On the 25th August Pat and I finally headed back to Malta for a weeks diving. After contacting Mike the diving had initially been arranged with Delfini but as with all best laid plans it changed as the week before we travelled Mike changed dive centres!!! Plan B was put into action and we arranged our diving with Cresta instead. Being lazy devils and as there was only the 2 of us we opted for guided dives and didn't even hire a car this time.

Our first day, the Wednesday saw us heading for Comino on the Calypso. Luckily it was flat calm as Pat hadn't taken any sea sickness tablets as this wasn't on our list to do!!! The first dive is Santa Maria caves and fish feeding. Whilst this sounds lovely the downside is I don't like caves, however I was very brave and went through not only once but twice. For the second dive of the day we had hoped to dive the newly sunk P31, however this was not to be as the wind had increased and we ended up diving L'Ahrax point. Pat and I have dived this before but from the shore and it a lovely dive. We were a bit disappointed though as Ray opted to go the opposite direction and we didn't get to dive the "mini inland sea", it was however a nice chill out relaxing dive for the end of our first day.

Thursday saw us heading to Cirkewwa and the chance to dive the P29. Whilst this is the sister ship to P31 she is deeper (around 30m) so we had less bottom time. This was a new dive to us having been sunk since we last visited Malta in 2005. After the dive I tried to convince Mike that she was just like the Rozi (it isn't). All I can do is blame my age and dodgy memory! After a pie and cappuchino at the ferry terminal café it was time for the second dive. This was a nice relaxing dive along the shore to the left arch and back. There are swim-throughs for those who like them.

Friday saw us heading back to Cirkewwa and one of my favourite dives, the Rozi. Again this is a dive around the 30m mark. She is a small tug boat that was initially sunk as an attraction for a tourist submarine which has long since gone out of business. There is a lot of growth on her and shoals of glassfish around the mast. For the safety stop we slowly climb up the wall back into the shallows and our exit point. For the second dive we went to the right arch this time.

Saturday - Pat and I had opted out of the general trip to Gozo so actually got to dive with Mike again for the first time since Comino. We particularly wanted to dive the Um El Faroud as we had been told that the ship had received significant damage since we last saw her. Unfortunately we had a bit of a delay whilst Mike arranged to borrow some cylinders from another school but when we arrived at the Blue Grotto I was very relieved to discover we could park on the bottom slope which means a much shorter walk.

After a blue water swim we arrived at the Um El Faroud and after swimming along from the stern we were amazed to discover how far apart her bow and stern sections have moved apart. The storms have also managed to destroy the superstructure. All too soon it was time to head back into the gully to complete our safety stop. Upon exiting the water we prepared our gear for the next dive at which point we discovered that Mike had been sold a dud by the other centre, his 10 litre cylinder had 100 bar and Pat's 15 had 70 bar. Whilst Mike has gills and was able to take the other couple out of the creek, Pat and I opted to stay within the confines and poke about in the nooks and crannies. We hadn't done this as a day dive before and had great fun watching octopus changing colours and playing spot the stone fish. It was a lovely dive but just a shame that it couldn't have been longer. Post dive I was very relieved to discover that the ice cream van which does a lovely fruit cup was still there. It is a challenge to eat before the ice cream completely melts.

Talking of challenges Saturday evening saw us on a bus to Bugibba to meet Mike and Adriana for a meal at Reubens. Pat had been challenged to eat 3 courses - needless to say this was easily achieved, he even managed to help both me and Adriana with our main course!!!!

For our final day's diving on the Sunday we opted to dive the P29 again. This was even more impressive the second time (and yes she is definitely bigger than the Rozi). After the usual pie and cappuchino it was time for the second dive to the Madonna. It is a while since we had done this dive but it was enjoyable despite the yoyo diver who was determined to make us feel as though we were diving at home by kicking up as much silt from the cave as he could!! He didn't have a chance though as the water varied between a toasty 29C at the surface and 24C at 32metres. And for the record Malta water is warm and DRY (Steve please take note!!!).