Aquatica

Aquatica is a dive centre on Mosta Road in St Paul's Bay, on the north-east coast of Malta, and it has spent more than two decades teaching visitors and residents to dive in Maltese waters. Whether you have never put on a mask or you hold a certification and want a few relaxed days among the wrecks, the centre builds trips around what you want to do, with group and individual rates and flexible options.

For a UK visitor the appeal is simple. Malta offers dive conditions all year, with good visibility and comfortable water temperatures, and Aquatica takes care of the practical side: tanks, weights, transport to the dive site and a briefing before you enter the water. This page explains what you can book, what is included, what the entry requirements are and how to start. You can also browse other dive centres in Malta if you want to compare options.

Who Aquatica are and how they teach

Aquatica aims to be a dependable partner for professional, exciting diving, guiding guests to extraordinary seabeds in a safe and enjoyable setting. It has introduced thousands of people to the sport, and it is an SSI Dive Centre, which means most training follows the SSI system. The centre also teaches through RAID, SDI and TDI, and PADI, so a diver who started with one agency can usually carry on with another, from beginner level up to dive professional courses.

The centre is licensed by the MTA under reference DIVE 00/44. Inside, it is fully air-conditioned, with free high-speed Wi-Fi and a small retail section selling essential dive gear, which is handy if you want to relax between dives or pick up something you forgot. The rental and training equipment comes from established brands including Mares and Apeks.

Safety is a recurring theme. Each dive starts with a briefing that covers entry and exit, maximum depth, approximate duration, hand signals and emergency procedures, and the instructors point out any marine life or hazards to look for. Pricing is presented as transparent, with no hidden fees, and a full price list is available on request.

First-time experiences and snorkelling

If you have never dived, there are three ways in. The Try Scuba programme costs €80 and lasts about two and a half hours. You have a briefing with an instructor, a training dive in the sea to a maximum of 5 metres and then a fun dive from the shore. E-learning for self study and the scuba equipment are included, and you only need to bring a towel and swimming costume. The minimum age is 8.

The SSI Basic Diver programme, at €130, goes deeper: training and a fun dive down to 12 metres over about three hours, with a minimum age of 10. Completing it gives you a certification that lets you keep diving to 12 metres for six months at any SSI dive centre worldwide, and the training can be credited towards the Scuba Diver or Open Water Diver certification if you continue within that six months.

The Ultimate Basic Diver, at €150, adds a second-world-war shipwreck or the marine protected park as your fun dive, and takes around three and a half hours. For something that stays on the surface, the SSI Snorkel Diver programme costs €35 for about two hours, with a maximum depth of 5 metres. It suits first-time snorkellers, families and anyone not yet ready for scuba, and a wetsuit is provided in winter. Experienced snorkellers can simply join a tour to the better spots.

Guided dives for certified divers

If you already hold a qualification, the single dive is the simplest booking: a morning or afternoon guided dive on one of the shallower sites for €55. You need to be at least a Basic Diver within six months, or an Open Water Diver. The price includes the dive, tanks, weights and transport to the dive site, while full kit rental is optional at an extra €10 and covers mask and snorkel, full suit, hood, fins, buoyancy device and regulator. Individual items can be hired too.

Group sizes are kept small: up to five divers per instructor or guide on shore dives and up to eight on boat dives. Allow roughly three hours in total, with the dive itself lasting about 45 minutes, followed by a debrief and a return to the centre to log your dive. Because traffic can cause delays, the centre asks you to allow some flexibility.

Double dives and a triple dive in one day are also offered, including a triple dive built around wrecks. If it has been a while since your last dive, the Scuba Review at €63 starts with a short confined water refresher of 10 to 15 minutes, then a single open water dive of about 45 minutes that concentrates on buoyancy control. It is a sensible way to get comfortable again before a diving holiday. The minimum level is Open Water Diver.

Dive packages for a longer stay

Aquatica sells packages that bundle several days of diving at a better rate, designed so you can fit diving around the rest of your holiday. The range includes a 6 dive pack over two or three days, a 10 dive pack over four or five days, a 12 dive pack across three islands over four or six days, and a 20 dive pack for those staying longer. Prices start from €264 for the 6 dive pack over two days and from €497 for the 12 dive pack over four days, and every package is priced per person.

Packages work well if you plan to combine several wrecks with the marine park in one trip. If you are building a wider holiday, our things to do in Malta guide covers what else to fit in around your dives, and our Malta weather guide helps you pick the month that suits you.

Dive sites around Malta and Gozo

The centre highlights six signature locations. The wrecks include the Um El Faroud, the Patrol Boat P29 and HMS Maori, while Ċirkewwa Marine Park is a protected area in the far north, and our Mellieħa guide covers the area above water. In Gozo, the Inland Sea and the Blue Hole are the stand-out sites, and our Gozo guide explains how to get around the sister island.

The dives themselves combine vivid blue water with history, caves, tunnels, underwater arches and reefs. Film fans can explore the underwater worlds of Troy and Popeye, and the Popeye film village can be visited on land, as covered in our Popeye Village guide. When you are not diving, the UNESCO sites make a good day out: read our guide to Valletta and our guide to Mdina for ideas, and see the Three Cities too.

Courses from beginner to instructor

Training is split into recreational, technical and professional courses. Recreational options include Scuba Diver and Open Water Diver, along with specialties such as Enriched Air Nitrox, Perfect Buoyancy, Equipment Techniques, Search and Recovery, Ecology and Science of Diving. On the technical side, the centre teaches dry suit diving and decompression courses, and it runs instructor training for people who want to work as dive professionals.

That depth of teaching rests on the team. Lee, the senior instructor trainer, began diving at 15, qualified as a PADI Instructor in 1997 and became a PADI Course Director in 2005. He is also a DSAT Technical Instructor Trainer, an Instructor Trainer with RAID and SSI, and a TDI rebreather instructor, with more than 22,000 logged dives, over 5,000 recreational divers trained and more than 1,000 instructors.

Meet the instructors and the languages they teach in

The wider team is international. Marcel is a marine sciences graduate from Barcelona with nine years of diving behind him, and he has taught in Spain and Mozambique. Aoiffe studied biology and worked as a divemaster in Greece and Sri Lanka before training as an instructor in Malta. Marco, originally from Germany, teaches in German and English, and Vicente, from Chile, trained in expedition and ecotourism management. Two Italian instructors, both called Francesca, complete the line-up, one with a background in physical education and sport and the other drawn to diving by the volcanic seabed around Pantelleria.

Between them the staff speak English, Spanish, German, Italian and French. The centre cannot guarantee an instructor who speaks your language on a particular day, and a basic understanding of spoken and written English is required for safety reasons, so UK guests will have no difficulty.

Health, flying and how to book

Before booking, read the health questionnaire carefully. Every participant completes a medical form, and if you answer yes to certain questions you need written approval from your own doctor before you can dive. The centre also expects you to be comfortable in the water, which it defines as being able to swim 200 metres without resting. No refund is given if health restrictions are ignored. There is a mandatory wait of at least 12 hours before flying after a single dive session, and 24 hours after a scuba review, so plan your last dive well ahead of your flight home, and see our flights to Malta page when arranging travel.

Payment in advance secures your place, and after confirmation you are asked to send your height, weight, foot size and T-shirt size if you plan to hire equipment, so it can be ready when you arrive. If you are looking for somewhere to stay nearby, see our guide to hotels in Qawra and St Paul's Bay. To ask about a dive, a package or a course, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to Aquatica.