Dawra tas-Sanap is the first sheltered inlet to the south of Xlendi, a short boat ride from the bay. This dive site can be enjoyed by divers of all levels. It is one of Gozo’s best dives for underwater photography due to the clear blue sea and the variety of colourful sponges and coralites in the shallow arch, on the walls and in a small cavern.
This dive site is accessible only by boat, a 5 minute boat ride southbound on our boat Divemania from Xlendi, past the Xlendi tower and along the cliffs beneath the village of Munxar. The boat anchors in the Dawra tas-Sanap inlet and divers dive round the headland towards Xlendi and through a natural arch.
The boat anchors in the North West corner inside the inlet and divers start the dive by descending gradually to fifteen or eighteen metres on the vertical wall. They dive through a corridor between a house sized boulder and the cliff face, taking their time to savor the colorful sponges, anemones and coralites on either side while looking for the occasional spiny lobster or nudibranch. They then turn left into a spectacular pass-through beneath the same boulder before going right to explore a beautiful cavern with a large semi-circular entrance. Divers explore rocks on the cavern floor and the many cracks on the colorful cavern walls. Beautiful anemones can be seen on an internal sandy floor.
Divers exit the cavern and head west over some large boulders towards the drop off looking out for Flabellina or Spotted Doris nudibranchs which are sometimes found feeding on the sponges and algae here.
Those wanting to drop deeper can descend to explore the boulders below where Dentex are often spotted hunting. Divers then start a slow ascent up the steep boulder laden slope towards the arch where shoals of Saddled Bream (Oblada melanura) and Salema (Sarpa salpa) are common.
The Dawra tas-Sanap arch becomes visible on reaching a depth of about fifteen metres. The arch is the highlight of this dive. The rocks on the arch floor at ten metres and the walls on either side are literally covered in fantastic colorful sponges and coralites. With the deep blue sea as a backdrop, the photo opportunities are endless. More experienced divers can also choose to dive through a short passage beneath the rocks on the arch floor.
Keeping the wall on their left hand side, divers start their ascent while following each other towards the boat in the Dawra tas-Sanap inlet. During this ten-minute swim they divide their attention between the marine growth in the cracks on the wall on their left hand side and the Amberjack that often hunt up and down the wall in the blue to their right.
EXCELLENTBased on 317 reviewsVerifiedBrigitte SSuper organized diving center with great equipment and varied diving spots This year I went diving on Gozo. As I was looking online for a diving center that offers diving to the "Tuna Farm", I came across Gozo Dive St. Andrews, which turned out to be a great find. I was able to clarify everything in advance by email, so all the paperwork was already done when I arrived. Well organized and very friendly. I was looked after by Anthony, who chose the right equipment for me with me. Everything was very new and well maintained :-) As it wasn't that busy yet, there was only one other diver in our group. Anthony gave us good information about the spot and we went straight across the street into the water. Everything was very relaxed. As we realized on the second day of diving that my qualifications were not sufficient for the spot, Anthony and Lean immediately looked for options. They offered me the "deep diving" course so that I would no longer be restricted in the future. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for this course this time. Even during the trip across the island to the spots, Anthony gave us interesting details about the island. Thanks again for the all-round support :-) I will definitely come back to Gozo and my choice will again be "Gozo Dive St. Andrews".Verifiedthel6710/10 for Gozo Dive Second time with St Andrews. Fab instructor Ericka for my OW course, learned loads & went on further dive with Simon, hugely informative. Sites were amazing, what an island under & over water. Mark, Natalie & staff very welcoming, & organised our transfers, accommodation & gave suggestions. Very impressive team, working hard to cover everything & ensure safety. 10/10. Thanks Gozo Dive 💝VerifiedErik SSt Andrew’s dive shop, Gozo Amazing dive shop! Martin made our week dive experience. Easy to work with and very accommodating. Recommended for diver with experience. My group is all advanced open water and Nitrox certified with no need for dive guide. Very knowledgeable about conditions and very accurate daily dive site recommendations.VerifiedRory KIncredible people and excellent place to learn I did my Advanced Open Water padi course with St. Andrew’s Divers Cove the experience was exceptional. my instructor Simon is one of the best instructor I’ve had, friendly, excellent knowledge and amazing instructor. Simon has made me better and a more confident diver through conducting the padi course in a knowledge able and entertaining way!Verifiedthel67Comes with Free bananas 😂😎 New to this dive school - happy customers. Well experienced staff, confident, informative, attentive & fun. Owner presence & oversight ensures well run system & quality delivery with good vfm. Thanks for the fun days out, til next time 🤗💚VerifiedSandraGreat Great ! Very well organized club, attentive, multilingual. For a stay with 10 dives, the objective has always been to introduce us to new sites each time. A special mention for Simon, who was our guide, and who is great.Verifiedchris gSt andews dive shop gozo As a diver I have always known of this dive shop in Gozo and have had air fills from there . On a recent holiday we visited Gozo and my friends car who keeps his car in malta to use on holiday/ diving trips broke down with a broken clutch cable . I suggested we go to see Mark at St Andews dive shop to see if he could recommend a good mechanic . Well to cut a long story short Mark the governor was so helpful he arranged his mechanic to fix the problem and the car was fixed within four hours . We were delighted as we were only on gozo for one day and were due to fly out a few days later so thankyou Mark and his mechanics !! On my many visits to Gozo the St andrews dive shop is always busy and customer friendly . If your planning a diving trip give that diving shop a goVerifiedOlivier LBeautiful diving holidays For a first in Gozo, a perfect success... Very professional center, both in terms of well-structured dives and safety, both in terms of magnificent sites, both in terms of pleasant and really available supervisors as well as the organization of transfers and accommodation. A truly relaxed vacation, to be repeated without a doubt.VerifiedLaetitia WTo do Great instructors, very professional and caring. A good pre-dive brief, a good debrief, excellent advice. Thank you ! However, be careful, this is not clear, you cannot share a diving pack with several people. Prices are per person! So 3 people doing a dive the price is 3 times a dive... Too bad 😢VerifiedEvercuriosGreat days diving We had the best refresher day with st Andrew’s dive centre. We hadn’t dived for 15 years or more and we eeee a little apprehensive but that evaporated very quickly. We were set up so just the two of us went out with our dive master Erika in xlendi bay. She really helped us to feel comfortable and in control and we had full faith in her. She obviously new the bay well and gave us a beautiful experience pointing out various fish and squid then ultimately taking us through the ledge. She went above and beyond by taking many great photos of us diving and the things we saw which she sent to us as a memento. Mark in the office was reliable and well organised and all the team were super friendly. Really recommend
EXCELLENTBased on 223 reviewsTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.Elvan GökgürThey are very friendly and super helpful. We rented equipments and they were very professional. I would recommend this dive center to all divers.Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.Tim L. HellerAmazing people, service & dive center. We rented equipment for a day and discovered the beautiful Xlendi Bay and Xlendi Tunnel. There are several fantastic routes you can take here directly from the shore. The equipment served us well and was worth every penny! We could see conger & morray eels, squid, octopus, gar fish, and a barracuda!Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.Josienne WongHad my first diving experience here and they were super informative and helpful teaching me how to dive as a beginner.Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.Marc VanvlaenderenTop club avec un moniteur Charles qui nous a fait rêver. Que de bons souvenirs MerciTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.laurent clavelBon club de plongée mais avec un cout très élevé alors que les plongées se font à pied sans bateau (104 eur pour 2 plongées avec le matériel). De plus les chaussons fournies étaient basiques et très glissant inadaptés au site. Un grand merci à Charles pour son partage d'expérience et les plongéesTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.Antoine G.We had 6 great dives with Sandrine and Bruno, professional but easygoing, they gave great advices and loved diving with them ! Thanks again !Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.Miłosz ŁuczkoSuch a cool adeventure for us. We had Been at one of the beaches inside tha land due to a windy weather. That was my 3rd diving, my GF first. Our instruktors name was Marcello (i really believe that's correct) hes such a cool guy, never left US in a trouble, always look after and he was able to make US laugh even if we were paniced. All best for him and this company. If your reading this - thanks a lot, that was a pleasure :)Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.Sophie MLTMany thanks to Mark, Nathalie and their team for organizing my stay and for their advice (from renting the apartment to managing the various transfers) and to Bruno and Sandrine for the wonderful dives despite the sometimes capricious weather. A great week spent togetherTrustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.Vladimir IvanovskiWe was diving for a first time and it was amazing. Erika was very professional and amazing trainer! I really recommend St Andrews and Xlendi bay for beginners like us 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google.Vincent DemollienUne bonne expérience avec une bonne instructrice comme Sandrine ! Au top !
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