Mgarr ix-Xini

Mgarr ix-Xini
Location
Mgarr ix-Xini
Highlights
Interesting cave, you can surface inside, abundance of creatures makes it very popular for night dives
Visibility
15metres
Currents
Still
Site Depth
6metres
Difficulty
Easy (Open Water)
Duration
19minutes
Sight-seeing
Lacy Bryozoans, Lightbulb Tunicates, Flying Gurnards, Stargazers, Picarel, Longsnout Seahorses, Common Octopus, Red Stars
Hotspot Watch
Flying Gunard, Longsnout Seahorse, Common Octopus

This dive is very popular with photographers due to the huge variety of fish species - flying gurnards (Dactylopterus volitans), stargazers (Uranoscopus scaber), picarel (Spicara flexuosa) and even seahorses (Hippocampus ramulosus).

There is an interesting cave about 100m along the right-hand wall in 14m which extends quite far in and has a sharp narrow twist to the left at the end. This entrance has many tiny holes and crevices with delicate lacy bryozoans (Reteporella septentrionalis) and lightbulb tunicates (Clavelina lepadiformis). You can surface inside the cave. The sheltered valley and shallow depths make the site very popular for night dives, and you will always find octopuses, burrowing starfish (Astropecten aranciacus) and razorfish (Xyrichthys novacula), which hide under the sand when you approach them.

Location

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