Diver by Design

Diver by Design is a sidemount, technical, cave and instructor training service run by a single instructor in Gozo. Courses are built around the individual diver rather than a fixed syllabus, using TDI, SDI and PADI standards. In Malta the service is affiliated with Atlantis Diving Centre, whose Gozo base hosts the courses, and it appears in our directory of dive centres in Malta.

Training built around your goals

The idea behind Diver by Design is that divers do not always fit into the boxes of standard courses. Training draws on many years of experience and several agency standards to give each diver what they actually need. During a course the instructor's time is spent entirely on the diver, with the aim of developing mental approach as well as physical skills. The instructor believes in knowing when to push, when to listen and when to let a diver correct themselves, and that balance is central to how each course is run.

The instructor has dived since 2002, qualified to teach in 2012 and became a full cave diver in 2013. Trimix instruction followed in 2017, up to Advanced Trimix Diver Instructor with TDI and PADI TecRec, and full cave instructor status came in 2019. Since 2022 the instructor has also been a TDI and SDI Trainer, helping other instructors improve their own teaching. Years of UK diving explain a preference for a dry suit.

Courses on offer

Sidemount diving is the speciality, with TDI, SDI and PADI courses and the Sidemount Essentials course. Tec Sidemount is for experienced technical or sidemount divers who want to extend their skills, while technical diving training puts weight on safety, equipment, planning, teamwork and precision. Cave diving courses train you as a safe and proficient overhead diver. Instructor training is also available. Because divers arrive with very different backgrounds, the content of a course can be adjusted to fit, which is useful if you have trained with more than one agency.

Guided diving is offered for certified divers who want a private guide to wrecks, caves, reefs and walls around Gozo and Malta. Wrecks lie between 30 and 60 metres, so there is plenty for deeper divers. Our Gozo travel guide and weather guide for Malta are helpful when planning a trip.

A trainer who keeps training

The instructor takes some form of training every year, with the aim of giving students the best teaching possible. Current interests include cave survey techniques, advanced wreck diving using a scooter (DPV) and multistage equipment around Malta's artificial reefs, and sidemount rebreather diving to reach further into cave systems.

Personal diving continues alongside teaching, with yearly trips to the caves of France, to Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, to Florida, and to Sardinia, where the aim is to learn the cave systems and work towards running courses. That experience feeds back into the training offered in Gozo.

How booking works

Send the dates you want to dive, and ideally your flight dates so surface intervals can be planned. Availability is confirmed by return message, the dates are tentatively held, and a reservation fee makes the booking final. After that you are asked for the information listed on the website.

Groups are usually two divers, with a maximum of three on any course. One to one training is more intensive, while two divers suit team based technical and overhead courses. A second diver is only added when their level is close enough not to hold the first back, and you are told in advance. Before a course, you can ask about nearby places to stay in our guide to hotels in Gozo.

Where the courses run and how to enquire

The courses run from Atlantis Diving Centre in Gozo, which has its own page: Atlantis Gozo Diving Centre. For apnoea rather than scuba, see Deep Med freediving in Malta and Gozo. To ask about a course or guided dives, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to Diver by Design.