- Tim J's trip Malta June 2019
2019-06-19 - Cirkewwa, Malta Island, Malta
19.7m - 52 min - Dived with Dan from Cresta Dive Centre
- Refresher Dive before advanced course - Saw a bull ray - Felt very comfortable - First ever swim through. Did 2. First was about 2m and the second was about 5-7m - Gas:200bar-70bar
2019-06-19 - Cirkewwa, Malta Island, Malta
16.9m - 47 min - Dived with Dan from Cresta Dive Centre
- Part of Advanced Course - Peak Performance Buoyancy Dive - Struggled with buoyancy. First time using 5mm long wetsuit. - Need to angle fins behind me rather than down for better control - Taught the frog kick. Keep fins flat when moving outwards and then roll ankles when kicking inwards. Bend knees but don’t move up or down like breaststroke. - Went through a chimney. About 3m in and then 2m up. - Gas: 200bar-60bar
2019-06-19 - St George’S Bay, Malta Island, Malta
4.9m - 43 min - Dived with Dan from Cresta Dive Centre
- Part of Advanced Course - Navigation Dive - Did a reciprocal course, square course and natural navigation. - Got slightly lost on the natural navigation but overall went well. - Used the sand contours, ropes, pipes and anchors for the natural navigation - Tested my kicking number, distance and time. - 1 kick (frog kick) per m. 30m in 85 seconds - GAS: 220bar-80bar
2019-06-20 - Hms Maori, Malta Island, Malta
14.4m - 42 min - Dived with Nick from Cresta Dive Centre
- Underwater naturist part of the advanced course - Had to spot 5 invertebrates and vertebrates, 5 plants and any symbiotic relationships - Octopus - Nudibranch - HMS Maori was famous for spotting a large German ship Bismarck during world war 2. It sunk after being bombed in 1942.
2019-06-20 - Carolita, Malta Island, Malta
19.7m - 42 min - Dived with Dan from Cresta Dive Centre
- Wreck diving part of advanced course - Carolita (aka x127) was used as a supply ship to supply submarines which had sunk to protect themselves against bombings. - Used a technique called scrubbing to let subs know it was safe. - 32m long and on a slope (bow at 3m, propeller at 20m) - Can clearly are the torpedo hole on the side with the folder metal outwards. - Bombed in 1942
2019-06-20 - Tug Two Exiles, Malta Island, Malta
22.6m - 35 min - Dived with Dan from Cresta Dive Centre
- Deep Dive part of advanced course - First ever wreck penetration - Swam through the bridge and other parts of the ship - Cool putting your hand into air pockets also - It was a former tugboat working in Valletta harbour that was sunk to form a reef and diving site.
2019-06-21 - Blue Hole, Gozo, Malta
26.1m - 46 min - Dived with Sarah from Cresta Dive Centre
- Tough walk from van to entry point - Sink into the hole and come out a gap at the bottom. - Loads of amazing rock formations including a collapsed arch (collapsed in March 2018) - Then went into a huge cave at the end of the dive
2019-06-21 - Inland Sea, Gozo Island, Malta
20.3m - 46 min - Dived with Sarah from Cresta Dive Centre
- Start by going through an underwater canyon. - Really cool seeing the boats going overhead - Really bright blue at the end of the canyon at the opening to the ocean. - Struggled with buoyancy especially at the safety stop. Had to get pulled down despite dumping all my air included the valves. Potentially needed an extra 2kg. - Struggled with stability also rolling onto my back. Instructor said I should make sure my BCD is tight and maybe have my weight belt slightly higher. The instructors have to adjust to be stable and buoyant also.
2019-06-21 - Mercanti Reef, Malta Island, Malta
9.3m - 42 min - Dived with Nick from Cresta Dive Centre
- Really nice chilled dive - Moray Eel - Had much more control over buoyancy wearing a 5mm shortie. - Practised hovering and swimming backwards.
2019-06-22 - Santa Maria Caves, Comino Island, Malta
10.6m - 45 min - Dived with Conny from Cresta Dive Centre
- Really cool network of caves - Some tight squeezes - Boat entry
2019-06-22 - P31 Wreck, Comino Island, Malta
19.3m - 40 min - Dived with Sarah from Cresta Dive Centre
- Part of deep dive speciality course - Struggled to descend at beginning with 6kg belt and full 2 piece suit - Wreck penetration. Went onto the bridge. Really fun dive - Stood on ‘mast’
2019-06-22 - Bristol Beaufighter, Malta Island, Malta
37m - 21 min - Dived with Conny from Cresta Dive Centre
- Part of deep water speciality - Did a mental test, point to numbers 1-20 in a grid. Took 14 seconds at surface and 18 seconds at depth. - Highest depth to debt - Suffered from Narcosis. Apparently was laughing loads and swimming really fast - Huge headache for the rest of the afternoon. Take deeper breaths going forward - Moray eels - The plane was amazing. Still had the propellers on one of the engines.
2019-06-23 - P29, Malta Island, Malta
32.1m - 36 min - Dived with Sebastian from Cresta Dive Centre
- Final Dive of deep dive speciality - Really happy with buoyancy - P29 has machine gun at the front!
2019-06-23 - Rozi Wreck, Malta Island, Malta
31.9m - 39 min - Dived with Sebastian from Cresta Dive Centre
- Went on the Bridge - Solid Dive
2019-06-23 - Lockhead Neptune Plane , Malta Island, Malta
31.5m - 27 min - Dived with Casey from Cresta Dive Centre
- Plane discovered by Cresta staff and kept secret for a year before the told everyone. - Had to help another diver descend. - Pony held at 5m ready for safety stop - Felt very comfortable on the dive. - Cold though
2019-06-24 - Jesus Of Qawra, Malta Island, Malta
37m - 22 min - Dived with Casey from Cresta Dive Centre
- Flying fish - Good buoyancy to stand next to the Christ statue - Statue was about 2.5m tool - Has been blessed by the pope
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