Inland Sea - Gozo
As a very young child living in the UK, almost every weekend, it seemed, there would a documentary programme about diving. They would feature a legendary sub-aqua explorer with an impossibly thick French accent. His name was Jacques Cousteau. You may have heard of him? Jacques dived all over the world in every prestigious underwater site that has ever been discovered – hell, he discovered some of them himself!
So why are we blethering on about a Frenchman in a rubber suit in a travel piece about Malta? Well, simply because if you had caught up with the most famous sub-aqua man who ever pulled on neoprene before he died in 1997 and asked him to list his ‘meilleur dix’ (top 10) dives in the world, then the Inland Sea at St Lawrenz would have been among them.
It seems odd that such an accolade could be bestowed on this small inland saltwater lake that sits on the edge of a dormant village in Gozo. A place where the most exciting thing to happen in living memory was when a lone, geographically-challenged Mediterranean dolphin got lost, found itself inside this cute little patch of water and was unable to find a way out again through the small, restricted cavern carved out by Mother Nature.
Most of the time here, the prevailing conditions are complete quiet; an ambience of serenity broken only by the odd fisherman who, like the poor dolphin, is trying to navigate his way out into the open sea.
Consisting of almost nothing but fishermen’s huts around a patch of sea water and surrounded by sheer, high cliffs all around, the Inland Sea, known in Maltese as Id-Dwejra, is like a time warp on the Gozo tourist map.
It will capture you at daytime as you stroll on the pebble beach to watch the next school of young divers eagerly listening to their instructor’s last-minute strict rules and regulations. Their excitement is tangible because they know what awaits them will be memorable.
Once they’ve flippered through the small archway to the sea the gently shelving sea floor drops away and within a few feet so will their jaws. They’ll be into Cousteau’s ideal world, and arguably into the most beautiful diving zone in the Mediterranean.
By sunset, as darkness falls and the last tourist coaches have left, an eerie atmosphere grips the area. You hardly want to talk as the pebbles under your feet now sound more like gunfire, and the lights on the ancient boat-houses flicker wildly around you. You almost wish the dolphin, who was joyously helped to find its way out by the well-wishers of yesteryear, would return for a while to add to the scene.
The best way to get to the Inland Sea is by bus, which leaves regularly from Gozo’s main terminus in Victoria. Bus information is available through the Arriva link below. If you have a car then driving there is pretty uncomplicated as the area is well signposted.
If you want to experience the azure world of the Inland Sea then various companies offer packages. You'll find a list of dive schools by clicking on the link below.
