Our small group from Mid Herts left a cold and damp Gatwick on Saturday and soon touched down in Malta for our short trip. What made this a little different from the usual blue-water dive trip was that we were signed up to complete a training course. A DPV, Diver Propulsion Vehicle, course with SSI, run by DiveSystems, a 40-year-established dive centre located in Sliema, near Valetta.
Malta in February is generally sunny but can be quite windy, and so it proved to be when we woke up the next morning. Those familiar with Malta were also surprised how green was the landscape, having had a much wetter winter than usual, not unlike the UK this year.
Our Tutor and Guide for the duration, Ricardo, picked us and our kit up at 8am and took us the 2 minute ride to their well-equipped Dive Centre on the beachside. Paperwork completed, and with the windy conditions, Ricardo chose the sheltered inland water at Manoel Island next to Valetta for our shake-down dive.
We visited the small but largely intact wreck of a WW2 supply vessel, which had suffered a fatal torpedo attack and had tried, unsuccessfully, to make it to the docks.
Shake-down dive complete, we were briefed on the basics of DPV operation in our dive-interval by Ricardo and then on our second dive we had our first go with a DPV. It was fun at first try, as we each clipped it on to our waist harness and pulled the trigger control to power up the propeller and felt the instant surge forward.
We all spent time getting used to controlling the DPV with one hand, while taking care of buoyancy control as the depth changed with the other. It definitely needed care as otherwise on stopping you could find yourself sinking or rising quickly and having to make a rapid adjustment!
Day Two - the wind was still blowing but Ricardo thought it would be diveable so we headed north to Cirkewwa, next to the Ferry Terminal for Gozo departures. Here we carefully entered via the slipway into the waves and surging water at Suzy's Pool. Once again, we took to our DPVs and were more confident in using them and scootered our way to the P29 wreck in pretty good visibility of around 10m.
Day 3 dawned and we set off north again. We headed to Popeye Village. The vis was great and we all had a good go with our DPVs, navigating the boulders in formation and parking them while we explored the cavern with torches on.
So ended our little trip to Malta. We all passed the DPV certification with flying colours and can now consider hiring one for a day or two on future dive trips. Very handy for reaching wrecks further from the shore, or just for a bit of fun!
Thanks to Clive for a great job as Dive Organiser, and to Simon and Ricardo at DiveSystems for making it work in challenging conditions.