Dive sites, seasons and marine life — researched, mapped, planned.
Menu
Destinations Dive Sites Marine Life Wrecks News
Plan a trip Trip planner When to dive Cost calculator Comparisons Marine-life calendar Water temperature Liveaboards Operators & resorts Marine parks Hyperbaric chambers World map
Regions Australia, New Zealand & East AsiaCaribbean & Western AtlanticEurope, Atlantic & MediterraneanIndian Ocean & East AfricaPacific Islands & MicronesiaRed Sea & Middle EastSoutheast Asia & Coral TriangleThe Americas & Eastern Pacific Countries
Learn & Tools All guides Certifications Gear guides Videos Ask the Data AI Agents API
About About us Methodology Disclaimer Contact
Your view
★ Saved

Your starred destinations, sites and species — stored in this browser.

API GATEWAY

Free read-only JSON access to the atlas's cached data.

Dark mode

🧭 Guided View
New to diving — depths, currents, certification levels? We explain every term as you browse, in plain English. Same data, with the help built in.

⚡ Expert View
You already know the difference between a wall and a drift. Just the data — clean, fast and compact. This is the default view.

Interface language
Inland Sea Tunnel — illustrative image

Inland Sea Tunnel

Cave · Shore · Wall 2–26 m Intermediate Malta & Gozo, Malta
AI-generated illustration
Well documented Also known as: Il-Qawra Tunnel
Depth
2–26 m / 7–85 ft
Typical depth
15 m / 49 ft
Visibility
15–40 m / 49–131 ft
Water
15–27 °C / 59–81 °F
Current
Mild
Access
Shore
Best months
May–Oct
Recommended cert
Open Water with good buoyancy; lights required
Typical dive
~45 min

Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily — treat everything here as planning ranges.

The Inland Sea is a pebble-ringed lagoon sealed off by Gozo's cliffs, connected to open water only through a narrow slot a boat's width across — and divers ride that geology like a corridor into another world. The tunnel runs about 80 m, deepening as it goes, its final frame a burning blue rectangle that ranks among diving's great doorways. Outside, walls drop past 40 m into cobalt water where amberjack and dentex sometimes patrol. The return swim aims back at a keyhole of daylight. Timed between tour boats and swell, it is a short dive that stays in memory for years.

The moment you come for: The 80 m tunnel, the blue exit frame, big walls beyond the cliff

Topography: An 80-meter natural tunnel through the cliff, floor stepping from lagoon shallows down to about 26 m at the sea exit, opening onto steep walls

Entry: Enter the shallow lagoon by the fishermen's boat huts at Dwejra and follow the tunnel seaward — small tour boats use the same passage, so depth discipline and listening for engines matter.

Know before you splash

Hazards: Boat traffic in the tunnel overhead, darkness mid-passage, and swell funneling through in unsettled weather.

Conservation: Shared, protected space at Dwejra — give the tour boats the surface layer and the tunnel walls their fragile growth.

For photographers

Wide angle: ★★★★★ · Macro: ★☆☆☆☆ — editors' 1–5 rating of what this site gives each style of shooting

Australia, New Zealand & East Asia

Cairns & the Ribbon ReefsNingaloo ReefCoral Sea & Osprey ReefOkinawa & the Kerama IslandsPoor Knights IslandsTownsville & the YongalaGreen IslandIzu Peninsula

Caribbean & Western Atlantic

BonaireCozumelRiviera Maya & the CenotesBelize Barrier ReefGrand CaymanIsla Mujeres & CancúnRoatánTiger Beach & Grand Bahama

Europe, Atlantic & Mediterranean

Malta & GozoSilfra & IcelandThe AzoresCanary IslandsLarnaca & the ZenobiaScapa FlowArctic NorwayMadeira

Indian Ocean & East Africa

North & South Malé AtollsAri AtollBaa Atoll & Hanifaru BayAliwal Shoal & UmkomaasMafia IslandMauritiusSeychellesSodwana Bay

Pacific Islands & Micronesia

PalauChuuk (Truk) LagoonFakaravaKona, HawaiʻiRangiroaTaveuni & Rainbow ReefBeqa Lagoon & Pacific HarbourEspiritu Santo

Red Sea & Middle East

Sharm El Sheikh & Ras MohammedBrothers, Daedalus & St John'sDahabHurghada & El GounaMarsa Alam & the Deep SouthAqabaDaymaniyat IslandsMusandam Peninsula

Southeast Asia & Coral Triangle

Bali & Nusa PenidaKomodoRaja AmpatSipadan & MabulAnilaoCoronKoh TaoLembeh Strait

The Americas & Eastern Pacific

Galápagos IslandsCocos IslandFlorida KeysSea of Cortez & Cabo PulmoSocorro & the RevillagigedosBritish ColumbiaCalifornia Channel IslandsCosta Rica Pacific Coast