Sunday, 29 April 2018

XGHAJRA REEF


The small forgotten seaside village in the south holds hidden gems of the med!


Xghajra Reef is an off the track dive site, that is not on any dive map or dive guide book, and very well set it this old seaside village, tucked away from the outside world. During the winter months, we have done some exploratory dives, and found this labyrinth of tunnels and caves with low arches, waiting to be discovered. 


   East side of the village, taking a bearing due north, in front of the ancient tower, heading out for about 100 meters, till the end of the reef drops down to 18 meters to the sand, then turning West, one will find low arches formed by long years of rough,pounding seas on the shallow reef. Following the reef more towards to the West, till the reef drops down to you, then turn South, and head again landwards, you will find yourself in 9 meters, turn east following the shore line till you find the large sink hole, drop down into it and you find yourself in tunnel at the bottom of the reef. Following the tunnel in a Southeastern direction, it branches off into a multitude of small tunnels approx. 3-4 meters long, that lead you back on the reef.

   As you follow the tunnel out, you will be amazed by the amount of fish around and marine life swarming around you. We encountered a variety of fish, such as sea bream, damsel fish, wrasses, and parrot fish were darting around my bubbles coming out of the roof of the tunnel.
 The main tunnel forks out into a left and a right tunnel, where the left one leads to a dead end, however the right one open up into another two tunnels, both leading out back to the reef, to 5 metres depth.
 Following the main tunnel again, it bears round to Northeast, leading to an exit at around 4 meters.


The main tunnel is about 15 to 20 meters long, with the off tunnel passages about 5 meters in length. We spent about 30 minutes swimming around the tunnels, amazed at how the waves have created such majestic formations over the ages.
Am sure if you follow the shore line, you will find lots more of these unspoiled wonders that we have yet to be discoveverd!



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