Cresta Dive Centre

Cresta Dive Centre is a small, owner-run PADI dive centre at Cresta Quay in St George's Bay, St Julian's. It is run by Charlotte Fenech, known as Charlie, a PADI Staff Instructor from Kent who has dived since 1992 and handles day-to-day running, and Ray Casey, a Maltese PADI Master Instructor with 28 years of diving in Malta. They have known each other for over 33 years and worked together for the last 18, and between them they have taught more than 8000 courses.

The centre is listed in our directory of dive centres in Malta. Its pitch to visitors is simple: an organised, timely, safe and personal operation with no deposit, easy free cancellation by email or WhatsApp and no time wasted before the first dive.

Courses and prices

All PADI courses at Cresta include equipment, certification, transport, permits, taxes and a fully qualified instructor, though PADI manuals are sold separately. Beginners can try the Discover Scuba Diving experience, a 2.5 hour session that covers basic skills in confined water, whether pool or shallow sea, followed by a shallow reef dive. It costs €90.

The PADI Scuba Diver course takes two or three days and costs €290. It is a pre-entry certification suited to holidaymakers who only dive a couple of times a year. The full Open Water Diver course takes three to four days, costs €550 and qualifies you to dive to 18 metres with a buddy. It has five theory sessions, five confined-water skill sessions and four open water dives. The centre recommends completing the theory with PADI e-learning before you fly, which leaves more of your holiday for fun diving. The course list also includes Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, Emergency First Response and Divemaster programmes.

How the centre works

Cresta is run more like a family than a factory. The owners are not motivated by money and will not sell a course or a piece of equipment you do not need, and they list the questions worth asking any dive centre: hidden costs, deposits, time wasted, whether equipment hire is included, the instructor's qualifications, the safety of transport, the quality of kit, the age of the compressor, the size of the dive group and the politeness of the instructors.

All training takes place in proper conditions, so beginners learn in a suitable environment, and the centre promises a money-back guarantee that it finds the wrecks on the dive. The running of the shop is meant to be friendly and professional, with the instructors' politeness as one of the points the owners ask you to consider.

A day of guided diving

Certified divers start at the shop at 7:30 a.m. to complete paperwork and gather kit, then drive to the dive site for two dives with an hour's break for food between them. You are back at the centre by 12:30 p.m., and there is an optional 2 p.m. dive if you want more. Equipment rental is free and there are no hidden extras, and groups of two or more can ask for a private instructor at no additional charge.

The centre plans a weekly dive schedule that can include the Blue Grotto, Cirkewwa, Gozo, Għar Lapsi, Comino, Anchor Bay, the Bristol Beaufighter, the Hellespont and Tug 2, with weather and customer preference deciding the final plan. Malta offers some of the best wreck diving and safe open cave diving in the Mediterranean. Snorkelling is available at €50 per person, and our guide to Gozo and Blue Lagoon guide cover two of the island groups' best-known areas above the water.

Practical tips

Wait at least 12 hours before flying after a single dive, so do not book your last day for diving. Bring a towel, snacks, sun block and a swimsuit. Our Malta weather guide helps you choose the best months, and our guide to things to do in Malta has ideas for the days you are not underwater.

To ask about a course or dive, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to Cresta Dive Centre.