
SPECIAL OFFER: Open Water Course / Enriched Air / 1 Pleasure Dive = 460 Euros.
Orange Shark
PHONE: 00356 2152 1329 (Resort) / 00356 7900 1802 (Mobile)
EMAIL: info@orangeshark.eu
WEBSITE: www.orangeshark.eu
Orangeshark D.c. has 2 locations in Malta. At Radisson Blu Golden Sands and at Ramla bay resort, in front of Gozo and Comino islands.
We offer accompanied dives and courses from beginner to instructor and tec diving too. Our must is the Diving Boat “PAOLA ONE”. We can reach all the dive sites around Malta, Gozo and Comino. We do courses, rent and sale Suex DPV and Ocean Reef Full Face masks.
We can book our divers directly into the hotel and airport transfers too.
You can find us at www.orangeshark.eu or read an overview at https://www.myguidemalta.com/things-to-do/orange-shark-h2o-diving-centres.
SPECIAL OFFER: 7 Nights + 10 Dives
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April 2018 – €480.00
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October 2018 – €560.00
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November 2018 – March 2019 – €440.00
*In 4 star hotel B&B (Excluding 24/12/18 – 02/01/19).
Dive Systems
PHONE: 00356 2131 9123/00356 7931 9123
EMAIL: info@divesystemsmalta.com
WEBSITE: www.divesystemsmalta.com/www.facebook.com/divesystems
Dive Systems – 40 Years of Diving Excellence
Since 1978, Dive Systems has been at the forefront of the diving industry in Malta. The Company started out as a family business in Msida and is now run by the second generation in a purpose-built sea-front dive centre which is probably the largest and most well-equipped on the Island.
The philosophy at Dive Systems is to offer clients a fun, safe and friendly atmosphere before, during and after each dive. Dive Systems therefore ensures that it has the best team of Diving Instructors to offer clients a wide range of diving services with an excellent record for safety.
Dive Systems is situated on the water’s edge in Sliema – Malta’s top tourist resort and nightlife destination. Within walking distance from Dive Systems there are many hotels, several restaurants, cafes, a playground, public garden and all the amenities one requires.
Dive Systems Offers:
- Snorkelling & Freediving
- PADI courses & specialities
- Accompanied dives and diving packages
- Hire, retail and servicing of equipment
- Refilling of tanks with Air, Nitrox and Trimix
- Instructor Development Courses
- Boat Charter
Why Malta?
10 things that make Malta Europe’s Top Diving Destination:
- Proximity – Malta, Gozo & Comino offer over 50 dive sites within a few kilometers.
- 40m Visibility – Our waters are among the cleanest & clearest of the Mediterranean.
- Climate – With a very short winter and mostly sunny days we can dive all year round.
- Wrecks – From WWII planes to recently scuttled patrol boats, there are wrecks for all levels.
- Marine Life – The underwater seascape is teaming with Mediterranean sealife.
- Great After-Diving – Rich in history & culture & with a buzzing nightlife.
- Fantastic People – The Maltese are warm, welcoming and tourist-friendly.
- Top-notch Dive Centres – The PDSA & the Tourism Authority ensure that all centres maintain very high standards.
- Cost – Low cost of living, value for money accommodation & low cost airlines from major cities.
- Technical Diving – a large variety of technical diving sites within a short distance.
SPECIAL OFFER: 10 dive-pack* with 7 nights at a 3 star hotel in Sliema/St. Julians area Eur 515 **
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Free Airport Transfers
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Free Hotel Pickup
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Special Prices for Groups
* Including land transport, instructor, tanks and weights
** Based on 2 adults sharing in a standard twin room on bed and breakfast basis in low season – Eur 640 in Mid Season and Eur 725 in High Season.
Dive Deep Blue
PHONE: 00356 2158 3946/00356 9986 8957
EMAIL: dive@divedeepblue.com
WEBSITE: www.divedeepblue.com
DIVE DEEP BLUE MALTA is a multi-agency Dive Centre with 5 Star facilities affiliated to PADI, BSAC, SSI TDI and the only BSAC Centre of Excellence to be recognized by HM forces as an accredited ComMAC (Ministry of Defense approved dive center).
Over the Past 20 years of operation with a business philosophy built on safety and customer satisfaction we have gained a loyal family of divers and an outstanding reputation for delivering a first class diving support service while having the privilege of showing all the many beautiful dive sites that can found around the shores of Malta, Gozo and Comino. Each of these beautiful Islands offers a multitude of superb dive sites including cavern, wreck and reefs at depth ranges accessible to all with something to bring a smile to the face of all divers at every level.
In addition to our recreational diving services we were the first operator in Malta to offer a technical training and support facility with the on site resources to deliver what we promised and some of the best deep wreck diving in the world.
Located in the Bugibba/Qawra area of St Paul’s Bay, Dive Deep Blue Malta is owner operated so we are with our divers on a daily basis to ensure that their holiday goes to plan. At Dive Deep Blue we offer our divers so much more. Dive shop, private parking, spacious equipment wash and storage, training pool, a massive stock of rental equipment, air conditioned class rooms, showers, free Wi-Fi… the list goes on. We cater for every aspect of diving services from training, guided diving, independent diving services and technical diving for individuals and families on through too organizing large group holidays including accommodation and transfers if requested. For a quick and detailed reply to any enquiry please contact us at dive@divedeepblue.com.
SPECIAL OFFER: 10% off our PADI, BSAC or SSI Nitrox Specialty courses together with free nitrox up to 32% for all remaining dives completed with us during that week.
Maltaqua
PHONE: 00356 2157 1111
EMAIL: dive@maltaqua.com
WEBSITE: www.maltaqua.com / www.staymalta.com
Merhba! Maltaqua is a multi-agency diver training centre on Malta, providing BSAC, PADI, TDI and now also RAID diver training. Our great Instructor team are able to teach in English, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Dutch or Danish. For those already certified, choose from our 7 or 3 & 4 night holiday breaks, including a selection of escorted diving, accommodation and airport shuttle. Our self-catering apartments by the dive centre offer comfortable and affordable accommodation for up to 32 persons. For those of you looking for a little extra luxury, why not stay at our beach front Villa on Qawra’s Promenade.
Whether you are travelling on your own or given the task to organise a group trip, do get in touch and let the Maltaqua family help you plan your dive vacation. Non divers most welcome – with so much to do and see on Malta, they are sure to find lots to occupy themselves while you are out diving. We hope you will join us in 2018, for what will be our 49th dive season!!
SPECIAL OFFER: DIVE & APARTMENT PACKAGE – APRIL €340pp
We have put together the following extra value package including:
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Airport pick up and drop off
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7 Nights apartment accommodation (based on 2 persons sharing a room)
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6 Shore dives escorted by one of our Instructors
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Tank and weight hire
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Road transport for 6 dives
Price is €340 per person. Kindly add €95 supplement per week for single occupancy.
With regards to airport transfers, guests arriving/departing after office hours (08:30 – 16:00), kindly add €20 to the cost of the above package price.
Upgrade this package to 10 escorted shore dives for an extra €115 per person.
Buddies Dive Cove
PHONE: 00356 2757 6266/00356 7777 9558
EMAIL: dive@buddiesmalta.com
WEBSITE: www.buddiesmalta.com
Buddies Dive Cove is Malta’s friendliest dive centre. A family run PADI 5 Star Career Development Centre & retailer centrally located in Bugibba. Only 5 minutes walk from Qawra & St Pauls Bay on the northern coast of Malta, with the islands of Gozo and Comino just minutes away by boat. Together with our team of highly qualified and experienced PADI Instructors, we pride ourselves in giving you our full personal attention to ensure that your scuba diving Malta experience is a total success.
Whether you are interested in a Discover Scuba Diving session, joining one of our PADI Open Water Diver courses, Divemaster Internships or becoming a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor at one of our IDCs, you are assured that we will meet your expectations while maintaining the highest possible standards of diver safety and education.
If you are looking for guided diving in the jewel of the Mediterranean during your vacation in Malta, we run daily boat and shore dives around the three islands. While we are taking care of all the logistics, you can go ahead and enjoy wrecks, caverns, reefs and the spectacular underwater landscape that the Maltese islands are famous for. For the more Tec minded, we offer PADI TecRec diver training and Nitrox / Trimix facilities. We also offer facilities for rebreather divers.
SPECIAL OFFER: 10 Dive Packs: €270pp or €372pp inc equipment rental.
Techwise
PHONE: 00356 2138 4453
EMAIL: info@techwise.com.mt
WEBSITE: www.techwise.com.mt
Back Mount – Side Mount – CCR – Cave – Trimix.
The purpose of Techwise (the technical partner of Divewise) is to provide the best in technical diving, courses and diving expeditions in Malta, Gozo and Comino. Providing technical diving excursions and expert training, whatever your level. Whether you are a seasoned technical diver looking to explore the sites of Malta or a beginner looking for your first technical diving experience, We cater for your additional equipment needs, with an advanced gas blending system offering air, nitrox and trimix gas fills. Our focus is on diver safety and commitment to providing quality technical diving training experiences, education, enhancement and overall enjoyment.
SPECIAL OFFER: Book PADI TEC45 and TEC50 and get upgraded to PADI Trimix45 and Trimix50.
AquaVenture Malta
PHONE: 00356 2152 2141/00356 2152 2356
EMAIL: info@aquaventuremalta.com
WEBSITE: www.aquaventuremalta.com
Scuba Diving in Malta with Aquaventure Ltd
Aquaventure Ltd was formed in 1992 and has grown to become one of Malta’s leading dive centres, with a total commitment to customer care and satisfaction. Our focus has always been on providing a very high level of customer service at a price that offers excellent value for money.
Based in the north of Malta and located all year round at the Mellieha Bay Hotel, Aquaventure is ideally situated for quick and easy access to all the main dive sites on Malta, Gozo and Comino.
Some of our favourite dive sites include ‘The Madonna Statue’ at Cirkewwa, the wreck of the ‘MV Rozi’ and the ‘Blue Hole’ in Gozo. More information about these dives and many of the others can be found on our website www.aquaventuremalta.com.
We offer all levels of PADI training from Discover Scuba Diving to Assistant Instructor and due to our dedicated classroom and access to two onsite training pools can provide excellent, safe and comfortable training no matter what level you arrive at.
Our daily dive trips, by both boat and from the shore, cater for all qualification and experience levels and are led when required by qualified and experienced Instructors. The dive centre also stocks a full range of equipment for hire and for purchase from a number of different manufacturers and suppliers.
Aquaventure also offers an exciting range of options for groups and clubs as well as being able to organise various types of accommodation making it the ideal partner when planning a trip, no matter how big or small your group is.
SPECIAL OFFER: One free dive when taking a 10 dive pack. Must quote offer code SV10 when booking.
Wreck Finder Charters
PHONE: 00356 2138 4453
EMAIL: info@wreckfindercharters.com
WEBSITE: www.wreckfindercharters.com
The ultimate boat charter service for both recreational and technical divers. Leymor is the first purpose built British diving catamaran to operate in Maltese waters. Bringing with her some of the comforts, such as a divelift, making it much more dignified getting out of the water after those long deco dives.
At Wreck Finder Charters, we cater for both recreational divers and technical divers covering all of the Maltese islands. None of the dive sites are ever too far away. As well as catering to divers, Leymor is also the perfect filming boat; with huge open and closed deckspace, she’s stable, comfortable, fast, there’s plenty of room and the kettle is always on.
SPECIAL OFFER: Book a 5 day charter and only pay for 4 days.
Gear News
Introducing the Aqua-Trek Evo Drysuit from BARE
This lightweight Aqua-Trek Evo drysuit from BARE is patterned after the flagship X-Mission Evolution using the company’s exclusively engineered Cordura® Nylon Oxford 4-Layer fabric for a durable and breathable design. The Aqua-Trek Evo is ready for wherever your adventure takes you.
FEATURES AND BENEFITS
- Lighter weight breathable material that offers enhanced flexibility over current butyl trilaminate
- Lightweight low-profile plastic dry zipper
- 2mm nylon/smoothskin “Smart Collar” with vented neck drain provides an improved seal with the BARE dry hood
- Low-profile valves Lightweight low-profile plastic dry zipper and offset protected zipper flap to avoid contact between dry zipper and outer flap
- Anatomically shaped torso, arms and legs
- M-PADz knee protection with 2mm neoprene backing provides added padding for comfort
- 2 needle “felled seam” construction increases seam integrity, is low-profile and less prone to abrasion, and finishes for a clean look
- Flexible double-taped reinforcement at “critical wear” seam points for added durability
- Bellow Pocket with D-ring and drain grommets on each thigh
- Field replaceable 4-point suspenders and crotch strap
- Tech dry boots installed
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Material:
- Exclusively engineered and durable Cordura® Nylon Oxford 4-Layer fabric
- Lighter weight, breathable material that offers enhanced flexibility, abrasion and puncture resistance
Find out more about BARE products at www.baresports.com.
Sea & Sea is the home of BARE and other Huish Outdoors diving brands in the UK.
Blogs
Reef-World marks two decades of marine conservation: strengthening impact amid coral reef threats
Empowering ocean stakeholders to tackle future challenges and ensure the survival of coral reefs and humanity
2024 marks the 20th Anniversary of The Reef-World Foundation’s tireless efforts for global coral reef conservation. The UK charity is the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative, known as the leading voice in sustainable marine tourism. Today, Reef-World released its 2023-2024 Impact Report outlining a year of substantive growth and impact in its marine conservation programmes.
Impact Report Highlights:
- Impressive improvements in environmental behaviours to protect coral reefs by the marine tourism industry as the global participation of Green Fins increases.
- Continued capacity building for government and NGO staff to effectively manage marine tourism activities in Asia, Caribbean and Red Sea regions.
- For the first time in Green Fins’ 20-year history, tourism operators have achieved ‘Best Environmental Performer’ status by demonstrating the lowest possible environmental impact in their environmental assessments. In 2024, three dive operators achieved this challenging milestone.
- Significant increases in global participation of Reef-World’s innovative digital conservation tools.
- 138 Green Fins dive operator members achieved the strict threshold for PADI Eco Center recognition.
- Developed four new educational materials and translated two into 16 languages to support the marine tourism industry in achieving sustainability targets.
- Establishing a new Reef-World Development strategy and recruiting new roles – Development and Programmes Managers.
- Reef-World’s board welcomes new Chair and Trustees strengthening organisational leadership.
Reef-World started as a one-person mission to inspire and empower communities to act in conserving and sustainably developing coral reefs and related ecosystems. Today, the team of 12 continues to meet this mission by inspiring and empowering the global marine tourism community to be exemplary sustainability leaders by using the Green Fins guidelines and tools to simultaneously use and protect the world’s precious reefs.
In April 2024, the fourth global coral reef bleaching event was confirmed. Reef-World’s work has never been more urgent as the marine environment, and the benefits they provide humanity, continue to be eroded by global threats. The reduction of local threats, like those from the marine tourism industry, is an essential step to ensuring a future where coral reefs survive and continue to support the millions of people who depend on their ecosystem benefits. Reef-World’s work buys time for coral reefs and related ecosystems to be resilient to the impacts of global threats.
“Right now our corals are facing the greatest fight of their existence as the terrifying predictions of the steps towards their complete extinction are starting to come true. But all is not lost, reefs are resilient and they have existed on this planet for millions of years. We must take action now, to buy time for reefs by reducing threats facing them and allowing them to react and adjust to the changing environment they need to survive in.” – Chloe Harvey, Executive Director
Looking Forwards:
Like coral reefs, the Reef-World team needs to be resilient in the face of the complex challenges of the conservation sector. Reef-World has invested significantly in developing a Culture of Care to ensure the well-being of its team on a daily basis, continuing to be an exemplary employer to enable its team to best achieve the mission for coral reef conservation.
With the foundations of a Culture of Care and organisational development laid, Reef-World is emerging from the end of a natural organisation life cycle, that brings the challenges of growth and scale, stronger than ever. With a new strategy in place to generate much needed resources, Reef-World is excited for the opportunities to leap forward, continue to scale our impact and lean into new innovations and untapped opportunities for marine conservation.
We continually strive to become a forward-thinking organisation that delivers on our goals and commitments to our stakeholders with fresh approaches and not being afraid of steering away from a “normal approach.” This approach is not only applied to our programmes of work but also internally and carries over to our Culture of Care for our team.” — JJ Harvey, Operations Director
The Reef-World Foundation is immensely grateful for the continued support of its grant funders: UN Environment Programme, IUCN’s Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility, Adventure Travel Conservation Fund, PADI Aware Foundation, and World Nomads Footprints Program.
Reef-World would also like to express its gratitude to international partners whose vital support has resulted in significant tangible benefits for our work and mission: PADI; Professional SCUBA Schools International (PSS); Explorer Ventures; 1% for the Planet; ZuBlu; Snorkel Venture, GSTC; Dive O’Clock; Seven Dragons; DiveAssure and Eco Beach, without whom these achievements would not be possible.
The full 2023–2024 Annual Impact Report is available on Reef-World’s website.
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