Inside the inland sea

When he surfaced, ecstatic, from this dive, Tony exclaimed to Sergey our Divemaster in Malta, “I think that was the best dive I’ve ever done!” It was only the second day of our diving in the Mediterranean this August, so we were both understandably euphoric about the warm water and limitless visibility, but I think that both of us still feel this was one of the most wonderful dives we’ve done. It was easy, long, and sheer enjoyment.

The rim of the ceiling around the inland sea is visible through the clear water above Tony's head

L’Ahrax Point is located on the northern tip of the island of Malta, and can be done as a shore entry with a long walk to and from the water. We did it off a boat (a beautiful, traditional Maltese boat), however, just after we dived the Imperial Eagle.

The entrance to the inland sea, seen from the boat

Like the Blue Hole on Gozo, L’Ahrax point features a cavern whose roof has long ago collapsed, giving rise to a beautiful circular hole in the rock above, quite a few metres (ten perhaps?) above the surface of the sea. You can surface in this little inland sea, as Tony did, because the cave is open to the sky over most of its extent – at some early stage of its history, the roof collapsed.

Rays of sunlight in the shallow inland sea

The boat anchored in about 10 metres of water, quite close to the entrance to a small cave that is open to the air through a circular hole in the roof. After swimming through a dark, magnificent slash in the limestone, one emerges into bright sunlight and 2-3 metres of water. There is rich vegetation and invertebrate life in this shallow inland sea, as well as in the entrance tunnel and the small, dark cave located at the furthest distance from the open sea.

After exploring the inland sea and cave we exited through the tunnel and swam past where the boat was anchored. There are many overhangs and narrow gullies to swim through, and the sea grass and other plant life made it seem as if we were exploring an underwater meadow. We entered a couple of small caves (really just cracks in the rock), and dived ourselves silly. After doing three wreck dives in a row and not being blown away by the marine life of Malta (but not minding because the wrecks were so good!), we were suitably chastised after experiencing the richness that is L’Ahrax point.

Dive date: 3 August 2011

Air temperature: 31 degrees

Water temperature: 25 degrees

Maximum depth: 13.8 metres

Visibility: 30 metres

Dive duration: 56 minutes

We drop through a narrow pass

Diving the wall